1973 Watergate Hearings; 1973-09-26; Part 3 of 5

the peak local a local republicans are good when the press bus or to hand out their fires it out at the mosque the rally but in the six years since the nineteen seventy three the senate is on the line you know

join the squad is to be arraigned by having the individual right and explain to read about the women's beds and set up the administration's policy and want to contribute to share and become a member of the law this would give us an advantage in keeping track and it has taken over the campaign going he's recommended is recommended in his campaign book is a good thing for democrats to get on the mailing list for all republican materials they could find and our recommendation was that someone get on the mailing list for all these democratic materials so that we get an ongoing flow of their own political leverage i'm mike and others began one of the mud that gets republicans because a mandate is that it is a plot of infiltration it is not a form of mean to get on a mailing list i think we're on the mailing list although i don't support our new summer is on the mailing list of common cause we get all other publications our reason is a

veteran of the pressures daily news and it's not because we agree with their goals i don't think it's a mournful occasion were you aware of any covert activities that were sponsored but the campaign in the for the democrat nevada commission convention brimming with that we're getting are not where i would trust we have some intelligence people doubted miami beach to see how they handle a convention that's a gigantic fear and how they handle their dress how they handle demonstrations are frankly they're scheduling was a little weak in terms of that our morning senator mcgovern spoke eloquently about people than they're mocking actors but this was not my function and this year

dangers of oil goes down there and they could conceivably one of the republicans of the fontainebleau to distract attention from themselves set with a plant the kind of materials that would embarrass us thirty they could get some demonstrators in the way of republicans out there told us to come down here is how anyone the observations pose to be clean as a mountain and the others shouldn't know handing over operations on one man but favre you look at the top ten pages republican forward observation post should be made public now that was my recommendation i was at the nineteen sixty eight democratic convention in an observation post which was made public that i have recommended a reasonably similar observation post in miami beach with the democrats and then i go down there in the white house someone else in the white house i think we didn't have one but the reason i did not go into this recommendation was withdrawn was because of frankly the young the watergate incident

and apprehension on my part to get from the podium they said they got some republicans buys up in the years of fondling began there at the white house who were never caught up in a story so i did that manafort observation post and there were just with an operation we have in chicago and sixty eight but in sixty eight and seventy two was an aberration but the difference is that i want to recommend it if there's anybody without any demonstrators two thousand person miami beach and i certainly hope we have people down there demonstrating for richard nixon but anything like that should be kept away from the observation post which the queen has announced two four and apprehension at the allegations made against him so we could say flatly no witnesses do this was just one more question i live show to have happened you would

be issue by citizens for that will only you know citizens for that will call me one night after someone to connect with him in any history with the candidates and they were just preparing and they was citizens for a little tenderness and it sounds like a fine organizations senator this pamphlet is has only been shown in aig is iraq so this is pamphlet have been shown to me by these death probably monday night was to answer should make a xerox of it which was not gonna fall my recollection of this is largely based on the political system can't get chicken who tells me that i was headed to my recollection this pamphlet is was not my idea i did not drafted i did not order it to produce that in order to distribute it and not know who to whom it went he says it grew out of the text of that he's an honest individual probably get there

it is is that ten years that it failed to have one in a proper again a fine name of an individual lawyers at which is not done routines are forthcoming in a presidential campaign is not affect that i have with me a special session it with the other night forty seven page on that rather than senator mcgovern which was released all of the democratic convention and which is similarly lax identification and from time magazine i understand the author of that was george meaning and sponsorship that if we get interviews that one and your evidence that they'll go to the same three hours of discussion of that one true as we go into an abyss well in fact this was going to do was

to work to shallow liberal democrats reportedly from an organization of liberal democrats that this animosity was a as in the first day you would be no different from the nixon's head movement rules we have now and the rhetoric is boilerplate left wing rhetoric but the statements of mcgovern's remains of the mosque his positions on gun control is an accurate statement of his arm with god the black americans there's no there's not an actress she turned to justice that the rebels have the right as the representative of the level that the organization is urging them to not vote for another it was a senator the thing looks to me very unsophisticated fairly unconvincing the commitments to me to be more of a joke it does not look to me like they're convinced intelligent a liberal democrat to

do anything random and specifically right from these memoranda during the course of my questions began in the eye like those particular memoranda and especially those portions that i've read from identifying for the record in a better than others to reintroduce the meantime the media what they haven't advanced the us it says the document here to record a critical praise one that attaches a time magazine article that was neither blues i just judges have had

some hand very recently i did not know i think it was sent victims and tubes you know it's we've done some our own spare time down the liberal political research and the background of other type activities that justice committee is just things going on in the campaign we felt that the ransoms and democratic campaign this is it it is it's

both thank you mr mehmet ali counsel fred thompson will question white house speechwriter buchanan as a sage take a lunch break were also going to pause briefly on the television coverage of senate watergate hearings will continue after a pause for a station identification on average coverage of the hearings is being broadcast as a public service by your local public television station this is pbs public broadcasting service it's b the

pipe the pipe is booming because because it's

been tough because from washington impact continues its coverage of hearings on the senate select committee on presidential campaign activities here again and by correspondent jim lehrer as we go back to the hearings in the third hour speech writer patrick buchanan is being questioned about why gas campaign strategy fb messages

do you vino rest of the world aren't all be too dionne political fences political speeches political statement political advertising mr thompson i think it gave the weather

would be the political resources which we could utilize as frank as i recall nineteen seventy one the president vetoed a r r authorization if you will to to bring in the cabinet and to utilize the home the vice president is not to suggest that that we get any directives and he can invite president but and now that site nineteen seventy one i think that was sort of a general rule the cabinet and try to present not engage in now and our political colloquy our hand of the other resources i think the name of the national committee of course the burgeoning resources of the committee to reelect us state parties you're beginning to get state committees you have republican congressmen and senators who are willing to take any and senator dole who was an extraordinarily effective spokesman i felt on our behalf yet the republican publication monday which had high credibility with the national media which was really picked up on the wires these would be a few others she's

so on a public figure in the orlando attack on the political attack there is no idea to go through some of these on our march fourteenth nineteen seventy two memorandum i think you'll find a recognition and awareness on our part that's when the campaign gets heated things are going to get out of hand and terribly do you have statements made that too much better access and so we recommended that one individual and i named at the memorandum the attorney general already designated deputy who would be assigned to clear all political copying coming all intact offensive copy coming out of the air campaign nor that we would not in the same problem into a nineteen seventy when somebody else or excessive

and counterproductive so but there's an awareness i think through a number of these memoranda of the things we didn't leave campaign individuals are i do go too far some of the current senator mcgovern campaign i'm sure that senator mcgovern now would do i would not like to refer back to the fact that he compared american policy in indochina with the nazi extermination of the jews have that he compared the president and states without any of these things were excesses i think in the campaign that occur now we were cognizant of that would occur are some things where colonel apart as they occur and i'm melissa block an operation which maybe even the research on it i will find that was it even consider myself

i mean i was my own i'm fairly certain private sector must be would get the nomination so i bought myself a resigning from white as death making a fairly high level operation republican national committee which would have all the research and data on musty twitch political reporters keep calm and which would be a publicized operation and which issue statements of the soviet senator muscular but they are you know in some ways memorandums that said that the mostly russians created in reality he was not created a must watch amounted to actually little more than half of them the research files so you can and jd any recommendations anyway at planning long well no and now let's hack into public statements of outsourcing is his stake

and it's counterproductive i think in very well as a candidate in iran there's more that is right and then another case of the things senator hillary clinton problems came over the national wires

the president directed i was in the room and he did have directed all republican house spokesman on the campaign trail to make no comment whatsoever about it this is that chappaquiddick thing is i think the same policy was in effect this be my recommendation at that are speakers make no reference whatsoever to it in public statement and is with me in the course of a continent from atlanta i believe it was of course it was falling and if you set up a strong quarter of the local families separated recently get isn't out of it a memorandum and hubert humphrey is a very large or as i recall that affects you lead off the media sources of these were basically three one was the files the x files are maintained at the republican national committee on tracking of candidates the second was our own research operationally more now on the new something we get some thirty newspapers and about thirty

magazines everything on the scanners would go on those files read that the third would be conversations which i had on a regular basis with political reporters with the resurrection and hubert humphrey it leads off one emerges from the preuss all of our coal country file with regret granting regard for old uber since november with a few notable exceptions the ex vice president has conducted himself remarkably well receives an excellent press is maximize its assets in an advisors deficiencies result is that today and like six months ago a man is a serious contender for the democratic nomination it moves on from there to analyze how long how we analyze tell senator humphrey made rather than what we thought was a remarkable comeback and had made himself a credible candidate for the democratic nomination in a period of time and no one felt he would've had another

opportunity what's your question this initial conflict been prefaced the next question of mission out like research lessons from lyndon b johnson the exercise of power i ask if you agree with this and i ask you to play with this in terms of known for the band that sales lot better though campaigns go to one of the cell but those things are true and actually that

was one thing members of every campaign at the same time look johnson and they became rampant through the fun and there's the republicans and undergoes again that thirteen thousand people wanting more for example congratulations yeah one

would be scheduled for <unk> by the opposition and by some of the roof and to be given no one year ago that that campaign was to make generous use of the letters this one oh well we established within the year we did

structure within the republican national committee are a letter writing campaign in nineteen sixty nine the purpose of that was to make occasions use of our political volunteers with computers more likely looking envelopes and things like that there's not much more those assignments and much more worthwhile would be a letter to the editor operation and what you do is you grab sample letters and you send out letters are published to show your volunteers in various states he recommended the right today local news your paper the news began to send in fact sheets and other information on issues that you want my kids in favor of welfare reform more in favor of revenue share some of that seven short factions and yet to rely upon in between the state to do his own job and the amount they would send back to you the xerox you say a pile of letters that had been published i think it's a it's an effective use of volunteers and done and we have a structure like

this and a republican national committee which i believe has transferred to the committee to reelect president in nineteen seventy two bn i think the group that you're referring to is that could have been mike felt meyer feldman's a five o'clock log on johnson's administration counterpart of which would've been our nine fifteen group in the white house which was unknown is it and drying by john osborne and jewels which covers the attack group and which in the phrase of german or one was not generally so minor organization we have similar type operations a spot called it in its own right and from the easing fourths of the people agree with the point of view the drafting a letter for them isn't a more unethical and i think that goes to speak like a question

you say that they contemplated to use a new kind of justice to all of this is obvious so well began and it was this memorandum believe i said was on the fourteen to mark recommended that the attorney general clear all campaign copied that point in time it was mine understanding our expectation that the attorney general would be by that time he's given a tour of work there the campaign chairman and ostensibly the surge would not be accurate be on the attack organization strategy in the memorandum that it drafted was for the fall campaign which will

begin at the republican convention in august by that time it'll be our expectation that attorney general would no longer be attorney general it would be our campaign chairman i don't believe we ran in the national a media ads which i was referring to two during the time of the year but the master image was attorney general the national media campaign which was automatically it was post august it makes a distinction i am here if if you're if you have a review function by the attorney general i would also add another state i would generally respected to make you stop if you got a small minor nearly insignificant lisa things that can be done the law down the line but anything like those as a

nineteen seventies for example which were controversial and counterproductive this was designed to make your campaign chairman or some onions aren't cleared materials one person for a winter republic reconstruction then attorney general robert kennedy i'm on stage the committee for the nomination that's right farming communities of a report

here and mr mitchell senator but it is a book on the presidency clinton rossiter indicates that the president of the united states himself and so at one of his duties in roles is that a political leader of his party and it seemed to me that that political division really inseparable from the function of the office of the presidency act on legislation and the like that where i would make a recommendation of the prisoner us who i am you're mad and leave the political impact of the decision would go would go in there it's there's sort of between issues and politics are some of the scenarios and i don't know that you can really our draw hard and fast line at what is or what is not political it's a difficult thing to do you're welcome

but that's those just make this observation has written about the fact that the nation those are two koreas the week historians now you say the initiative yesterday i was in his office the daily report came here and now oh sent out orders i want everybody who's out on the road service everyone informed that they're not to discuss this matter not you well it was less the web and

on political memorandum this kind of the presenter for almost eight years senator and some even before i had to function someone were done subsequent years well well my memorandum would go in the disposition of what the decision as to what the final strategy would be a seventeen would be made of very often let my knowledge as to whether my fancier my recommendations were accepted like oh oh yes sir i think most of the strategy memoranda after mid nineteen seventy one were addressed to the attorney general and mr haldeman and i'm i'd i would be fairly comparable to the president had seen some of them that that would be something <unk> have to test that and while revenues are

no doubt about the president's interested in the campaign that you can campaign a fairly effective by simply being president and states has returned from nineteen seventy two in the kids what it was in my conversations with mr woods a vindictive the monitor severe conservative and then yes sir thank you that's right kinect evidence and that doesn't mean that i'm not my recommendation was not the big government grants and contracts and things like that which are up for bid if there are discretionary funds at the disposal of the white house the words the white house at the state department is doing the study of a

foreign policy problem it is within our discretion has to tune that that contract ago my recommendations would invariably be the day that we provide to give the contract to those particular public policy institute's which were supportive of our point of view and philosopher and you will do you are going to happen well and that certainly would not recommend a grant to totally unqualified and company and individuals within six one half dozen of the other labor are so low good morning

i'm a lady no it is a lot of these but he says on some disarmament problem than they have the capability to do it and other armed public policy institute also has the capability to make a study effectively i'm sure both of them do it the best they could devote them with dual objective research but in my view if we have visitors marathon two in a decision that we ought to support our own institutions which affordable massively in our review it's not

uncommon in american politics one reason i can relate to the fbi money and compensation

well michael welcome center as i stated my recommendations would be as they were but the recommendations of buchanan are not necessarily complements with administration policy i'm irish and i don't know that this is a political season i don't know thank you that

in the seventies a consolation my own view is there sort of foreign relations are things that are utterly really outrageous put that in there along with the cannibal demonstrations against president way for two hundred and sixty eight he promised among the mayors of dirty tricks and there's political hardball times i think you almost have to leave it to the individual his own sense of ethics is what is permissible there's no question that the tree mine was probably a bridge too late thank you chairman this is really a fascinating

kind of important here in europe fascinating witness and that you not only have their perception of bigger role in the political realm of the united states navy our global agility to stress that most clearly and forthrightly it's an opportunity for us to examine some areas of the city are that we really haven't had sex before i do greatly admire your description of the patients are our political activity i think ilana pursue that just for a moment a little later but let me make one or two inquiries into first the question of whether or not the president was above the campaign in nineteen seventy two was engaged to a significant degree in that campaign in nineteen seventy two about the duality of a presidential ad campaign is one that concerns me greatly reasons unconcerned as much more active person is as how disengaged he maybe happen to think that at present is

necessarily a politician i think that tiger has controlled the political process is that the top three only the east so i can't go on and open trust to handle on what the president can centralize as a politician i think it's inevitable innocent i wouldn't have said such a point that i can touch that has major significance for us is not the mandate as for sixty which created this committee mike is clearly implying the scope and jurisdiction of our environment is what is the role of the favored tax free foundation of the law and i'm not pro long standing conversation about rewarding discretionary massive contracts i think i understand what you mean and i think it means all other things being we may think about there's a more fundamental

question i'm i'm deeply disturbed about the royal foundations in any event the cost by raising their tax free status they are in a position to last huge sums of money and control extraordinary resources of this country and i hope and think that this committee are looking into what is the appropriate role if any the foundations in the formulation of public housing in public attitudes and political undertakings that is just as fuzzy and indistinct as your traditions of political activity that may be an inquiry the two wrote a novel that was shelved to prevent that is a significant for my concern is essentially that but there isn't seemed to me to be an imbalance in the political process when i don't believe there's any major foundations that have more than a billion dollars in assets or one point even with the sole exception the ford foundation which had three to four billion dollars in assets generating income

probably a hundred maybe two hundred million dollars and these funds of course of the news for a quasar political operations they can use the public policy institute's like the brookings institute and the democrats' fund for those funds in the west coast institute for policy studies and by a lot of the institutions they've fallen and ryan marciano the quasar social action movies they've gone on one side a political spectrum which i think and given the enormous barnwell fordfoundation discontented tilt the balance in the other direction frankly if we had our way if the conservatives if the concern is head of a foundation such as the ford foundation which simply funded public policy and study institutes and the like i would not complaints the situation is analogous to that my view of the networks where a particular philosophy and point of view of a small group of men has

tended to dominate these media conglomerates and really to work to control the flow of news information to the american people and to me that's not they have satisfactory situation in the city and it's a matter that ought to be raising a political forum and i've recommended since since nineteen seventy the reviews neither the time of information at this point to try to fill in the blanks in those three broad categories that try to describe that is the role of foundations and nonprofits foundations the formulation of public policy or public attitudes keeping in mind the foundation's by reasoning there tax exempt status are in effect subsidized by the government there are subsidized in the sense that they are free of taxation taxation which must be warned other individuals are not horns and second the question of where do you draw the line on on political activity and thirty what extent the present in

all let me focus in on just one of those three though the remaining few minutes there have been a series of inquiry and that is what is appropriate what's not appropriate political activity i suppose that's such a subjective environment will never spends it satisfactory but we have to try to spend some sort of guidelines that we polled well the charge of our jurisdiction as many press is good press that gives us at least some insight into what's gone on before i have a copy of the democratic campaign and what led me this morning and which will have a chance to prove preparing familiar with that it's a little red it was given to us and i like to call your attention to have three sections evidence if you have a personality any of these activities some mention was made of letter writing campaigns testimony

about things of that sort i notice in this section entitled research dollars in the section entitled win i think it's from this recession and women readers on page for volunteers can use their minds and typewriters look at two public letter local papers use original cover to cover many homes letter should be brave and concentrate on one point six letters concerts at the record straight but misstatements of them medical attention and its problems and so forth and there's another section and it was such a newspaper's front page eleven in that subsection says letters to the editor pages have a high readership most newspapers which grows you actually will purchase items during the latter like such letters show that the wintertime

abusing the paper use a specialty of the stage or whenever possible seems to me from reading these sections of the democratic campaign manual they are suggesting in effect a program for writing letters to the editor and last letters to groups is this in your experience with us and political activity has been practiced it says it is a familiarity with it is offering to the fact that it used to be an editorial writer and we ourselves and our surveys indicate a number of cases of the letters to the intercom and a higher readership in our own editorial so it's a fairly useful advice from individual presenters views in political campaigns they'll leave the gym and you selected is another section also on another reference also under the women's sections as well jewell winded not theirs that they use for their seventy two convention and

that it would become persons in their announcement anyway campaign says talkers pollyanna an open mike radio tv shows offered that opportunity for putting across the candidates whose records at no cost organize teams are going to speak up on the issues again like the sound that an unnatural are that i take it is a standard were less accepting campaign practice in the united states you get a few others however that come to my particular attention and there's such an research on page nine it was arranged for some of their staff members to have their names placed on ukulele i was witness to dash was referring to when he would only said the democrats have set up some group called seventy two

which costs seventy two dollars to join but one of our people would send in seventy two dollars will get them the nature of the senator's political organization and expenses and budgeting on page two the canisters consideration must be paid for personal expenses the overtones total process at and pay for them out of his own pocket of the treasuries to pay out a special fund to the general on her locker can trigger that got certain that there are many short the landing on the roads and insurers can be persuaded to limit and a fellow tale obviously creditors you know i don't have any in any knowledge or much knowledge of the financial and with that i guess i would come under the term campaign contribution i don't know how something like that would be handled the report probably be reporting it might be record under the unkind section eight federal reporting and

there's a section that deals with it it is in fact a servicer so certain out of a federal statute passed tort law section putting on page board said sometimes campaigned stationary for example he's designed a sublime writer a shop claiborne can't buy it wholesale sympathetic merchants are often happy lives why's as their contribution can pay for so it does well at the important thing considered in terms of low gen ham there's one particularly gotten attention also under fund raising on hgh is at the hotel is running a viral social hour i think that

this committee's auctioneers try to undertake the identify those things that are illegal unethical immoral and desire and to do that we have some understanding of the range of political activists in those days i'm not only the military campaign at all of these things are billy alleging that they are necessarily our knowledge as pressing politicians federal visually paul generally importance go what is diamond campaign by both parties and his letter writing such as letters to the editors as getting your name on the nfl's mailing list all stations will in terms of the eu first my talent would only

deal with the eu getting on the mailing list getting information which in a legitimate fashion icon and you say that there seems to be due to be routine although i've got no specific knowledge for example oh when we traveled with the candidate with the president to me adam how advanced and workers set up rooms in case for working bands like that we just going out and so you have done it might be an education if you get a couple of little frustrated than stand up here to tell you how they put these things together and i just i'm very very limited in that area have no knowledge one is anyone questions and yours the political activity in your office and by un monitoring the campaign senator must hear some governors from korean ally your knowledge you can you tell us whether or not such political monitoring

activities keeping account of the political health of the prospects of potential adversaries the presidential campaign is the general practitioners always done or i asked for so that as far as i know it has a national committee of course of the national committee under senator dawes a very effective organization and their research there was some of the best i've ever seen but to my knowledge there's always been sort of a tracking the opposition i read books where we said that senator or president kennedy had his eye on senator goldwater and was watching the progress of his candidacy and i'm sure i run this program when he was in the white house but it has something to do with political activity this i mean the sort of things are really in my judgment routine and as i suggested to the german i believe they are certainly what's a president has a program and policy he wants to have carry out in foreign policy which can take over eight years he has to be re elected to do that in

the eighties should have someone on his staff who understand these matters and concerts these matters and you can counselor advised him on how best to be reelected done that with reelection there can't be any continuation also include those times segment by relating quickly a story to tell on former speaker sam rayburn steering blowing outward distinguished by surprised and famous philosophers theaters the doctors of those that the other professional man who had gathered around the newly elected president after this one account was given the elected vice president said would you think mr samson i think i feel better if one out might run for cher and honestly impressed and i think politics is essential functioning of self governing system and i don't like you can separate the presidency from politics and only issue duties and responsibilities at the white

house was to provide a news analysis to the president and weekend brought press conferences that i did that were done the you know the president's daily news summary is something which i do not compare with which is in my jurisdiction it's prepared for the president and placed on his desk every morning if prepared by staff had a buyer more now on getting my jurisdiction generally responsible for but i do not make a yeah significant contribution to its preparation i did an ad campaign of the senate to little mention in there with regard to press conferences i n e d the desk man if you will for all the research and gerald from the national security council in the domestic out of their shops and white house and the agencies i'll be briefing materials which a company which are cut digested and which are then presented to the president's briefing books for his job this press conference is all i've known that for around for

six or seven years now with the romney campaign in seventy two a senator there was at an aspect of that that the news sunday where i did make a contribution outcome in the morning at six thirty year or so and we would go through the center at eastern papers in chicago tribune were available and through the news la and would do a media political analysis to put on top desk images from september through election again we're speculating he's a really good question the survey were not just a matter of fact given the fact that we were not included in the president's new summer is all news items like a natural disasters abroad and news items that are not a specific interests the president that would probably be a higher percentage of copy

within the presents news i'm a devoted to aid issues like watergate in a wooden your average newspaper but analysts say that dated march thirty nineteen hundred and seventy eight on white house stationery copy include new segment two alleged into blues again this is one that i've seen this is one that i had not just a visit to alonzo was not shown the other night i thought about this more right we did they ask people in various facets of it to me and i just let them you'd take it done and look at it seems it's true then i got caught you shouldn't do that so

it appears to be yes sir this is of nineteen march third nineteen seventy a memorandum and it appears to be on the grammys paul all right i think it says but can i please turn eighty five that a foreign language in part that wall what is that this is it

an especially friendly fellow with a violation day in the period and i'm not who only have this right now you call grandpa traub a constituent of mine answer finally a fine gentleman outstanding republicans then lack of internal revenue and cynthia bello from april nineteen hundred and sixty nine hundred and seventy one was throwing his office under pressure well not to my knowledge on some common judge's job could not answer that it is true that <unk> frozen the internal revenue i believe is that state my understanding of the situation was that we had done one successful unquestionably a very good job of taking how

affective control the agency has within our lives by pointing your own schedule c's to those available positions the trio includes secondly it was our belief justified or not that within the tax exempt division there was basically of hostility to our point of view and for us to set up say a macarthur foundation or john adams foundation if we talk about it and to have that set up and say we left office in nineteen seventy two and have a political and frightening to remove its tax exemption within that a problem i thought a lot of different services that matches the head of in television is an awesome and it really hit he headed the entire inter agency but is as a senator on view was that we weren't we did not we were not staffed in depth at the internal revenue the us please follow a same page and then there's some of the

essential objectives of the hands to do and this is a profound a contingent of voters that would have even made it and nobody could order that bond to recommend same day the senate to complain about in other sections of your moment well senator there is a town there is indeed a great area indian thing in terms of our political activity one of my recommendations quite candidly was that as both