Newsgroups: talk.politics.misc,alt.politics.clinton,alt.fan.rush-limbaugh From: [j m k] at [cbnews.cb.att.com] (joseph.m.knapp) Subject: Re: Nixon rehab, year 22 Date: Thu, 10 Mar 1994 20:14:55 GMT Since "Watergate" seems to be coming up a lot these days, the following collection or more or less random clippings may be of interest (deep background only!) :-) ============================================================================ June 28, 1971: Daniel Ellsberg indicted for leaking the Pentagon Papers. ============================================================================ Watergate exhibit No. 148 (vol. IX, p. 3877) July 2, 1971 MEMORANDUM FOR: H. R. HALDEMAN FROM: CHARLES COLSON SUBJECT: Howard Hunt The more I think about Howard Hunt's background, politics, disposition and experience, the more I think it would be worth your time to meet him. I had forgotten when I talked to you that he was the CIA mastermind on the Bay of Pigs. He told me a long time ago that if the truth were even know [sic], Kennedy would be destroyed. If you want to get a feel for his attitude, I transcribed a conversation with him yesterday on it. Needless to say, I did not even approach what we had been talking about, but merely sounded out his own ideas. -------------------------- ... Colson: Let me ask you this, Howard, this question: Do you think with the right resources employed that this thing could be turned into a major public case against Ellsberg and the co-conspirators? Hunt: Yes, I do, but you've established a qualification here that I don't know whether it can be met. Colson: What's that? Hunt: Well, with the proper resources. Colson: Well I think the resources are there. Hunt: Well, I would say so absolutely. Colson: Then your answer would be that we should go down the line and nail the guy cold? Hunt: Go down the line to nail the guy cold, yes. ... Colson: And that at this point, the profit to us in nailing any son of a bitch who would steal a secret document of the government and publish it or would conspire to steal it... Hunt: ...or aid and assist in its... Colson: And that the case can now be made on the grounds where I don't see that we could lose. Hunt: It has to be made on criminal grounds and... Colson: It also has to be this case won't be tried in the courts, it will be tried in the newspapers. So it's going to take some resourceful engineering to... Hunt: Well, I would think that Jack Kilpatrick would be very amenable to an approach of this nature. You probably know him, don't you? Colson: Oh, sure, I know all those guys well. ... Hunt: I want to see this guy hung if it can be done to the advantage of the Administration. Colson: I think it can be done, I think there are ways to do it and I don't think this guy is operating alone. Hunt: Well, of course, he isn't operating alone. He's got a conjeries [sic] of people who are supporting him, aiding and abetting him, there's no question about it. Colson: But I'm not so sure it doesn't go deeper than that. Hunt: Oh really? You're thinking of [DNC chairman Larry] O'Brien or... Colson: Oh no, I'm thinking of the enemy... Hunt: ...the real enemy. Well they stand to profit more, the most, no question about it. You've got codes and policy-making apparatus stripped bare for public examination, all that sort of thing. Supposing we could get a look at these documents from inside the Kremlin or Peking. Helms could be retired forthwith, and you'd cut down 90% of our expenditures over across the river. That's right, you won't need them anymore. If you've got that kind of thing. You don't need much more. ... Colson: What do you think of doing, the idea of declassifying a lot of those old documents now? Hunt: I think it's a fine idea. I'm all in favor of it and I would particularly like to see the Bay of Pigs stuff declassified including the alleged agreement that Castro made with JFK. Colson: Because you were a part of that and knew it was a phoney [sic]. Hunt: Sure. Colson: Listen, I think nobody is going to get hurt by this except the other side. Hunt: Let's hope so. This has been very depressing as you can imagine to me and I've just been assuming that you have been involved up to your you know what in this whole thing so far. Colson: Weren't you the guy who told me, maybe last time we were up to your house for dinner, that if the truth ever came out about Kennedy and the Bay of Pigs, that it would just destroy them? Hunt: Yea, I've written my memoirs of that, but, of course, I never published them. I've just been holding them for the edification of my heirs and assigns and possibly some university research institute eventually after I... Colson: Might want to talk to you about that. Howard, I'll be back to you. ... Hunt: Okay, thanks for calling. ============================================================================ September 3, 1971: The Watergate team broke into Ellsberg's docter's (Fielding's) office to get Ellsberg's psychiatric records. Team members CIA Hunt and Liddy, Cuban "Freedom fighters" De Denio, Martinez, Bernard Barker. All except Liddy had worked together back at the Bay of Pigs. ============================================================================= In June 1972, Howard Hunt, Frank Sturgis and the Cubans are busted as part of Watergate, and Hunt is known to blackmail Nixon. Not only is Hunt able to blackmail Nixon, but on the tapes we know that Nixon enlists the aid of Helms, by then Director of the CIA, to suggest that L. Patrick Gray, head of FBI, limit the scope of the FBI investigation into Watergate. The presumed excuse to give to Gray is that the FBI might uncover unrelated but important CIA operations. Why does Helms agree? Nixon reminds Helms that Hunt is involved and it might dig up the "Bay of Pigs" thing, which would be bad for the agency, and national security , and the country etc. ============================================================================= From White House tapes: >> Nixon: "...this Hunt, that will uncover a lot of things. You open a scab, there's a hell of a lot of things....This involves these Cubans, Hunt, and a lot of hanky-panky...Just say [tape unintelligible]...very bad to have this fellow Hunt, ah, he knows too damned much, if he was involved...If it gets out that this is all involved, the Cuba thing, it would be a fiasco. It would make the CIA look bad, it's going to make Hunt look bad, and it's going to blow the whole Bay of Pigs thing which we think would be very unfortunate - both for the CIA and for the country..." << H.R. Haldeman, Nixon's Chief of Staff, wrote later in his memoir that he, Haldeman, speculated Nixon was referring to the Kennedy assassination when he was talking about the Bay of Pigs in these statements. =========================================================================== ...there was one historical moment which more than any other delineated the character of George Bush. The scene was the Nixon White House during the final days of the Watergate debacle. White House officials, including George Bush, had spent the morning of that Monday, August 5, 1974 absorbing the impact of Nixon's notorious ``smoking gun'' tape, the recorded conversation between Nixon and his chief of staff, H.R. Haldemann, shortly after the original Watergate break-in, which could now no longer be withheld from the public. In that exchange of June 23, 1972, Nixon ordered that the CIA stop the FBI from further investigating how various sums of money found their way from Texas and Minnesota via Mexico City to the coffers of the Committee to Re-Elect the President (CREEP) and thence into the pockets of the ``Plumbers'' arrested in the Democratic Party headquarters in the Watergate building. These revelations were widely interpreted as establishing a {prima facie} case of obstruction of justice against Nixon. That was fine with George, who sincerely wanted his patron and benefactor Nixon to resign. George's great concern was that the smoking gun tape called attention to a money-laundering mechanism which he, together with Bill Liedtke of Pennzoil, and Robert Mosbacher, had helped to set up at Nixon's request. When Nixon, in the ``smoking gun'' tape, talked about ``the Texans'' and ``some Texas people,'' Bush, Liedtke, and Mosbacher were among the most prominent of those referred to. The threat to George's political ambitions was great. The White House that morning was gripped by panic. Nixon would be gone before the end of the week. In the midst of the furor, White House Congressional liaison William Timmons wanted to know if everyone who needed to be informed had been briefed about the smoking gun transcript. In a roomful of officials, some of whom were already sipping Scotch to steady their nerves, Timmons asked Dean Burch, ``Dean, does Bush know about the transcript yet?'' ``Yes,'' responded Burch. ``Well, what did he do?'' inquired Timmons. ``He broke out into assholes and shit himself to death,'' replied Burch. In this exchange, which is recorded in Woodward and Bernstein's {The Final Days,} we grasp the essential George Bush, in a crisis, and for all seasons. ============================================================================= As part of the White House Special Investigative Unit ("The Plumbers"), ex-CIA man E. Howard Hunt was hired by the White House to, among other things, become a "Vietnam researcher." A major thrust of his efforts was to discredit Kennedys, living and dead. His Vietnam "research" was aimed at proving that President Kennedy directly ordered Diem's assassination. According to what Hunt later said, the idea of this was to blacken the Kennedy name by the accusation that the first Catholic US President was culpable for the death of the Catholic president of South Vietnam. But like others before and after him, Hunt came up short on this one even with access to classified State Department files and cables. In Hunt's mindset, the fact that he couldn't find the proof was because the critical cables had been "abstracted from the chronological sequence." Impressive phrase for just not there. So a scheme was devised with Charles Colson's guidance to fabricate the "missing" cables to finger JFK. The bogus cables were actually used to fool ex-Saigon Military Mission (CIA) honcho Lucien Conein, who used the material in his appearance in an NBC News television documentary about Vietnam. Hunt unsuccessfully had tried to draw Life magazine into the hoax, but athough they were interested declined to pursue the story without more proof. But when the heat came crashing down in the wake of the Watergate break-in, the contents of Hunt's office and safe in the Executive Office Building were to be turned over to the FBI. Just about all of it was, including all sorts of spook paraphernalia. Only a few items were deemed too politically sensitive to "ever see the light of day," apparently just information about the espionage against Daniel Ellsberg (Pentagon Papers leaker) and Hunt's fabricated JFK cables. This material was secretly turned over to Nixon crony L. Patrick Gray -- head of the FBI, yes, but he knew it must be disposed of. Dramatis personae: John Dean, Counsel to the President L. Patrick Gray, FBI director E. Howard Hunt, White House "Plumber," nee CIA John Erlichman, Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs Charles Colson, Special Counsel to the President Fred Fielding, Assistant Counsel in John Dean's office Bruce Kehrli, assistant to Chief of Staff Haldeman Sen. Edward Gurney, Sen. Sel. Comm. on Presidential Campaign Activities From PCA72 vol. 4, p. 1362-1366: Senator Gurney. Let's go to the matter of the Hunt material that was turned over to Mr. Gray. Now as I understand it some material was turned over to the FBI, but certain materials were held out; is that correct? Mr. Dean. That is correct. ... Senator Gurney. What was turned over to Gray? Mr. Dean. Two envelopes containing sensitive political documents. Senator Gurney. And what--that was turned over at a meeting in Mr. Erlichman's office, is that right? Mr. Dean. That is correct. Senator Gurney. And you were present and Mr. Gray was present. Mr. Dean. That is correct. You will recall I had been instructed to "deep six" and shred documents. I had to come up in my own mind with a persuasive argument for Mr. Erlichman as to why not to "deep six" and destroy documents. I decided that the best way to persuade him was to tell him that there was a chance that the men who had drilled the safe had seen it, that the Secret Service agent who was present at the time of the drilling had seen it, that Mr. Fielding and Mr. Kehrli had been there and had seen it and, of course Mr. Fielding had gone through all of the documents and for all those people to be quizzed by the FBI would result in an awful lot of lying. ... Senator Gurney. Now then, what transpired when they were turned over? Mr. Dean. As I said, I took the documents and had a very brief discussion with Erlichman. I laid them on the coffee table in Erlichman's office. Mr. Gray was called up from the reception area... ... Senator Gurney. And what was precisely the thing that was said to Mr. Gray about the documents? Mr. Dean. ...I can recall that Erlichman told him that they were from Mr. Hunt's safe and that they were very politically sensitive. I then explained to him that we had turned the rest of the material over to the agents. However, these were political dynamite and if they ever leaked, it would be a very serious problem for the President during the election year. ... Senator Gurney. Did you ever ask him again on any occasion what he had done with the documents? Mr. Dean. Yes, I did. ...I recall that I was at luncheon at the Justice Department. ...At the time Mr. Gray came up to me and took me by the arm and said, John, you have got to hang tight on not disclosing these documents. And I said nothing to him. ... Senator Gurney. But you never asked him on any other occasion what he did with the documents; is that right? Mr. Dean. Not to my recollection; no. In fact, I was quite surprised at that same time that he had destroyed the documents. Senator Gurney. Why did that surprise you? Mr. Dean. Well, I thought it totally unnecessary, a rather unwise move. Senator Gurney. I thought that was the whole subject of the conversation in Erlichman's office when you turned over the documents to him? Mr. Dean. To the contrary. He was told that they should never be leaked or made public. That to me, is far different from telling a man to destroy documents. ... Senator Gurney. Hoping that they might never see the light of day again might be interpreted as wanting them destroyed, might it not have? Mr. Dean. Not necessarily. I am sure there are a lot of things in the Bureau that probably should never see the light of day, but to destroy them is something else... =========================================================================== From the Watergate hearings: Senator Talmadge Now, you related yesterday about the fabrication of cables from this country to Saigon, relating to the Diem government. Could you state who directed you to go to the State Department and look at those cables? Mr. Hunt It was my suggestion initially. I was authorized to do so by the State Department itself at the request of Mr. David Young. ... Senator Talmadge Now, you got there and you found that you thought some of those cables needed a little beefing up to implicate the Kennedy administration [in Diem's assassination]; is that what you recited? Mr. Hunt In effect, Senator, yes. Senator Talmadge Now, what did you finally do? You got there and you fabricated some cables; what was the nature of the fabricated cables and what did they say? ... Mr. Hunt As I recall it, one, the text of one cable which I fabricated was a query or inquiry from the Saigon Embassy, which Ambassador Lodge then headed, postulating a course of action such as granting political asylum to Diem and to his brother-in-law in the event that they should seek asylum, and the second cable that I fabricated was an alleged response from the White House to that inquiry. Senator Talmadge What was the reason? Mr. Hunt It was a negative response. Senator Talmadge In other words, it was alleged to be President Kennedy speaking for this Government that political asylum would not be granted; is that it? Mr. Hunt Yes. sir. Senator Talmadge Now were there other cables fabricated? Mr. Hunt No, sir. Senator Talmadge How did that relate to the implication of President Kennedy and the assassination of President Diem? Mr. Hunt The mere witholding of asylum would have resulted in the deaths of the two men who sought it, should they have sought it. Senator Talmadge In other words, this was the only way out of the assassination, as you saw it? Mr. Hunt Yes, sir. Senator Talmadge And the object of that fabrication was to alienate the Catholic vote in the Presidential election of 1972? Mr. Hunt That would have been part of the thrust of the cable; yes, sir. Senator Talmadge Who worked with you and directed your efforts in that fabrication? Mr. Hunt I was directed solely by [White House counsel] Mr. Charles Colson. No one worked with me. Senator Talmadge Mr. Colson authorized, directed it and condoned it, is that your testimony? Mr. Hunt Yes, sir. Senator Talmadge And also sought to get wide dissemination in the press relating to those fabricated cables, is that correct? Mr. Hunt Through Mr. William Lambert of Life magazine. Senator Talmadge Now you put those cables, I believe, the fabricated cables in your safe at the White House? Mr. Hunt Yes, sir. Senator Talmadge And left them there and those cables were ultimately turned over to Mr. Dean and others in the White House to [FBI Director] Mr. Gordon [sic] Gray who ultimately burned them at his country residence, is that correct? Mr. Hunt So it has been alleged, yes, sir. Senator Ervin That is Patrick Gray. Senator Talmadge Patrick Gray, I stand corrected. Senator Ervin My fellow North Carolinian. =========================================================================== Mr. Dash. What was Mr. Colson's reaction to your statement and the showing of the cables to him? Did he agree that the cables were sufficient evidence to show any relationship between the Kennedy administration and the assassination of Diem? Mr. Hunt. He did. Mr. Dash. Did he ask you to do anything? Mr. Hunt. He suggested that I might be able to improve upon the record. To create, fabricate cables that could substitute for the missing chronological cables. Mr. Dash Did you in fact fabricate cables for the purpose of indicating the relationship of the Kennedy administration to the assassination of Diem? Mr. Hunt. I did. Mr. Dash. What was his response to the fabricated cables? Mr. Hunt. He indicated to me that he would probably be getting in touch with a member of the press, to whom he would show the cables. Mr. Dash. And were you, in fact, put in touch with a member of the media? Mr. Hunt. I was. Mr. Dash. Who was that? Mr. Hunt. Mr. William Lambert of Life magazine. On being asked whether Mr. Lambert had used the information in any way, Hunt replied "not to my knowledge." Hunt later showed the fake cables to Colonel Conein prior to Conein's appearance on an NBC-TV special on Vietnam: Mr. Dash. And did Colonal Conein use any of this information from the fabricated cables in his program? Mr. Hunt. I would have to answer in these terms, Mr. Dash, that I had shown him the fabricated cables in the context of the overall cables, that he was then interrogated by a camera and interview crew and that I believe he made, if not specific reference to the cables I showed him, at least they reinforced his own belief that there had been direct complicity by the Kennedy administration in the events leading up to the assassination of the South Vietnamese Premier.