Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, June 12, 1973
Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, June 12, 1973
[00.29.28] Senator GURNEY. With anyone whose name I have not mentioned? Mr. PORTER. With anyone whose name you have not mentioned? Senator GURNEY. that is right. Mr. PORTER. Mr. Magruder, although- Senator GURNEY. Besides Mr. 'Magruder, that we have heard about. Mr. PORTER. Yes, sir. I do not, believe so, Senator. I do not, believe so. Senator GURNEY. I understand you had a meeting on January 24, 1972, with Mr. 'Mitchell and Mr. Magruder, is that correct? Mr. PORTER. Correct,. Senator GURNEY,. What was the substance of that Meeting? Mr. PORTER, The substance of that meeting was that many of us who had come on early in the campaign and had been preparing a series of position papers and other reports on various aspects of the campaign and although I was the supposedly director of scheduling I had a few other duties that I had to perform' like putting together an ethnic report, a middle-American vote report, a Spanish-speaking, Spanish American voter-- Senator GURNEY. These were routine. Mr. PORTER. Yes, sir, these were large documents and Mr. Magruder set up a meeting on the 24th for me to deliver these reports to Mr. Mitchell. Senator GURNEY. Nothing occurred in this meeting about bugging, surveilling, sabotage? Mr. PORTER. NO, nothing at all. Senator GURNEY. Just two final. questions. Do you know of your own knowledge whether the President of the United States had nay prior knowledge about Watergate? Mr. PORTER. No, sir, I do not. Senator GURNEY. Surveillance? Mr. PORTER. No, sir, I do not,. Senator GURNEY. Do you know of your own knowledge whether the President of the United States had any participation or knowledge, of the coverup? Mr. PORTER. No, sir, I do not. Senator GURNEY,. Do you yourself have any knowledge of the coverup? Mr. PORTER. Only--- Senator GURNEY,. Other than what you--Mr. Magruder told you? Mr. PORTER. Only to the extent of my own involvement in that. Senator GURNEY,. That is all, Mr. Chairman. Senator ERVIN. Senator Talmadge. Senator TALMADGE. Mr. Porter, what was your position before assuming your position with the Committee To Re-Elect the President? Mr. PORTER. Sir, I was a staff assistant to the President working in Mr. Herb Klein's office at the White House principally in the same area, Senator Talmadge, that of a speaker bureau responding to requests for speakers that would come into the executive offices. Senator TALMADGE. Who offered you that position? Mr. PORTER. I am sorry. Senator TALMADGE. Who offered you that position? Mr. PORTER, I believe Mr. Magruder did back in January of 1971. Senator TALMADGE. Why were you upset when Mr. Magruder suggested that the Committee To Re-Elect the President files and records might be searched? Mr. PORTER. Well, sir, we had an extensive, as I understood it, an extensive advertising plan. We had our key States, that was quite a confidential plan, what States we were targeting, the amounts of money we were going to spend in each State, all the polling data we had, the research data we had, the plans for the telephone banks that ultimately were quite successful that we had. I mean all those things, my whole surrogate planning schedule for the campaign, these were things that I understood could all be subpenaed and made public. Senator TALMADGE. You know of nothing illegal that was in the files? Mr. PORTER. No, sir, I do not, Senator TALMADGE. Why did that upset--excuse me, go ahead. Mr. PORTER. Yes, sir, go ahead. Senator TALMADGE. The only thing you were concerned about was political information of a sensitive nature; is that an accurate statement? Mr. PORTER. That is an accurate statement. Senator TALMADGE. Did Mr. Magruder ever mention the President's name to you when he discussed with you this Watergate matter? Mr. PORTER. The President's name was mentioned, sir, in a context of "Save the President from embarrassment. Doing this for the President." He never, never did he inquire nor did I infer that he, that the President of the United States, was aware of Mr. Magruder's request of me; no, sir. Senator TALMADGE. Did he indicate to you that it was important to keep the investigators from getting to Mr. Mitchell Mr. Haldeman, and the President? Mr. PORTER. No, sir; I think, to answer the, question directly, the answer would be no. However Mr. Magruder did say, I believe, that it, was important that, the investigation be kept to the Watergate investigation and avoid the embarrassment that could be caused by having it, go on to other areas and he specifically mentioned Mr. Haldeman, Mr. Mitchell and the President as being those, and I think those are the three, that, he mentioned that could be embarrassed. Senator TALMADGE. He wanted the Investigators to be kept from Mr. Haldeman, the President, Mr. Mitchell, Mr. is that your testimony? Mr. PORTER. Mr. Magruder didn't key on the investigators as much as he did the opposition, the Democrats coming in. Senator TALMADGE. What was the area of sensitivity there? Why did he mention those specific names? Mr. PORTER. I don't know, sir. Senator TALMADGE. Did Magruder tell you that he had talked 'With Mr. Mitchell about this matter? Mr. PORTER. Yes, sir. [00.35.03]