Nixon's Secret (68 page)

President Nixon:
It’s none of his [the prosecutor’s] damn business.

Colson:
He knows it has nothing to do with Watergate. [Pause] Magruder obviously would—[12-second deletion for personal privacy]. They weren’t stealing. Really, they trespassed.

This transcript of a small portion of a conversation reveals three things about Abuse of Power.

First, Kutler’s transcripts are sloppy—“it is a sign” instead of “these assignments,” for instance. In the settlement we negotiated of his successful lawsuit against the National Archives to free up this cache of tapes, he won a few months of exclusive access to them. He brought in court reporters and rushed his book out, but he didn’t have to do it that way. If he had taken his time and published accurate, complete transcripts, he might not be under fire today.

Second, it does appear that Kutler wanted his readers to conclude that when President Nixon was talking to Colson, he already knew about the illegal Fielding break-in in September 1971. One indication is his deletion of the reference to Jeb Magruder, who was centrally involved with the June 1972 break-in but had nothing to do with the Fielding adventure. Also questionable is Kutler’s decision to skip a response by the President in order to combine two of Colson’s comments.

Kutler himself lent credence to the appearance that he manipulated the record. When I first wrote about Abuse of Power in the March 1998 issue of the “American Spectator,” a reporter from the Orange County Register, a seasoned pro named Ann Pepper, called Kutler and asked him what he thought about my charge that he was misleading readers about the timing of RN’s knowledge of the Fielding job. Kutler couldn’t have been more definitive in his own defense:

Richard Nixon knew, and the tapes I discuss in my book prove it. If (Taylor) wants to say Richard Nixon never said (expletive) or called the Jews (derogatory names), he’s a liar. There is always a possibility for error, but I never changed the transcripts intentionally and I didn’t do it at all as far as I know. At this point, to say that Richard Nixon didn’t do these things is ludicrous.

Still, when the paperback edition of Abuse of Power came out, Kutler made a telling change in his setup of the July 19 conversation. It now reads,

“They weren’t stealing anything,” Colson rationalized the Watergate break-in [emphasis added by me; phrase added by Kutler].

If I had a hand in that, I didn’t get a footnote—just an e-knuckle sandwich from our brawler of a scholar Stanley, who said on an historians’ blog in 2005:

[I]n a scarcely-noted review of my book in an obscure right-wing magazine, Taylor accused me of distorting and inventing tapes. For himself, he managed to find things in the tapes that just were not there, anxious as he was to fulfill Nixon’s constant refrain that the tapes would exonerate him.

The third and perhaps biggest problem with Kutler’s amended account of this moment in history is that it obscures the conversation’s essentially exculpatory nature. Remember that the conventional wisdom is that President Nixon acquiesced in the John Dean-approved plan for limiting the Watergate investigation to keep the FBI and prosecutors from learning about the Plumbers’ other illegal activity. And yet here are two lawyers talking desultorily about Hunt’s situation. Is this what they’d say if they were afraid the public was about to learn about the White House horrors? There’s no talk of covering up, no reference to hush money, and no suggestion of guilt—just Messrs. Nixon and Colson agreeing that Hunt’s prior work had nothing to do with Watergate.

All along, President Nixon’s Watergate defense was based on national security, specifically his rock-ribbed belief that the Plumbers’ legitimate work investigating Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg during wartime shouldn’t be drawn into the investigation of the purely political Watergate break-in. Though he doesn’t call special attention to them, Kutler’s book contains many conversations from the second half of 1972 in which the President makes the national security vs. Watergate distinction and urges aides to own up about involvement in illegal political activity.

Fred Graboske and his team of tape reviewers at the Nixon Project at the National Archives deserve great credit for identifying tape segments that would help as well as hurt RN. Kutler deserves credit for including some of the helpful conversations in his book. Of course in another of Kutler’s spin-zone editor’s notes about another exculpatory conversation in which RN says, on October 16, 1972, that he doesn’t want Dwight Chapin and others to lie about Watergate, Kutler just accuses President Nixon of speaking for the tape recorder to make himself look good later.
111

Perhaps John Dean’s greatest misdirection is his consistent effort to distract from, ignore, and obfuscate the White House tape of March 13, 1973, in which he clearly tells Nixon that White House aide Gordon Strachan had been receiving transcripts of the wiretaps that were the fruit of the Watergate break-in. Instead, Dean directs our attention to the March 21 tape, which he alleges is the first time he told Nixon that the Watergate conspiracy touched the White House.

Dean duplicity and mastery of spin are reflective in Dean’s book
The Nixon Defense
the publication of which is simultaneous with this book. The inconsistencies and fabrications in Dean’s previous book as well as his testimony under oath before various government agencies already bring his actions into question. Incredibly, in his new book, Dean doesn’t mention the White House tapes between March 13 and March 20 at all! These key tapes show Dean’s manipulation of the evidentiary record. The book is badly mistitled. Rather than
The Nixon Defense,
it should be called
Dean’s Defense,
and the lack of documentation or authentication of the former White House counsel’s assertions undermines his book.

I have bootleg galleys and rely on the scholarship of noted lawyer, author, and lecturer Geoff Shepard, who eviscerates Dean and his selective use of the tapes to hide and distract from his true role in events. Read Appendix 5 for a detailed outline of Dean’s slick duplicity. Don’t put this book down until you read this monograph.

One thing is for certain: John Dean should not decide the narrative of history. In fact, his lifelong mission of keeping his version of events agreed upon is coming apart at the seams.

NOTES

1
.     Rosen, James, The Strong Man: John Mitchell and the Secrets of Watergate, Kindle Locations 5108-5110.

2
.     Len Colodny Tapped Interview with John Dean January 5, 1989.

3
.     Stanford, Phil. White House Call Girl, p. 89.

4
.     Baker, Russ. Family of Secrets, p. 226.

5
.     Emery, Fred. Watergate: The Corruption of American Politics And the Fall of Richard Nixon, p. 75.

6
.     Hyde, Henry. Committee on the Judiciary House of Representative. Impeachment, p. 57.

7
.     Caulfield, John. Shield # 9-11 NYPD, p. 86.

8
.     Caulfield, John Shield #9-11 NYPD, p. 130.

9
.     Ibid, p. 132.

10
.   Dean/Colodny Interview Transcript and Tape—January 5, 1989.
http://www.watergate.com/John-Dean/Blind-Ambition-Redux-Blind-Aversion.aspx
.

11
.   White House Call Girl p62.

12
.   Strober, Deborah H., Strober, Gerald S. The Nixon Presidency: an Oral History of the Era, p. 248.

13
.   Liddy, Gordon G. Will, p. 252.

14
.   Ibid.

15
.   Ibid.

16
.   Ibid.

17
.   Ibid.

18
.   Caulfield, John Shield #9-11 NYPD, p. 138.

19
.   
http://www.nixonlibrary.gov/forresearchers/find/tapes/watergate/wspf/886-008.pdf
.

20
.   Hougan, Jim. Secret Agenda, pp. 98-100.

21
.   Liddy, Gordon G.. Will, pp. 276-277.

22
.   Rosen, James. The Strong Man, p. 265.

23
.   Hougan, Jim. Secret Agenda, p. 101.

24
.   Rosen, James. The Strong Man, p. 267.

25
.   White House Transcript. March 21, 1973.
http://www.nixonlibrary.gov/forresearchers/find/tapes/watergate/trial/exhibit_12.pdf
.

26
.   Liddy, Gordon G. Will, p. 281.

27
.   Rosen, James. The Strong Man, p. 267.

28
.   Rosen, James. The Strong Man, p. 267.

29
.   Hougan, Jim. Secret Agenda, p. 103.

30
.   Hougan, Jim. Secret Agenda, p. 104.

31
.   Hougan, Jim. Secret Agenda, p. 105.

32
.   Hougan, Jim. Secret Agenda, p. 105.

33
.   Ibid.

34
.   Rosen, James. The Strong Man, p. 274.

35
.   Strober, Deborah H., Strober, Gerald S. The Nixon Presidency: an Oral History of the Era, p. 323.

36
.   Kerr, Jennifer. “Ex-aide contends President Nixon gave order for Watergate Break-in.” The Day. July 24, 2003.

37
.   Schodolski, Vincent J. “Watergate Claim by Magruder Contested.” Chicago Tribune. July 31, 2003.

38
.   Ibid.

39
.   White House Transcript. March 21, 1973.
http://www.nixonlibrary.gov/forresearchers/find/tapes/watergate/trial/exhibit_12.pdf
.

40
.   Strober, Deborah H., Strober, Gerald S. The Nixon Presidency: an Oral History of the Era, pp. 280-281.

41
.   Strober, Deborah Hart. Strober, Gerald S. Nixon: An Oral History of his Presidency, p. 292.

42
.   Baker, Russ. Family of Secrets, p. 227.

43
.   Baker, Russ. Family of Secrets, p. 227.

44
.   Dean/Colodny Interview Transcript, Jan, 5 1989.

45
.   Ibid.

46
.   Ulasewicz/Colodny interview. 5/21/88.

47
.   Neisser, Ulric. “John Dean’s Memory: A Case Study,” Cognition, vol. 9.

48
.   Cohen, Patricia. “John Dean’s Role at Issue in Nixon Tapes Feud,” New York Times. January 31, 2009.

49
.   Kalb, Barry. “John Dean Steps into the Spotlight.” The Evening Star and Daily News. June 25, 1975.

50
.   Thompson, Fred. At That Point in Time, p. 60.

51
.   Ibid.

52
.   John Dean/Len Colodny interview, January 5, 1989.

53
   Kalb, Barry. “John Dean Steps into the Spotlight.” The Evening Star and Daily News. June 25, 1975.

54
.   Thompson, Fred. At That Point in Time, p 65.

55
.   Blumenthal, Sydney. Editorial Review for Blind Ambition.
Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Blind-Ambition-The-End-Story/dp/0976861755
.

56
.   Dean, John. Blind Ambition, p. 5.

57
.   Ibid.

58
.   “Book discussion on Silent Coup: The Removal of a President.” Booknotes C-SPAN. January 25, 1991.

59
.   Ibid.

60
.   “Book discussion on Silent Coup: The Removal of a President.” Booknotes C-SPAN. January 25, 1991.

61
.   Caulfield, John. Shield #9-11 NYPD, p. 89.

62
   Ibid, p. 128.

63
.   John Dean/Len Colodny interview, January 5, 1989.

64
.   Dean, John. Blind Ambition, p. 155.

65
.   Alice Mahew/Len Colodny interview.
http://www.watergate.com/John-Dean/Alice-Mayhew.aspx
.

66
.   Liddy, G. Gordon. When I Was a Kid, This Was a Free Country, p. 171.

67
.   Alice Mahew/Len Colodny interview.
http://www.watergate.com/John-Dean/Alice-Mayhew.aspx
.

68
.   Liddy, G. Gordon, Will, p. 502.

69
.   Liddy, G. Gordon. Will, p. 501.

70
.   Investigative Reports. “The Key to Watergate.” A&E, September 18, 1992.

71
.   Ibid.

72
.   Lukas, J. Anthony. Nightmare: The Underside of the Nixon Presidency, p. 201.

73
.   Ibid.

74
.   Ibid.

75
.   Hougan, Jim. “Hougan, Liddy, the Post and Watergate.”
www.jimhougan.com
.

76
.   Stamford, Phil, White House Call Girl, p. 17.

77
.   Summers, Anthony. Arrogance of Power, p. 422.

78
.   Dean, Mo. “MO”: A Woman’s View of Watergate, p. 40.

79
.   Stanford, Phil. White House Call Girl, p. 28.

80
.   Colodny, Len. Silent Co up, p 130.

81
.   Ibid, p. 52.

82
.   Colodny, Len. Gettlin, Robert. Silent Coup, p 130.

83
.   FBI investigative report of Joseph Francis Nesline, February 2, 1965.

84
.   Stamford, Phil. White House Call Girl, p. 41.

85
.   Ibid, p. 60.

86
.   Ibid.

87
.   Stamford, Phil. White House Call Girl, p. 66.

88
.   Ibid.

89
.   Ibid, p. 77.

90
.   Ibid, p. 83.

91
.   Hougan, Jim. Secret Agenda, p. 117.

92
.   Summers, Anthony, Arrogance of Power, pp. 421-422.

93
.   Summers, Anthony. Arrogance of Power, p. 421.

94
.   Liddy speech at James Madison University, April 2, 1996.

95
.   Hougan, Jim. Secret Agenda, p. 172.

96
.   Ibid.

97
.   Investigative Reports. “The Key to Watergate.” A&E, September 18, 1992.

98
.   Liddy G. Gordon, Will, pp. 236-237.

99
.   United State Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Wells v. Liddy.

100
.   Ibid.

101
.   Burris, Charles. “It’s the 40th Anniversary of the Watergate Conspiracy,”
LewRockwell.com
. September 12, 2013.

102
.   Colodny, Len. Gettlin, Robert. Silent Coup, p. 153.

103
.   Colodny, Len. Gettlin, Robert. Silent Coup. P. 232.