The Strong Man: John Mitchell and the Secrets of Watergate (93 page)

25. SSC, IV: 1631–32, 1649 (Mitchell); SSC, V: 2114 (most often); SSC, VI: 2291, 2297 (LaRue); HJCW, III: 561–62; UVM, 3012–13, 6615–66, 8307; CI [Kalmbach], April 27, 1988; Notes of Seymour Glanzer from Interviews with Fred LaRue, [undated—May 1973], May 10, 1973, May 16, 1973, and June 18, 1973, RG 460 WSPF Investigative Files,
U.S. v. Mitchell
(Jencks Material), Box 72, NARA; SSC memo, May 9, 1973, SSC memo, July 6–7, 1973; HJC memo, April 9–10, 1974; HJC summary, July 7, 1974. On LaRue’s claims about the summary sheet and the appeals to GOP donors, Mitchell was apparently never questioned.

26. NT, Conversation No. 758-11 (Hunt); author’s transcript, NT, Nixon-Haldeman-Ehrlichman, Conversation No. 819-2, Oval Office, December 11, 1972, 11:07 a.m. to 2:25 p.m. (handling, kill).

27. George Lardner Jr. and Walter Pincus, “Nixon Ordered Tapes Destroyed,”
Washington Post
, October 30, 1997 (overseeing); “A Fateful Trial Closes a Sorry Chapter,”
Time
, January 13, 1975 (key figure); AOP, xiv (Kutler); Frost,
I Gave Them a Sword
, pp. 200–202, 243; Ehrlichman,
Witness to Power
, p. 60 (countless, rambling); Martin Levine, “An Interview with John Ehrlichman,”
Book Digest
, May 1982 (chewing, days).

28. Thompson,
The Nixon Presidency
, p. 138 (didn’t know what the truth was, particular moment); HJCW, 1:103 (incoherence); HJCW, III: 356 (genuinely confused); Associated Press, “Nixon Ill-Informed, Magruder Says,”
Staten Island Advance
, June 13, 1974; Dean,
Blind Ambition
, pp. 184, 201; CI [Dean], January 5, 1989. Mitchell’s press aide assessed his boss’s “intellectual capabilities” far differently: “He had a quasi-photographic memory. He could remember the statistics and quotes and throw them back, and because of this he could jump from one subject to another, and back again” see Landau interview, December 16, 1993.

29. WHT, 137–47.

30. SSC, IV: 1631; SSC, VI: 2297–98, 2321–24; WHT, 132–81; HJC, III: 1120–33; HJCW, II: 128–32, 203, 262–63, 300; UVM, 8087–89; HJC summary, July 4, 1974;
Brief on Behalf of the President of the United States, Richard Nixon, to the Committee on the Judiciary, Ninety-third Congress, United States House of Representatives
, July 19, 1974, pp. 40–52. In all, between July 1972 and March 1973, the seven Watergate defendants, their families, and attorneys received $429, 500 in hush money.

THE BIG ENCHILADA

1. Author’s transcript, NT, Nixon-Ziegler, Conversation No. 164-2, Camp David, April 28, 1973, 8:21 a.m. to 8:41 a.m.

2. WHT, 181–94; SSC, III: 1000; HJCW, II: 251; THD, 592.

3. THD, 605; WHT, 322, 510, 649; SSC, III: 1001; SSC, IV: 1394–95, 1650, 1663; SSC, VII: 2853; HJCW, I: 206; HJCW, II: 132, 165, 180, 251; UVM, 3211, 10015; SSCEX, Dean; Dean,
Blind Ambition
, p. 210.

4. HJCW, II: 251; WHT, 194–222; “Comparisons Between Passages in the White House and Committee Transcripts,”
New York Times
, July 10, 1974. The first version of the infamous “stonewall” transcript, leaked by House staff members, appeared in the
Times
on June 21, 1973; it differed in significant respects from the final committee version, published July 10. Both differed, in turn, with the version prepared by White House counsel, who, among other things, had Nixon concluding not with “save the plan,” but “save it for them,” a reading that made more sense in light of Nixon’s overall thrust, which concerned the protection of aides, not a specific “plan.” When the committee versions appeared, major news media downplayed or ignored Nixon’s second, more exculpatory set of remarks: The
Washington Post
, for example, bannered the indistinct “stonewall” segment across its front page, burying the rest on an inside page, while
Newsweek
omitted the second segment altogether; see Price,
With Nixon
, pp. 281–82.

5. Walter Rugaber, “Watergate Spy Says Defendants Were Under ‘Political Pressure’ to Admit Guilt and Keep Silent,” and “Remarks by Principals in Watergate Sentencings,”
New York Times
, March 24, 1973;
CBS Evening News
, March 24, 1973; “Mrs. Mitchell Fears Plot to Tie Watergate to Husband,”
New York Times
, March 28, 1973; Walter Rugaber, “McCord Reported to Link Mitchell to Bugging Plot,”
New York Times
, March 29, 1973; SSC memo of Interviews with James W. McCord by Samuel Dash [and] Fred Thompson, [conducted] March 23[1973], March 24 [1973] [and] April 13, 1973, [filed] May 9, 1973, RG 460 WSPF Investigative Files,
U.S. v. Mitchell
(Jencks), McCord, Box 77, NARA; SSCEX, McCord; THD, 595–96; author’s transcript, NT, Nixon-Haldeman, Conversation No. 425-26, EOB Office, March 28, 1973, 8:50 p.m. to 9:09 p.m. (Good Lord); Knappman,
Watergate
, pp. 24–25.

6. SSC, IV: 1579, 1649; Dean,
Blind Ambition
, p. 212.

7. SSCEX, Magruder; Magruder,
An American Life
, pp. 338–45; SSC, IV: 1379; UVM, 4634–39. Magruder said his visit to New York was undertaken at Mitchell’s request, a claim on which Mitchell was apparently never questioned.
The Haldeman Diaries
also suggests (p. 611) the meeting was Mitchell’s idea, but the White House tapes make clear Magruder had been angling for such a meeting; see WHT, 231, 253. In his Senate testimony, and again at
U.S. v. Mitchell
, Magruder said it was Mitchell’s idea that they meet with Haldeman; yet in his book, Magruder depicted himself proposing the session with Haldeman.

8. SSCEX, Magruder; SSCEX, Dean; WHT, 229, 288, 514; SSC, III; 1006–7; SSC, IV: 1634; UVM, 3276–77, 4638; THD, 615–22; AOP, 262–79; Magruder,
An American Life
, pp. 342–43; Dean,
Blind Ambition
, pp. 222–25; CI, November 2, 1988.

9. WHT, 222–66, 279, 283–341; CI, November 3, 1987 (kettle).

A GREAT TRIAL

1. CI, May 19, 1988 (tarnished), July 1, 1988 (drag, picture).

2. Stans interview; Dean,
Blind Ambition
, pp. 236–47; WH memo for The Files [from John Dean], Re: Meeting with John Mitchell/ Washington, D.C. Law Office/Time: 1:00–2:20 PM/April 10, 1973, [filed] April 12, 1973, at SSC, III: 1308–10, SSC, IV: 1679–80. Asked about Dean’s refusal to “wire” himself, Mitchell said: “I wish the hell he had, so we would have an accurate description of what took place, not just his recollection.” Mitchell said Dean never divulged that he had begun cooperating with the prosecutors.

Operation Sandwedge was the first proposal for a CRP intelligence plan. Circulated by Jack Caulfield in late 1971—with John Dean’s encouragement—it was rejected “out of hand” by Mitchell, who liked Caulfield but doubted his qualifications. Assigned once to protect Mitchell on a flight to Key Biscayne, Caulfield discovered upon touchdown that he’d left his gun inside the American Airlines lounge at National Airport. “That was the end of Caulfield, as far as I was concerned,” Mitchell chuckled years later; see SSC, IV: 1444 and CI, May 19, 1988.

3. HJC transcript of Haldeman-Magruder telephone conversation, April 14, 1973, at HJC, IV: 709–15; WHT, 300 (guilty as hell), 340–43; UVM, 8123–25; HJC transcript of Mitchell-Ehrlichman meeting, April 14, 1973, at HJC, IV: 725–68. Asked later why he secretly taped Mitchell, Ehrlichman said he had employed the technique on a number of occasions, so “I would be in a position afterward to say exactly what happened.” Asked if Mitchell and the others were aware they were being recorded, Ehrlichman answered sheepishly: “In the—in the main, no” see
CBS Evening News
, June 6, 1973.

4. WHT, 243 (
60 Minutes
), 341–78.

5. SSCEX, Magruder; Magruder,
An American Life
, pp. 345–56.

6. THD, 618; LaRue interviews; Seymour M. Hersh, “Charges Likely,”
New York Times
, April 19, 1973.

7. Denny Walsh, “Mitchell Retains Prosecutor’s Friend,”
New York Times
, April 20, 1973; William Hundley, interview with author, March 11, 1992; “Legends in the Law: A Conversation with William G. Hundley,”
Washington Lawyer
, November 2001.

8. WHT, 733–49;
CBS Morning News
and
CBS Midday News
, April 19, 1973; Seymour M. Hersh, “Mitchell Now Says He Heard Bugging Plot Three Times in 1972, but Rejected It,”
New York Times
, April 20, 1973;
CBS Morning News
,
CBS Midday News
, and
CBS Evening News
, April 20, 1973; “Ex-Attorney General Halted by U.S. Guard” and “Transcript of Mitchell’s News Conference,”
New York Times
, April 21, 1973; “Watergate: The Dam Bursts,”
Newsweek
, April 30, 1973; “Text of Indictment” UVM, 8126–29, 8202–6, 8334; “Mitchell Brief Says Silbert Warned Him in ’73 of Indictment,”
New York Times
, August 5, 1975. Daniel Schorr reported that Mitchell “admitted to the grand jury that he authorized payment of legal fees and expenses for the Watergate defendants”—an assertion that was almost certainly false. While most of Mitchell’s grand jury testimony remains sealed, he never admitted as much in any other forum, and the WSPF never cited such grand jury testimony at
U.S. v. Mitchell
.

9. Lynn Rosellini, “Prophetic Protestations,”
Newsday
, April 22, 1973;
CBS Morning News
and
CBS Midday News
, April 25, 1973;
CBS Morning News
, April 27, 1973; Charlotte Curtis, “Martha Mitchell Testifies in Civil Suit,”
New York Times
, May 4, 1973, and “Mrs. Nixon’s Aide Disputes Mrs. Mitchell,”
New York Times
, May 5, 1973; “Mrs. Mitchell Tells Nixon to Quit,”
Newsday
, May 7, 1973; William Sherman, “Martha’s Alive and Kicking,”
New York Daily News
, May 14, 1973;
Newsweek
and
Time
, May 21, 1973; “Prisoner of Fifth Avenue,”
Time
, June 25, 1973; “Excerpts from Kissinger’s News Conference,”
New York Times
, August 24, 1973 (orgy).

10. “Summer of Judgment: The Watergate Hearings,” PBS program, [aired] July 27, 1983 (80 million); Gladys Engel Lang and Kurt Lang,
The Battle of Public Opinion: The President, the Press, and the Polls During Watergate
(Columbia University Press, 1983), pp. 62–93. On Ervin, see Kutler, pp. 256, 370–71; Nixon,
Memoirs: Volume 2
, pp. 289, 445–46; Paul R. Glancy,
Just a Country Lawyer: A Biography of Senator Sam Ervin
(Indiana University Press, 1974), pp. 161–99, 218, 236–44; Bruce Allen,
Fortas: The Rise and Ruin of a Supreme Court Justice
(Wm. Morrow, 1988), p. 407; Bill M. Wise, ed.,
The Wisdom of Sam Ervin
(Ballantine Books, 1973); Herb Altman, ed.,
Quotations from Chairman Sam: The Wit and Wisdom of Senator Sam Ervin
(Harrow Books, 1973); “And the Mess Goes On,”
Newsweek
, May 21, 1973; AOP, 205;
CBS Evening News
, February 19, 1973 (Cronkite); and CI, September 29, 1988 (senile). On Dash, see SS CEX, E. Howard Hunt, May 14, 1973 (early morning);
Dash v. Mitchell
, Tom Wolfe, et al., “How Has the Most Famous Third-Rate Burglary Affected Your Life?”
New York
, October 22, 1973; Clancy,
Just a Country Lawyer
, pp. 203–4; William V. Shannon and Stanley Tretick,
They Could Not Trust the King: Watergate and the American People
(Macmillan Publishing, 1974), pp. 70–74; George V. Higgins,
The Friends of Richard Nixon
(Ballantine Books, 1976), pp. 263–64; and Victor Lasky,
It Didn’t Start with Watergate
(Dial Press, 1977), pp. 319–20. On Nixon’s low opinion of Thompson, see George Lardner Jr., “Baker Says He Didn’t Want Supreme Court Seat,”
Washington Post
, December 19, 1998. By the early 1970s, 97 percent of American homes contained a television set, with one in three homes boasting two or more sets; see Edwin Diamond,
The Tin Kazoo: Television, Politics, and the News
(MIT Press, 1975), p. 13.

11. “Martha Belts a Reporter,”
Daily News
, June 20, 1973; “Martha Meets the Press,”
Washington Post
, June 21, 1973; McLendon,
Martha
, p. 281 (insults).

12. “Prisoner of Fifth Avenue,”
Time; CBS Morning News
, June 27, 1973; “Lawyer Says Mitchell Won’t Implicate Nixon,”
New York Times
, June 29, 1973;
CBS Evening News,
July 2, 1973; Mary McCarthy,
The Mask of State: Watergate Portraits
(Harvest, 1975), p. 39 (Observer); McLendon,
Martha
, pp. 280–88; Sandy Hobbs Perk, interview with author, May 1, 1992. Mitchell met with the committee staff in executive session on July 9; but unlike Magruder and Dean, who were trading their testimony for lenient plea deals, Mitchell deferred extensive interrogation until his public session.

13. SSC, IV: 1601–36.

14. SSC, IV: 1636–52. At trial, Mitchell said his answer to Thompson related “solely to the motivation and rationale for the actions that I did take, [and was] not an affirmation of the recitation of events that Mr. Thompson had in his question” see UVM, 8336.

15. SSC, IV: 1653–81, 1810–13.

16. WHT, 255; SSC, IV: 1500–03; SSC, V: 1869–92. The official Senate transcript of Mitchell’s testimony contained numerous errors, including an inaccurate rendering of his “great trial” line; the version cited above was taken from a videotape.

17. Lang and Lang,
The Battle of Public Opinion
, p. 77; Diamond,
The Tin Kazoo
, p. 44 (Godfather);
CBS Evening News
, July 10–12, 1973;
CBS Evening News
, April 5, 1973 (Sevareid); Evan Drossman and Edward W. Knappman, eds.,
Watergate and the White House
, Volume 2,
July–-December 1973
(Facts on File, 1974), pp. 139–42 (editorials); McCarthy,
The Mask of State
, pp. 51–69; H. Dale Crockett,
Focus on Watergate: An Examination of the Moral Dilemma of Watergate in the Light of Civil Religion
(Mercer University Press, 1982), pp. 59–61; Plato Cacheris, interview with author, September 8, 1993.