Contents (Click on Index Item to Locate)
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Contents (Click on index item to locate) Subject Page Foreword iii Introductory Note xi Statement of Information 1 Statement of Information and Supporting Evidence 69 As-- ~~ on y 35 780 0 STATEMENT O19 INFORMATION H E A R I N G S BEFORE THE COMMITTEE OWN THE JUDICIARY HOI:TSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NINETY-THIRD CONGRESS SECOND SESSION PIJR61JANT TO H. Res. 803 A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING AND DIRECTING THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY TO INVESTIGATE WHETHER SUFFICIENT GROUNDS EXIST FOR THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TO EXERCISE ITS CONSTITUTIONAL POWER TO IMPEACH RICHARD M. NIXON PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BOOK II EVENTS FOLLOWING THE WATERGATE BREAK-IN June 17,1972-February 9,1973 MAY—JUNE 1974 U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON: 1974 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402. Price $6.10. COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY PETER W. RODINO, JO., New Jersey, Chairman HAROLD D. DONOHUE, Massachusetts EDWARD HUTCHINSON, Michigan JACK BROOKS, Texas ROBERT MCeLORY, Illinois ROBERT W. KASTENMEIER, Wisconsin HENRY P. SMITH III, New York DON EDWARDS, California CHARLES W. SANDMAN, Jo., New Jersey WILLIAM L. HUNGATE, Missouri ~~A. JOHN CONFERS, JR., Michigan JOSHUA EILBERG, Pennsylvania JEROME R. WALDIE, California WALTER FLOWERS, Alabama JAMES R. MANN, South Carolina PAUL S. SARBANES, Maryland JOHN F. SEIBERLING, Ohio GEORGE E. DANIELSON, California ROBERT F. DRINAN, Massaehusetts CHARLES B. RANGEL, New York BARBARA JORDAN, Texas RAY THORNTON, Arkansas ELIZABETH HOLTZMAN, New York WAYNE OWENS, Utah EDWARD MEZVINSRY, Iowa TOM RAILS BACK, Illinois CHARLES E. WIGGINS, California DAVID W. DENNIS, Indiana HAMILTON FISH, JH., New York WILEY MAYNE, Iowa LAWRENCE J. HOGAN, Maryland M. CALDWELL BUTLER, Virfinia WILLIAM S. COHEN, Maine TRENT LOTT, Mississippi HAROLD V. FROEHLICH, Wisconsin CARLOS J. MOORHEAD, California JOSEPH J. MARAZITI, New Jersey DELBERT L. LATTA, Ohio JoHN DEAR, Special Counsel ALBERT E. JENNER, Jr., Special Counsel to the Minority JOSEPH A. WOODS, Jr., Senior Associate Special Counsel RICHARD CATES, Senior Associate Special Counsel BERNARD W. NUSSBAUM, Senior Associate Special Counsel ROBERT D. SACK, Senior Associate Special Counsel FROBEBT A. SHELTON, Associate Special Counsel SAMUEL GARRISON III, Deputy Sonority Counsel FRED H. ALTSHULER, Counsel THOMAS BELL, Counsel W. PAUL BISHOP, Counsel ROBERT L. BROWN, Counsel MICHAEL M. CONWAY, Counsel RUFUS COB3SIER, Special Assistant E. LEE DALE, Counsel JoHN B. DAVID80N, Counsel EVAN A. DAVIS, Counsel CONSTANTINE J. GEKAS, Counsel RICHARD H. GILL, Counsel DAGMAR HAMILTON, Counsel DAVID HANES, Special Assistant JoHN E. KENNAHAN, Counsel TERRY R. KIRKPATRICK, Counsel JOHN R. LABOVITZ, Counsel LAUBANCE LUCCHINO, Counsel R. L. SMITH MCKEITHEN, Counsel ALAN MARER, Counsel ROBERT P. MURPHY, Counsel JAMES B. F. OLIPHANT, Counsel RICHARD H. PORTER, Counsel GEORGE RAYBORN, Counsel JA^rEs REUM, Counsel HILLARY D. RODHA1W, Counsel STEPHEN A. SHARP, Counsel FARED STAMELL, Counsel ROSCOE B. STAREK III, Counsel GARY W. SUTTON, Counsel EDWARD S. SZUKELEWICZ, Counsel ROBERT J. TRAINER, Counsel J. STEPHEN WALKER, Counsel BEN A. WALLIS, JR., Counsel WILLIAM WELD, Counsel WILLIAM A. WHITE, Counsel (II) FOREWORD By Hon. Peter W. Rodino, Jr., Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary On February 6, 1974, the House of Representatives adopted by a vote of 410-4 the following House Resolution 803: RESOLVED, That the Committee on the Judiciary acting as a whole or by any subcommittee thereof appointed by the Chairman for the purposes hereof and in accordance with the Rules of the Committee, is authorized and directed to investigate fully and completely whether sufficient grounds exist for the House of Representatives to exercise its constitutional power to impeach Richard M. Nixon, President of the United States of America. The committee shall report to the House of Representatives such resolutions, articles of impeachment, or other recommendations as it deems proper. Beginning in November 1973, acting under resolutions referred to the Committee by the Speaker of the House and with a special appropriation, I had begun to organize a special staff to investigate serious charges against the President of the United States. On May 9, 1974, as Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary, I convened the Committee for hearings to review the results of the Impeachment Inquiry staff's investigation. The staff began its initial presentation the same day, in executive session, pursuant to the Committee's Impeachment Inquiry Procedures adopted on May 2, 1974. By June 21, the Inquiry staff had concluded its initial presen tation. On June 25, the Committee voted to make public the initial presentation including substantially all of the supporting material (111) —2— presented at the hearings. The Committee also voted to make public the President's response, which was presented to the Committee on June 27 and June 28 in the same form and manner as the Inquiry staff's initial presentation. Statements of information and supporting evidentiary material were compiled by the Inquiry staff in 36 notebooks and furnished in this form to each Member of the Committee. The notebooks presented material on several subjects of the Inquiry: the Watergate break-in and its aftermath, ITT, dairy price supports, domestic surveillance, abuse of the IRS, and the activities of the Special Prosecutors. The staff also presented to the Committee written reports on President Nixon's income taxes, Presidential impoundment of funds appropriated by Congress, and the bombing of Cambodia. Fifteen notebooks were furnished to the Members of the Committee relating to the Watergate break-in on June 17, 1972 and to events following the break-in, through April 30, 1973. In each notebook a statement of information relating to a particular phase of the investigation was immediately followed by supporting evidentiary material, which included copies of documents and testimony (much already on public record), transcripts of Presidential conversations and affidavits. The fifteen volumes relating to the Watergate phase of the Inquiry were divided into four books, as follows: Book I - Events Prior to the Watergate Break-In 12/2/71 - 6/17/72 Book II - Events Following the Watergate Break-In 6/17/72 - 2/9/73 (IV) — 3— Book III - Events Following the Watergate Break-In 6/20/72 - 3/22/73 Book IV - Events Following the Watergate Break-In 3/22/73 - 4/30/73 Book I dealt with events prior to the Watergate break-in. Book II dealt with allegations involving Presidential interference with the official Department of Justice investigation. Book III dealt with allegations concerning payments of "hush" money to Watergate defendants to insure their silence, offers of leniency and executive clemency, and the instigating or making of false statements to persons connected with an official investigation of Watergate; Book III also included a chronology of events between February 9 and March 22, 1973. Book IV dealt with events relating to the President's investigation of the Watergate break-in and alleged cover-up between March 22 and April 30, 1973. Every effort was made to preclude inferences in the presentation of this material. A deliberate and scrupulous abstention from conclusions, even by implication, was observed. With respect to the Presidential recorded conversations, the Committee determined to hear the recorded conversations in their entirety. The Presidential recorded conversations were neither paraphrased nor summarized by the Inquiry staff. Thus, no inferences, or conclusions were drawn for the Committee. During the course of the hearings, Members of the Committee heard each recording and simultaneously followed transcripts prepared by the Inquiry staff. Each of (v) —4— these transcripts is reprinted under the appropriate Statement of Information. During the course of the hearings, the Committee found it necessary to issue four subpoenas to President Richard Nixon requiring tape recordings of 98 Presidential conversations as well as all papers and things prepared by, sent to, received by, or at any time contained in the files of H. R. Haldeman, John D. Ehrlichman, Charles W. Colson, John Dean, III, and Gordon Strachan to the extent that such papers or things related or referred directly or indirectly to the break-in and electronic surveillance of the Democratic National Committee Headquarters in the Watergate office building during May and June of 1972 or the investigations of that break-in by the Department of Justice, the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, or any other legislative, judicial, executive or administrative body, including members of the White House staff. The Committee also subpoenaed the President's daily diaries (logs of Presidential meetings, telephone calls, and other activities) for the periods April through July 1972, February through April 1973, July 12 through July 31, 1973 and October 1973. In response to these subpoenas, the President furnished only edited White House transcripts of 31 of the subpoenaed conversations between March 17 and April 18, 1973. These edited transcripts were summarized by the Inquiry staff and made a part of the evidentiary material presented to the Committee. To the extent that the President declined to comply with the Committee's subpoenas and produce the (Vl) required material, the record of the Committee now made public in these volumes is incomplete. In a few instances, Ranking Minority Member Mr. Hutchinson and I determined,