INQUIRIES RE WATERGATE

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 01482431
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 28, 2022
• Document Release Date: August 7, 2017
• Case Number: F-2007-00094
• Publication Date: May 22, 1973

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22 May 1973
MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD
SUBJECT: Inquiries re Watergate
Following the Director's instructions today, I interviewed
the following individuals by phone or in person.
1. Colonel Lawrence K. White. I explained we were looking
for any additional indications of Agency contact with any of the
principal figures in the Watergate affair, to include the "plumbers
group" in the White House, i. e. Ehrlichman, Haldeman, Dean,
Krogh, Hunt, Liddy, Young, etc. I asked whether Colonel White
had had any knowledge of any contact with these individuals other
than the ones that had already appeared in the press. Colonel White
reminded me that he had frequently been left out of such relation-
ships and said he only recalled going to the White House a few
times on budget problems aside from some contact with Mr. Young
on the problems of classification and declassification. He had not
been aware of the Interagency Evaluation Committee.
2. Elizabeth C. Dunlevy. I described our problems of locating
additional indicators of contacts with the above and asked whether
Mr. Helms might have had any other separate meetings or dis-
cussions on these subjects. Mrs. Dunlevy said that Mr. Helms
had helped Mr. Hunt to locate a possible movie producer for his
books but had stepped out of the relationship as soon as contact
had been made. She thought this was in the 1970 time frame but
after his departure from the Agency. She recalled the McCord
letter in July 1972 and the fact it had been taken by the Office of
Security after discussion. She said she could recall no other
contacts between Mr. Hunt and Mr. Helms. I asked her about the
transcripts of Mr. Helms' telephone conversations which he had
made a practice of writing up for record convenience and she said
these had all been destroyed prior to Mr. Helms' departure.
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(Separately I asked Mr. Osborn to locate the original tapes if
possible and have them re-examined.) In short, Mrs. Dunlevy
said she had no additional leads or tips to offer us for additional
activities which might have been generated by the "plumbers
group."
3. Thomas H. Karames sines. I telephoned Mr. Karames sines
and explained a bit of the background and our need to run down any
leads to any other activities we might have been engaged in with the
"plumbers group" above. Mr. Karamessines recalled the original
arrangement by General Cushman to give support to Mr. Hunt and
his own "pique" at the fact this had been arranged by Mr. Wagner
with TSD rather than going through him. He confessed that if he had
been consulted he probably would have acceded to the direction, with
which I concurred with respect to myself. Aside from that incident
Mr. Karames sines skid he had no other leads or tips to offer and he
felt quite sure his own style and discipline of running the DDP was
such he would have known of any other involvement and made sure
of its propriety and authority. I concurred.
4. Is oke to
to her earlier relationship with
there were any contacts with
With reference
and asked whether
which might give us some
leads on any other activities of this "plumbers group" with our
organization, said that she could only recall one
contact that told her he had had with Mr. Hunt following
which asked her to obtain the office telephone numbers
of two individuals in CIA for Mr. Hunt. She has forgotten the names
and has long since destroyed her notebook although she had the feeling
the names were something in TSD. She said this took place some-
time in the summer of 1971. Other than this she said she had no
contribution to offer other than her earlier comments with respect
to
5. I telephoned and asked
him about his contacts with Mr. Young in relationship to classification-
declas sification, I particularly asked if he had had any further contacts.
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said he only had one contact with Mr. Young and
that most of his dealings had been with Mr. Tufaro. All of these
meetings were purely on mundane matters of classification and
declassification. Indeed most involved stress on the need to
declassify more material rather than to plug leaks.
Distribution
DCI
DDCI
IG
W. E. Colby
Deputy Director for Ope ations
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