This is the transcript of the recording of a meeting between President
Nixon and H.R. Haldeman in the Oval Office on June 23, 1972 from 10.04am to
11.39am.

The key question in the Watergate Affair had become "What did the President know,
and when did he know it". This taped conversation answered that question; he had
known everything, and he had known it from the start.

     
Haldeman:  okay -that's fine. Now, on the investigation, you know, the
Democratic break-in thing, we're back to the-in the, the problem area because the
FBI is not under control, because Gray doesn't exactly know how to control them,
and they have, their investigation is now leading into some productive areas,
because they've been able to trace the money, not through the money itself, but
through the bank, you know, sources - the banker himself. And, and it goes in
some directions we don't want it to go. Ah, also there have been some things,
like an informant came in off the street to the FBI in Miami, who was a
photographer or has a friend who is a photographer who developed some films
through this guy, Barker, and the films had pictures of Democratic National
Committee letter head documents and things. So I guess, so it's things like that
that are gonna, that are filtering in. Mitchell came up with yesterday, and John
Dean analyzed very carefully last night and concludes, concurs now with
Mitchell's recommendation that the only way to solve this, and we're set up
beautifully to do it, ah, in that and that...the only network that paid any
attention to it last night was NBC...they did a massive story on the Cuban...

     
Nixon:   That's right.

     
Haldeman: thing.

     
Nixon:   Right.

     
Haldeman:   That the way to handle this now is for us to have Walters call
Pat Gray and just say,
"Stay the hell out of this...this is ah, business here we don't want you to go
any further on it."
That's not an unusual development,...

Nixon:   Um huh.

Haldeman:   ...and, uh, that would take care of it.

Nixon:   What about Pat Gray, ah, you mean he doesn't want to?

Haldeman:   Pat does want to. He doesn't know how to, and he doesn't have,
he doesn't have any basis for doing it. Given this, he will then have the basis.
He'll call Mark Felt in, and the two of them ...and Mark Felt wants to cooperate
because...

Nixon:   Yeah.

Haldeman:   he's ambitious...

Nixon:   Yeah.

Haldeman:   Ah, he'll call him in and say, "We've got the signal from
across the river to, to put the hold on this." And that will fit rather well
because the FBI agents who are working the case, at this point, feel that's what
it is. This is CIA.

Nixon:   But they've traced the money to 'em.

Haldeman:   Well they have, they've traced to a name, but they haven't
gotten to the guy yet.

Nixon:   Would it be somebody here?

Haldeman:   Ken Dahlberg.

Nixon:   Who the hell is Ken Dahlberg?

Haldeman:   He's ah, he gave $25,000 in Minnesota and ah, the check went
directly in to this, to this guy Barker.

Nixon:   Maybe he's a ...bum.

Nixon:   He didn't get this from the committee though, from Stans.

Haldeman:   Yeah. It is. It is. It's directly traceable and there's some
more through some Texas people in--that went to the Mexican bank which they can
also trace to the Mexican bank...they'll get their names today. And pause)

Nixon:   Well, I mean, ah, there's no way... I'm just thinking if they
don't cooperate, what do they say? They they, they were approached by the Cubans.
That's what Dahlberg has to say, the Texans too. Is that the idea?

Haldeman:   Well, if they will. But then we're relying on more and more
people all the time. That's the problem. And ah, they'll stop if we could, if we
take this other step.

Nixon:   All right. Fine.

Haldeman:   And, and they seem to feel the thing to do is get them to
stop?

Nixon:   Right, fine.

Haldeman:   They say the only way to do that is from White House
instructions. And it's got to be to Helms and, ah, what's his name...? Walters.

Nixon:   Walters.

Haldeman:   And the proposal would be that Ehrlichman (coughs) and I
call them in

Nixon:   All right, fine.

Haldeman:   and say, ah...

Nixon:   How do you call him in, I mean you just, well, we protected Helms
from one hell of a lot of things.

Haldeman:   That's what Ehrlichman says.

Nixon:   Of course, this is a, this is a Hunt, you will-that will uncover
a lot of things. You open that scab there's a hell of a lot of things and that we
just feel that it would be very detrimental to have this thing go any further.
This involves these Cubans, Hunt, and a lot of hanky-panky that we have nothing
to do with ourselves. Well what the hell, did Mitchell know about this thing to
any much of a degree?

Haldeman:   I think so. I don 't think he knew the details, but I think he
knew.

Nixon:   He didn't know how it was going to be handled though, with
Dahlberg and the Texans and so forth? Well who was the asshole that did?
(Unintelligible) Is it Liddy? Is that the fellow? He must be a little nuts.

Haldeman:   He is.

Nixon:   I mean he just isn't well screwed on is he? Isn't that the
problem?

Haldeman:   No, but he was under pressure, apparently, to get more
information, and as he got
more pressure, he pushed the people harder to move harder on...

Nixon:   Pressure from Mitchell?

Haldeman:   Apparently.

Nixon:   Oh, Mitchell, Mitchell was at the point that you made on this,
that exactly what I need
from you is on the--

Haldeman:   Gemstone, yeah.

Nixon:   All right, fine, I understand it all. We won't second-guess
Mitchell and the rest. Thank
God it wasn't Colson.

Haldeman:   The FBI interviewed Colson yesterday. They determined that
would be a good thing
to do.

Nixon:   Um hum.

Haldeman:   Ah, to have him take a...

Nixon:   Um hum.

Haldeman:   An interrogation, which he did, and that, the FBI guys working
the case had concluded that there were one or two possibilities, one, that this
was a White House, they don't think that there is anything at the Election
Committee, they think it was either a White House operation and they had some
obscure reasons for it, non political,...

Nixon:   Uh huh.

Haldeman:   or it was a...

Nixon:   Cuban thing-

Haldeman:   Cubans and the CIA. And after their interrogation of, of...

Nixon:   Colson.

Haldeman:   Colson, yesterday, they concluded it was not the White House,
but are now convinced it is a CIA thing, so the CIA turn off would...

Nixon:   Well, not sure of their analysis, I'm not going to get that
involved. I'm (unintelligible).

Haldeman:   No, sir. We don't want you to.

Nixon:   You call them in.

Nixon:   Good. Good deal! Play it tough. That's the way they play it and
that's the way we are going to play it.

Haldeman:   O.K. We'll do it.

Nixon:   Yeah, when I saw that news summary item, I of course knew it was
a bunch of crap, but I thought ah, well it's good to have them off on this wild
hair thing because when they start bugging us, which they have, we'll know our
little boys will not know how to handle it. I hope they will though. You never
know. Maybe, you think about it. Good!

**********

Nixon:   When you get in these people when you...get these people in, say:
"Look, the problem is that this will open the whole, the whole Bay of Pigs thing,
and the President just feels that" ah, without going into the details... don't,
don't lie to them to the extent to say there is no involvement, but just say this
is sort of a comedy of errors, bizarre, without getting into it, "the President
believes that it is going to open the whole Bay of Pigs thing up again. And, ah
because these people are plugging for, for keeps and that they should call the
FBI in and say that we wish for the country, don't go any further into this
case", period!

Haldeman:   OK

Nixon:   That's the way to put it, do it straight (Unintelligible)

Haldeman:   Get more done for our cause by the opposition than by us at
this point.

Nixon:   You think so?

Haldeman:   I think so, yeah.