Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, June 12, 1973
Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, June 12, 1973
[00.12.39] Senator MONTOYA. Who did you ;how these receipts to before you destroyed them? Mr. PORTER. Mr. Reisner. Senator MONTOYA. Did you show these receipts to Mr. Magruder? Mr. PORTER. I don't, believe so. It is my understanding that, -Mr. Reisner relayed the information to Mr. Magruder, that is what he told me. Senator -MONTOYA. What was so sensitive with respect, to Watergate that, in your own discretion you destroyed them? Mr. PORTER. No, sir, I never said it was any relation to Watergate at, all, and I don't put anything in the category that I relate to you involving any of the payments that I made after April 7 to Watergate. Senator MONTOYA. just mention or suite, to me what sensitivity you find In those receipts that warranted their destruction. Mr. PORTER [conferring with counsel]. Yes, sir; as I say Mr. LaRue had come to in my office and had asked me to throw away anything that, could be in the category of being politically sensitive. -I would imagine I put in that category payments to Mr. Odle during the mining of the Haiphong Harbor and payment to Mr. Joanou which I later learned was for an ad in the -New York Times and I felt those were politically sensitive enough that I should not keep them. Senator MONTOYA. What others? Mr. PORTER. Well, sir, if I were going to throw away two or three I just took them all, again I had balanced with Mr. Reisner and had no need to keep them. It was strictly--- Senator MONTOYA. You must be able to recall other instances in the sensitivity which you placed on those receipts? Mr. PORTER. No, sir, I do not. As I have stated, I had balanced with Mr. Reisner I did not have tall accounting function at the committee. I had--the receipts were strictly internal documents. They were not meant for any public viewing at all and they were strictly internal and I had satisfied the internal requirement and I destroyed them. I throw them away. Senator MONTOYA. how many receipt would you say that you destroyed , can you estimate that, sir, Mr. PORTER. The second time, sir, after the Watergate break-in? Senator MONTOYA. Yes. Mr. PORTER. I would say approximately 10. Senator 'MONTOYA. And did you destroy other documents? Mr. PORTER. I had some. as -I say , travel schedules and old speeches and position papers and that sort of thing from some of the potential Candidates that I had been keeping that I throw away. Senator MONTOYA. what Were your exact duties at the CRP besides scheduling what other duties did you have? Mr. PORTER. Well, sir, as I said, in my--one of my earlier statements--, almost all of my time spent in the surrogate schedule, planning for the surrogate program which amounted to over a thousand man days of campaigning on the part of the surrogates, all their Schedules, talking with State chairmen and their appointed agents all over the country, working on airline schedules, Senator MONTOYA. Mr. Porter, I don't mean any duties pertaining to your scheduling and being out in the field, I say within the CRP in-house. What other duties did you perform? -Mr. PORTER. Other than those I have described sir, that--- Senator MONTOYA. In other words, you were the one, who would give instructions to Mr. Sloan for his disbursements of money? Mr. PORTER. I beg your pardon? senator MONTOYA. You were the one -who would give instructions to Mr. Sloan for the, disbursements of money or you would receive the money from Mr. Sloan and in turn give money to individuals such as Mr. Liddy? Mr. PORTER. That is right. I received my instructions from Magruder on the- who was to get certain funds and approximately how much, and I did go to Mr. Sloan, and I did get those funds and I did pass them on to various individuals. As I stated to Senator Baker, I believe on Thursday, of the some $60,000 that went through me from Sloan to others, that, in going back about 75 percent of that I did not know what the money was being used for at, the time. I served as a, I guess more or less a, bank teller really or a messenger to go down and pick it up. Senator MONTOYA. That is all, Mr. Chairman. Senator ERVIN. I have just one or two questions. Mr. PORTER. Yes sir. Senator ERVIN. Mr. Porter, you give the appearance of a, man who was brought up in a good home. Mr. PORTER. Thank you, sir. Senator ERVIN. And you were undoubtedly taught that it is an obligation of a citizen to testify truthfully when he is called on to testify under oath before a grand jury or a petit jury. Mr. PORTER. Yes, sir. Senator ERVIN. But you were persuaded not to do so with respect to the nonexistent conversation between you and Magruder in December 1971 by Magruder's insistence that, your loyalty to the President required you to go along with him on that proposition. Mr. PORTER. I would say that is basically correct. Senator ERVIN. Then later you applied for a position with the Government and did not receive it? Mr. PORTER. I would say a more accurate response to that is that I encountered quite a bit of difficulty in getting it and finally did receive an offer which I received on my own initiative. [00.18.10]