TESTIMONY BY H.R. HALDEMAN

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00901R000700100003-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 27
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 9, 2005
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: July 31, 1973
• Content Type: TRANS

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4435 WISCONSIN AVE. N.W..
PUBLIC AFFAIRS STAFF
STATION WMAL TV
Hearings ABC Network
Senate Select Committee
July 31, 1973 10:55 AM
TESTIMONY BY H.R. HALDEMAN
Washington, DC
SENATOR: Now, did you have a meeting -- did the President
either communicate with you o rdid you have a meeting with the
President prio r -- sho rtly prior to June 23rd, 1972?
check?
H. R. HALDEMAN: I'm sure I did. Do you want me to
SENATOR: No, I -- I -- you met frequently with the
President so...
HALDEMAN: Yes, sir.
meeting.
SENATOR: ...you're pretty sure you could find this
Do you recall prio rto that meeting on June the 23rd,
the President having a discussion with you concerning the investiga-
tions that would be ongoing with regard to the Watergate break-
in, and a concern that he had that such an investigation by the
FBI might include the work of the special investigating unit in
the White [louse and also the CIA?
HALDEMAN: Not --- not prior to the 23rd. I do recall
such on the 23rd.
SENATOR: On the 23rd?
HALDEMAN: Yes, si r.
SENATOR: Was that on the 23rd itself?
HALDEMAN: Uh-huh.
SENATOR: Is that what prompted your having a meeting
L,,-with Mr. Helms and Mr. Walters on the 23rd?
HALDEMAN: Yes.
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4435 WISCONSIN AVE. N.W.. WAS
PUBLIC AFFAIRS STAFF
Senate Select Committee Hearings.
DATE July 31, 1973 12:08 PM
STATION WMAL TV
ABC Network
CITY Washington, DC
TESTIMONY BY H. R. HALDEMAN
MINORITY COUNSEL FRED THOMPSON: Mr. Haldeman, let me --
let me ask you about a few things before lunch if we can.
I want to ask you, first of all, about this June 23rd meeting
with Helms/Walters -- Mr. Helms and Mr. Walters and Mr. Ehrlichman. You
alluded to that and you've addressed yourself to that in your statement.
What first caused you to believe that perhaps there was-some
CIA involvement or CIA exposure which resulted in this particular meeting?
H. R. HALDEMAN: I at no time believed that there was CIA
involvement or CIA exposure, and I was not operating as a principal in
this matter on the basis of any belief that I held. What first instigated
the -- or what started the process that led to this meeting was a report
to me by Mr. John Dean on either late the evening of the 22nd or -- or
early the morning of the 23rd, that in his communications with the FBI,
the FBI was concerned as to whether there might be some CIA involvement
or whether their investigation was in danger of impinging upon -- and
compromising any CIA activities.
TMOMPSO-N: So was it Mr. Gray, then, who first brought this
subject up, that there could possibly be or that he might be concerned
about it?
HALDEt?1M : It -- it was Mr. Dean who first brought the subject
up to me. I did --- I have never discussed this subject with Mr. Gray.
I did not that day and I have not since.
THOMPSON: Did he state that he was basing his discussion
or his concern on conversations with the FBI or MM1r. Gray, specifically?
HALDE'?1AU: lie -- Mr. Dean...
THO';PSO,t: Yes.
HAI_DE:Ivw: ...stated that. Yes, sir.
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PUBLIC AFFAIRS STAFF
PROGRAM Senate Select Committee Hearings
DATE July 30, 1973 2:00 PM
EHRLICHMAN TESTIMONY
WTOP TV
CBS Network
Washington, DC
MAN: You may see some Senators moving in and out of the
room. There are two votes scheduled for this afternoon.
I see Senator Ervin has already started the proceedings so
Let's join and see what he has to say.
[Technical difficulties].
SENATOR: Mr. Ehrlichman, following the meetings that you
had -- or the meeting that you had on June 23rd with 'Mr. Walters and Mr.
Helms and hr. Haldeman, did you instruct Mr. Dean to contact Mr. Walters
and follow up on the June 23rd meeting?
JOHN EIIRLICHI1AN: No, sir. I simply notified Mr. Dean that
there had been a meeting, that General Walters was going to be talking
with Mr. Gray and that we had indicated to General Walters that Mr. Dean
would be his contact from that point forward.
SENATOR: And did there come a time when General Walters
did call you and ask you -- and tell you that he was going to have a meeting
or that Dean had contacted him and was it alright: for him to speak to .Hr.
Dean?
EHRLICHFMIAN: It either happened that way or I told him at
the time of the meeting on the 23rd, Dean would be his contact. One or
the other. But I am quite sure that I indicated to General Walters that
Dean was the ;hite House man who was looking after this whole subject.
SENATOR: And were you aware that Mr. Dean, in fact, did
meet with General Walters on June 25th?
E-IRLICH,"AN: No, I was not at-,tare of those r,meetings, which...
SENATOR: There was a series of meetings.
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 RADIO TV REPORTS. INC.
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PUBLIC AFFAIRS STAFF
Senate Watergate Hearings WTOP TV
PROGRAM STATION CBS Network
DATE July 30, 1973 10.00-AM- CITY Washington, D.C.
TESTIMONY BY H. R. HALDEMAN
H. R. HALDEMAN: ...Any attempt on my part at this
time to try to identify those who participated in, directed
or knew of the illegal cover-up would, of necessity, be based
totally on hearsay.
There was a concern at the White House that activities
-'which had been in no way related to Watergate or to the 1972
political campaign, and which were in the area of national
security, would be compromised in the process of the Watergate
investigation and the attendant publicity and political furor.
The recent public disclosure of the FBI wiretaps on present
NSC personnel, the details of the Plumbers' operations, and
so on, fully justifies that concern.
As a result of this concern and the FBI's request through
Pat Gray to John Dean for guidance regarding some aspects of
the Watergate investigation, because of the possibility of
CIA involvement, the President directed John Ehrlichman and
me to meet with the Director and Deputy Director of the CIA
on June 23rd. We did so and ascertained from them that there
had not been any CIA involvement in the Watergate affair and
that there was no concern on the part of Director Helms as
to the fact that some of the Watergate participants had been
involved in the Bay of Pigs operation of the CIA.
We discussed the White House concern regarding possible
disclosure of non-Watergate related covert CIA operations or
other non-related national security activities that had been
undertaken previously by some of the Watergate participants,
and we requested Deputy Director Walters to meet with Director
Gray of the FBI to express these concerns and to coordinate
with the FBI so that the FBI's area of investigation of the
Watergate participants not be expanded into unrelated matters
which could lead to disclosures of earlier national security
or CIA activities.
Wal tens agreed to meet with Gray as requested. 1 do
not recall havi ng any other communi cation or meeting wi th Walters ,
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 17ASI-JI?;GTOll STnR
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The Senate Watergate
Committee voted today to
continue its hearings into
the August recess of Con-
gress in urder to heear seven
more witnesses in its
"phase one" investigation
of the Watergate scandal.
Committee members said
the decision probably will
keep them in session at
least a week beyond the
start of the recess on Fri-
day.
The witnesses who re-
main on the schedu c are H.
R. HLDEMAN, FORMER
White House chief of st2'f;
L. Patrick Gray, former
F131 director; former Any.
Gen. Richard Kleindienst;
Rdm
Assistant Atty. Gen. Henry
Petersen; former CIA
Director Richard Helms;
former Deputy CIA Direc-
tor Robert Cushman and his
successpr, Gen. Vernon
Walters.
Dropped from the sched-
ule were seven witnesses
previously expected to testi-
fy: Charles W. Colson, for-
mer White House special
counsel; Egil Krogh Jr. and
David Youn former mem-
bers of the White House
"plumbers"; Paul O'Brien
and Kenneth Parkinson,
Nixon canipai;n lawyers,
and William O. Pittman,
defense attorney for Water-
gate conspirator E. Howard
Hunt.
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 WASHINGTON POST
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-( -r~ 71
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17
; 6.i # l t kf G Y 1
Sen. Lowell P. \Veicler (R-.
tonn.) read 1:hrlichman por-
tions of a June, 1972, memo
by deputy CIA director Gen.
'-' Vernon (. 1Vali ers indicating
that Haldeman and Ehrlicb-
fnan were attempting to force.
the CL \ to restrain the F131's
investigation of the Water-
,also read
F:hrliclnnan a statement by
L---ClA Director Richard Helms
-sayin2 that 10ldeman had
told \1'alters "in no uncertain
terms" to have the CIA re-
&lrain the FBI.
Ehrlichmar, remained firm
in his description of the CIA
contacts as hying only to see
if : the i) I inveslira.tion
N,oulrl expose CIA activities
and not to otherwise restrain
the 1i'rWs 1Vatcraate investi-
gation. He added, however,
that 11,Ildewan .,.ouid be
: n u' he?t n fitness" .s to what
tlaldenian said to `,Valtors.
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STAT
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STA
.acerpts From E-hrlichman's Testim nnv
Before the Senate Committee
Spect
to The New York Times
Following are excerpts from have quit the office, that he
the transcript of testimony surveillance, did no]c enough about
although he had.
by John D. Ehrlichman today spent his lifetime in it. A. I
on the 29th day of hearings did not say that and I would
t, on the Watergate case before not intend to say that, Mr.
the Senate Select Committee Chairman.
on Presidential Campaign Different Ideas
Activities. Q: Well, you said he had
AFTERNOON different ideas about surveil-
lance lance from what the White
House had. No. Q. Well, you
SENATOR ERVIN: You said he would not cooperate
spoke of the Kerner Commis- with the White House. A.
sion and the Warren Com- What I said was that in a
mission. Both of these specific instance he had very
commissions were appointed fixed ideas about the degree
by the president in office at to which the bureau should
the time of their appointment cooperate in this [Ellsberg]
and both of them worked in investigation.
public, di they not? Q. Yes. He had very fixed
MR. EHRLICHMAN: Yes, ideas when the President ap-
sir. pointed Tom Charles Huston
Q. And in that respect they to devise him a method of
were unlike the plumbers having American citizens
who were appointed in secret spied on, Mr. Hoover had
and whose identity was kept the fixed idea that they
secret from the American ought not to resort to bur-
people. glary, that they ought not to
A. Well, Mr. Chairman, first resort to the use of under-
of all, their identity was not cover military agents, that
kept secret. It was the sub- they ought not to resort to
ject of newspaper stories. virtually unlimited surveil-
Secondly, the reason that lance, and they ought not to
I cited you to the reports of resort to mail cover, and that
those commissions was be- was stated if-, Tom Charles
cause they both discussed, or rluston in documents put in
so my information is, they evidence here about 15 times
both discussed the use of psy- before the President approved
chialric profiles with relation those documents. So he did
to United States citizens and, not cooperate.
of course, one of them I am going to say, to
brought me to the realization speak for his ciefense beyond
that the Secret Service does the grave since he is not
conduct such in activity with here. I call attention to the
relation to United States cit- fact that Tom Charles Hus-
izens in aid of its protection ton told the White House
of the President and the Vice 12 or 15 times in docu-
President and others in trying meats recommending hur-
to determine in advance who glary, recommending the use
might be threats to assassina- of undercover military
tion attempts. 1 gents, recommending mail
So it goes to the point that coverage, re,xnnmendine, vir-
you raised '.-esterday that. Wally unlimited surveillance.
such a technique v: ould be it- Twelve or 15 times he [dir.
legal with rc9ard to United Hootct?J prou's:ed against the
use Of those things and \Pr
StatC'S citizens, _
Q. Well, v, as not the exist- the President approved them.
ence of the nlunther=. !:eat sc- And here in the very let!er
cret from the C.I.A. that he wrote to the ulan who
hr:d ch
and a,arke of the sun cil-
ntt.c?t? inyesti;:a~ivr !ct- lance the effort, to t
dies of the Go"ernnnent:' A.
N the record of the 1'
t~tchi-
o,
a,ri~t h"'10 on a
1)id ~cu till ?r. iiuo',Prr t,h,,,ttt u'torc pro !nral.in.
aho!it Ii?t'ltt? A. 1'c ;r. ;teri ?
y.'c also told the ,?'\tlnrnt,s the ~;1 that ,it
c""'-it- r- ,l l,r;,g;t if son concur' \?:c twill
exception because he did not
make it a practice to inter-
view people who-were under
indictment.
So there he was willing to
cooperate and another thing,
along about this time, as a
member of the United States
Senate, I was fighting the
efforts of the Administration
to get no-knock laws enacted,
to get the detention laws en-
acted, to expand by execu-
tive fiat the powers of the
Subversive Activity Control
Board, and I was fighting
against the proposition of
being defender of the Depart-
ment of Justice that it was
all right to use undercover
military agents to spy on
civilans exercising their First
Amendment rights.
Hoover Eendorsement
And about at that time I
got a letter from J. Edgar
Hoover, "You have indeed
been one of the guardians of
our liberties and protectors
o four freedoms. All Amer-
icans owe you a debt of grat-
itude."
I don't offer that as any
praise of myself but I offer
that as evidence of Mr. Hoo-
ver's devotion to the basic
rights of American citizens,
the rights not to be burglar-
ized, and I think that since
he Can't speak for himself
that his oCunletlts Ottuht to
be able to convey his atti-
tude. I can understand, Nav-
in; heard this testimony,
about the Ellsberg matter,
why you say that Mr. Hoover
would not cooperate with the
White House, and he was on
the side of liberty.
NOW, you testified that the
plumbers attempted to get
the records of the psychia-
trist in order that someone of
the C.I.A. or soincixxla else,
might develop a p