Watergate Hearings - Testimony of Herbert Porter, June 7, 1973.
Watergate Hearings - Testimony of Herbert Porter, June 7, 1973.
Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, June 7, 1973. Testimony of Herbert Porter.
Watergate Hearings - Testimony of Herbert Porter, June 7, 1973.
Fred Thompson, attorney. The same day? Herbert Porter, CRP aide. The same day. Yes, sir. This is the afternoon of the 13th, now. I explained very quickly what I have just explained to you gentlemen here. And he looked at me rather incredulously and he said, my God, you are an ant. You re nothing. Do you realize the whole course of history is going to be changed? I said, no, I didn't realize that, but I knew what my worries were. He said, I can't advise you. Do you have an attorney? I said no. He said, do you know, any? I said, yes, but I don't, know anybody that might be handle anything like this or be involved. I want somebody that you would know. He said, I will call you tonight, later on this evening, and give you a couple of names. You talk to the attorney and have him call me. He said, now if Mr. Magruder is going to go down and talk to the Federal prosecutors, we would certainly give you the courtesy of going down first. I said, I would appreciate that very much. Fred Thompson, attorney. Why? Herbert Porter, CRP aide. I think because Mr. Magruder is the one who got me involved and it was Mr. Magruder's feeling, at least he indicated to me that he wanted to do everything he could to extricate me from that situation. So Mr. Sharp did call me that evening about 10 or 10:30
Watergate Hearings - Testimony of Herbert Porter, June 7, 1973.
Fred Thompson, attorney. Wouldn't it have been better from your standpoint if you had come forth with this information first? Herbert Porter, CRP aide. Sir? Fred Thompson, attorney. Wouldn't it have been better from your standpoint if you had come forth with this information first in your own eyes, instead of having Magruder go down there and then you come Herbert Porter, CRP aide. No, sir, perhaps you didn't understand me. I am explaining what Mr. Sharp said to me, if Mr. Magruder is going to go down to the U.S. attorney's office, we would certainly give you the courtesy of going first. Fred Thompson, attorney. Oh, I see. All right. Herbert Porter, CRP aide. He said that to me. Fred Thompson, attorney. All right. Herbert Porter, CRP aide. And I agreed with that. Herbert Porter, CRP aide. So he called me later that evening, about 10:15 on Friday evening, Mr. Sharp did, and gave me the name of two or three lawyers here in Washington. Mr. Murray was on that list. He said have him call me. The following Saturday afternoon, the next day, when I ran into Mr. Magruder across from St. Johns Church at 5 o'clock in the afternoon, among other things, he told me that he had been to the U.S. attorney's office that morning, Saturday morning. I was rather stunned by that. I said how did that happen? He said, well, Jim Sharp called me last night, said that he had set up an appointment with Earl Silbert for 8:30 this morning and instructed me absolutely not to call anybody or discuss it with anybody. I m sorry, he said.
Watergate Hearings - Testimony of Herbert Porter, June 7, 1973.
Fred Thompson, attorney. In other words, Mr. Magruder did not do what Mr. Sharp suggested that he do? Herbert Porter, CRP aide. Mr. Magruder did not call me, sir, and tell me he was going down. No, he followed Mr. Sharp's instructions according to what he said. Fred Thompson, attorney. Mr. Sharp told him what, again? Herbert Porter, CRP aide. Mr. Magruder told me, Saturday afternoon, that his lawyer, Jim Sharp, had called him the night before and had told him that he had made an appointment for Mr. Magruder to see the Federal prosecutors the next morning, Saturday morning, April 14 at 8:30 in the morning, and instructed Mr. Magruder, according to Mr. Magruder not to contact anybody or call anybody or discuss his meeting with an anybody at all. Fred Thompson, attorney. So Mr. Sharp did not abide by the agreement that you and he had? Herbert Porter, CRP aide. In my opinion, no, sir.
Watergate Hearings - Testimony of Herbert Porter, June 7, 1973.
Fred Thompson, attorney. What did Mr. Magruder tell you on the 14th besides what you have already related? Herbert Porter, CRP aide. Mr. Magruder just told me he had just come from a meeting at the White House. It s all over, he said. And I said, what do you mean it is all over? He said it is all over, the President has directed everybody to tell the truth, were his exact words. He said I had a meeting with Mr. Ehrlichman and I told him the whole story and boy was he really shocked or words to that effect. He also told me that he had been to the Federal prosecutors that morning. He also told me that there were going to be several indictments and listed off a series of names, a number of names, people that he thought would be indicted. Fred Thompson, attorney. All right, I am sure that will produce some further questions, but I will leave it for others on that particular point.
Watergate Hearings - Testimony of Herbert Porter, June 7, 1973.
Fred Thompson, attorney. Let me ask you this, when is the first time you talked with Mr. O'Brien and Mr. Parkinson about this false story concerning The $100,000 to Mr. Liddy? Herbert Porter, CRP aide. I talked to Mr. Parkinson, the way it happened was a few days, I would say maybe 2 or 3 days after Mr. McCord's letter to Judge Sirica was made public in the latter part of March, Mr. Magruder called me on the phone. I was still in my office at the Inaugural Committee and said, did you see McCord's letter? I said, yes, I saw parts of it in the newspaper. And he said, what do you think of it, or words to that effect. And I said, well, I m not really concerned about any part of it. I do not; he s not talking about me. He said, Mr. Magruder said, well, I guess he is not or something like that. He said, oh by the way. Ken Parkinson wants to talk to you. And I said what about. And he said, well, I am not, sure but I just say one thing, when you do talk to Parkinson, tell him everything. And I said - I was little startled at that. I said, all right, I will. I had occasion, Mr. Parkinson and I, he did call me, Mr. Parkinson did, and we set up an appointment, I believe it was for 4 o'clock in the afternoon of March 28.
Watergate Hearings - Testimony of Herbert Porter, June 7, 1973.
Fred Thompson, attorney. Was this meeting before you went to the grand jury? Herbert Porter, CRP aide. Sir? Fred Thompson, attorney. Was this meeting before you went to the grand jury? Herbert Porter, CRP aide. I have only made one grand jury appearance. Fred Thompson, attorney. When was that? Herbert Porter, CRP aide. August 1972. Fred Thompson, attorney. Go ahead.
Watergate Hearings - Testimony of Herbert Porter, June 7, 1973.
Herbert Porter, CRP aide. So I had occasion to talk to Mr. O'Brien before I went to Mr. Parkinson's office and he asked me to come by his office. I did. I talked to Mr. O'Brien I would say for an hour or hour and a half in his office. Told him my whole story or what I have told this committee. Mr. O'Brien said he did not think I had a problem. I think that was the way he put it. I went to see Mr. Parkinson. Mr. Parkinson began by asking me what I knew about Mr. McCord's letter to Judge Sirica. And I said quite frankly, Ken I do not see where I can really shed any light on it at all. And then I said, however, you re aware of and then I told him about the false statement or the statement that was not true. And he looked at it. I believe he had my trial testimony in front of him. I am not certain of that however. I can t be certain. But I do remember him sitting back and he said, well, all you ve done is you ve just embellished a little. That s all. You haven t got a problem. You have nothing to worry about. I said, well, I felt a little uneasy. Although I felt better after that. I said do you think I should have my own attorney? Up to this point Mr. O'Brien and Mr. Parkinson were in there representing the committee, were made available to anybody who was making FBI appearances or grand jury appearances, et cetera, and in connection with the civil suit filed by the Democrats. I said, do you think I need my own attorney or my own counsel? And he said, well you certainly can. It will probably cost you a little money, maybe. But I don t see why you need your own counsel. As a matter of fact Bart, at this point it would probably be a little disruptive because things are kind of coming down to a close and it would take somebody new a long time to learn the case. We ve been on this thing for many months now. I don t think we have any conflict of interest here, representing your interests in this thing at all. So I walked away and that was it.
Watergate Hearings - Testimony of Herbert Porter, June 7, 1973.
Fred Thompson, attorney. So you never discussed the matter with Mr. Parkinson or Mr. O'Brien before August of 1972? Herbert Porter, CRP aide. Well, I am not sure in what context you are asking. Fred Thompson, attorney. You never discussed the story that you were going to tell the grand jury? Herbert Porter, CRP aide. Yes, I did but in a slightly different context. Back in July or late June early July 1972, Mr. Magruder said to me that Mr. Parkinson just wanted me to write a statement, just on regular yellow legal pad. Fred Thompson, attorney. Let me ask you, maybe I can short circuit. Did you tell either of these men before you went to the grand jury in August 1972 you were going to tell a false story? Herbert Porter, CRP aide. No, I did not.