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.
Sam Ervin (D North Carolina). Now, did you consult a lawyer or friend of yours after you were asked by Magruder to lie? Herbert Porter, CRP aide. Yes, sir, I did. Sam Ervin (D North Carolina). Did he tell you? You asked him what he would do under the circumstances and he said he would probably lie for the President? Herbert Porter, CRP aide. Those words were not used, Mr. Chairman. Sam Ervin (D North Carolina). What words were used? Herbert Porter, CRP aide. I stated to, I went right after Mr. Magruder had had this discussion with me in late June. I went to a friend of mine who happens to be a lawyer, but I didn t go to him because he was a lawyer to share an experience, I think. And I stated what Mr. Magruder had said to me. We talked about it. I think you have got to project yourself back a little bit in a period of time. This was in the heat of the battle in the campaign. Here were two loyalists talking between each other about the prospects of having the Democrats, our "enemy" come into our camp and bust our whole campaign wide open. I wasn t concerned about bad things. I was concerned about things like polling and state strategy and research and advertising and all these other things that could be made public. So I told him what Mr. Magruder had asked me to do. He made a comment to me. He said, after thinking about it, he said, by the way I think another important thing, if I may digress just momentarily, Mr. Chairman. I think it is very important that both of us, me particularly since I am the one involved, believed Mr. Magruder had no reason to mistrust him at all, that neither he nor anybody else was involved in the Watergate. And he specifically said that it was important that the investigation be confined to the Watergate, and I did not think that I was being asked to do anything in connection with the Watergate break-in at all. My friend said to me, I think he was speaking rather rhetorically. He said what difference does it make whether the money was authorized for this purpose or this purpose if what they are apparently saying is that Liddy diverted funds and went off and did something illegal? If one thing is going to embarrass the President and the other one isn t, he said, I would not do it for Mitchell and I would not do it for Haldeman, but I would do it for the boss. And that is the feeling I had at the time.
Watergate Hearings - Testimony of Herbert Porter, June 7, 1973.
Sam Ervin (D North Carolina). Was that before you testified before the grand jury? Herbert Porter, CRP aide. Yes sir. Sam Ervin (D North Carolina). Who was the lawyer who told you that? Herbert Porter, CRP aide. Mr. Chairman, I would respectfully prefer that I not have to give his name at this time. My lawyer knows who it is. He is not involved in this in any way. Unless you insist on it, I would prefer not to. Sam Ervin (D North Carolina). Did you go before the grand jury and make a statement on account of what the lawyer said to you or on account of what Mr. Magruder had said to you? Herbert Porter, CRP aide. This lawyer was also a member of the Committee for the Re-Election of the President but not acting in a legal capacity. So he is not a Sam Ervin (D North Carolina). He was a member of the Committee to Re-Elect the President? Herbert Porter, CRP aide. Yes, sir. Sam Ervin (D North Carolina). I think under these circumstances, you ought to divulge that. Herbert Porter, CRP aide. His name is Curtis Herge. Sam Ervin (D North Carolina). Curtis who? Herbert Porter, CRP aide. Herge, H-e-r-g-e.
Watergate Hearings - Testimony of Herbert Porter, June 7, 1973.
Sam Ervin (D North Carolina). Now Did Mr. Magruder, about the time of your conversation with him in April, tell you that he had prior knowledge of the Watergate matter? Herbert Porter, CRP aide. I am sorry, sir, Sam Ervin (D North Carolina). Did Mr. Magruder admit to you at the time of your conversation about April of this year that, he, Mr. Magruder, had prior knowledge of the Watergate affair? Herbert Porter, CRP aide. On April 14, in the afternoon of April 14th, was the first time that I learned that Mr. Magruder had prior knowledge or that anybody else had prior knowledge other than those convicted. Sam Ervin (D North Carolina). How did you learn that? Herbert Porter, CRP aide. I deduced it from his statement that there were going to be a number of indictments and he included his own name. Sam Ervin (D North Carolina). Up to that time, he had always maintained to you that he had no prior knowledge? Herbert Porter, CRP aide. Yes, sir, absolutely. Sam Ervin (D North Carolina). And at that, time, he stated to you that probably some people would go to jail? Herbert Porter, CRP aide. Yes, sir. Sam Ervin (D North Carolina). On account of the Watergate affair, did he predict that he himself would be one of them to go to jail in all probability? Herbert Porter, CRP aide. Yes, sir. Sam Ervin (D North Carolina). Did he say he had talked to Mitchell about the matter in addition to talking to Ehrlichman? Herbert Porter, CRP aide. Yes, sir, I think he did. Sam Ervin (D North Carolina). And he told you that, Mitchell had told him that he was going to deny complicity to the end? Herbert Porter, CRP aide. Yes, sir.