JUSTIFICATION OF THE COMMITTEE'S SUBPOENAS

Before the issuance of any subpoenas, the Impeachment Inquiry Staff submitted to the Committee detailed memoranda specifically justifying the request for each of the items sought. These memoranda accompanied each of the subpoenas, and are included in this report as .Appendix B. They evidence the orderly procedures adhered to by the Committee. They also show the basis for the Committee's judgment as stated in Article III, that the "subpoenaed papers and things were necessary to resolve by direct evidence fundamental, factual questions relating to presidential direction, knowledge or approval of actions demonstrated by other evidence to be substantial grounds for impeachment of the President."

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A. WATERGATE

The subpoenas issued on April 11, May 15 and May 30 covered 98 Watergate-related conversations. The Special Prosecutor subpoenaed 63 of these 98 conversations for use in the trial of United States v. Mitchell (the prosecution arising out of the Watergate cover-up). After the Special Prosecutor demonstrated to the District Court, and ultimately to the Supreme Court, that the material sought from the President was "essential to the justice of the [pending criminal] ," the President was ordered by the Supreme Court on July 24, 1974, to produce the tape recordings of those conversations for in camera inspection by the District Court.

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The 98 conversations sought by the Committee may be divided into two periods: those that occurred on or prior to March 21, 1973, and those that took place after that date. The justifications for each group will be examined separately. But it should first be emphasized that apart from one conversation that occurred on April 4, 1972 (among the President, Haldeman and Mitchell) the President has never claimed to the Committee that any of the 98 subpoenaed conversations is unrelated to the Watergate break-in and its aftermath.2

(1) Pre-March 21, 1973

The President repeatedly stated publicly that it was not until March 21, 1973 that facts were brought to his attention respecting the break-in and Watergate cover-up. ("Presidential Statements, 8/15/73, 49; 4/17/73, 12) To investigate this contention the Committee by subpoena sought recordings and other materials relating to 33 specified conversations that took place on or prior to March 21, 1973. In response, the President produced only edited transcripts of three

1 United States v. Nixon, Slip opinion at 28 (July 24, 1974).

The President, after the Supreme Court decision in United States v. Nizon informed Judge Sirica when turning over conversations subpoenaed by the Special Prosecutor that a January 5, 1973 conversation between the President and Colson and a March 21, 1973 conversation between the President and Ehrlichman did not relate to Watergate. These two conversations were among the 98 subpoenaed by the Committee.

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conversations: a meeting on April 4, 1972, between the President, Haldeman and Mitchell; a telephone call on March 20, 1973, between the President and Dean; and a meeting on March 17, 1973, between the President and Dean (for which the President produced a 4-page edited portion of a 45-minute conversation). The President refused to produce any materials with respect to the other 30 subpoenaed conversations on or before March 21.

Among the Presidential conversations sought in the pre-March 21 period were 9 that occurred within six days following the break-in on June 17, 1972. Six of these conversations took place on June 20 and 23 with Haldeman; the other three were with Colson and occurred on June 20. During this period shortly after the break-in, the Watergate cover-up plan was first conceived and put into motion. These conversations bear upon the President's role in directing that cover-up.

June 20, 1972 was the first day that the President was in Washington following the Watergate break-in. (Book II, 156, 243) Haldeman, after being briefed on the Watergate matter by Kleindienst, Dean, Gray, Ehrlichman and others, (Book II, 240) reported to the President between 11:26 a.m. and 12:45 p.m. (Book II, 243) The portion of that discussion dealing with the Watergate break-in is unavailable because 1812 minutes of the tape recording of the conversation have been manually erased. (See Appendix A) Haldeman conferred with the President three additional times on June 20. The Committee subpoenaed those conversations. (Book II, 245) Colson also spoke with the President on June 20. (Book II, 243) Colson's three June 20 conversations with the President were also subpoenaed.

Three other subpoenaed conversations in the period shortly after the break-in took place on June 23, 1972. They were between the President and Haldeman. On that day the President instructed Haldeman and Ehrlichman to have the CIA ask the FBI to circumscribe the Watergate investigation. (Book II, 356-57, 359) The Committee subpoenaed the three June 23 conversations between the President and Haldeman because they were critical in resolving what the President knew when he ordered that the CIA be used to limit the FBI investigation and his reason for that order. The Committee was proved correct in assessing the need for the June 23 conversations when the President ultimately released transcripts of those conversations on August 5, 1974.3

Among the other subpoenaed conversations that occurred prior to March 21, 1973 were four discussions between the President and Colson in January and February, 1973. They are relevant to whether or not assurances of executive clemency to Howard Hunt were authorized by the President and to determine the President's knowledge of actions by White House and CRP personnel respecting the Watergate matter. The President's own statements, as reflected in the tape recording of the morning meeting with Dean of March 21, 1973 and the edited transcript of a conversation of April 14, 1973, and Colson's testimony before the Committee, demonstrate that discussions took place in

The conversations between the President and Haldeman on June 23, 1972 lasted 95 minutes, 9 minutes and 25 minutes. The edited transcript released by the President for these conversations were 34 pages, 1 page and 11 pages, respectively.

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January and February, 1973, between the President and Colson concerning these matters. (HJCT 93, 115-16; WHT 418-19; "Presidential Statements," 5/22/73, 21; Colson testimony, 3 HJC 317-18) Additional conversations on or before March 21 that were subpoenaed are discussions in February, 1973, between the President and Haldeman concerning the possible appointment of Magruder to a government position at a time when Haldeman knew that Magruder had committed perjury, and between the President, Haldeman and Ehrlichman concerning the assignment of Dean to work directly with the President on Watergate.

Finally, the Committee subpoenaed recordings of meetings and calls between the President and Dean in February and March, 1973 in the course of which there were discussions of the Watergate matter; between the President and Haldeman and the President and Ehrlichman on March 20, the day Ehrlichman learned from Dean of Hunt's demands for $120,000 (Book III, 952-56), and between the President and Ehrlichman on the morning of March 21 immediately before the President's meeting with Dean at which Hunt's demand and the Watergate cover-up were discussed. These conversations bear directly upon the knowledge or lack of knowledge of, or action or inaction by, the President or any of his senior administration officials with respect to the investigation of the Watergate break-in.

(2) Post-March 21, 1973

The Committee sought 65 conversations in the period subsequent to March 21. Fifty-one of these conversations involved the President and his aides, Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Colson and Dean, and the attorneys for Haldeman and Ehrlichman. The other 14 conversations took place between the President and Justice Department officials, Henry Petersen and Richard Kleindienst. The bulk of the edited transcripts produced by the President-some 30 in number-are of Presidential conversations during this post-March 21 period.

It is evident from those edited transcripts that during this period there were repeated discussions of the Watergate matter among the President, Haldeman and Ehrlichman. They discussed the effect of statements being made by Dean, Magruder and others to the Watergate prosecutors, the facts being developed by the Justice Department, the course of action to be adopted in the face of the continuing Justice Department, Grand Jury and Senate Select Committee investigations, and the need to contact others and inform them of the results of the investigation so that they could be prepared when questioned.

Among the conversations subpoenaed in the post-March 21 period were six conversations on April 25 and 26 between the President and Haldeman; one of these lasted almost six hours. Although the President had repeatedly been informed by Henry Petersen that Haldeman was a prime subject of the Department of Justice's investigation, Haldeman, on April 25 and 26, at the President's direction, listened to the March 21 tape, made notes and reported to him. (Book IX, 116, 119-21; Book IV, 1560) Subsequently, on June 4, 1973, the President told Ronald Ziegler and Alexander Haig that, while the March 21 conversation was a problem, Haldeman could handle it. (Book IX, 177-78, 193) The President also spoke to Haldeman twice by telephone

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on June 4. (Book IX, 237-38) The Committee subpoenaed these telephone conversations.

Subsequently, in July, 1973, Haldeman testified about the March 21 meeting before the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities. (Book IX, 439-41) Two months after that testimony, the President (who had stated publicly that Haldeman testified accurately) was required to furnish the tape recording of the March 21 conversation to the Special Prosecutor. Haldeman was thereafter indicted for perjury respecting his testimony about that conversation.

The remaining group of post-March 21 conversations cover 14 discussions between the President and Kleindienst, and the President and Petersen. The edited transcripts produced by the President respecting a number of these conversations clearly indicate that they bear upon the extent to which the President informed the Justice Department officials of facts within his knowledge, including facts conveyed to him by Dean and others concerning the Watergate break-in and subsequent events. They are also relevant to determining the information that the President learned from Petersen and Kleindienst, and (when considered together with the President's conversations with Haldeman and Ehrlichman) the uses to which the President put that information. In sum, the 14 conversations were subpoenaed to help ascertain whether the President was seeking to discover the truth or to cover-up for himself and his closest aides.

B. IRS

The subpoena issued on June 24, 1974 in connection with the Committee's investigation of alleged abuse of the IRS sought recordings and documents related to two conversations: one between the President and Haldeman on September 15, 1972, from 4:43 to 5:27 p.m., and another among the President, Dean and Haldeman on that same day from 6:00 to 6:13 p.m. The Committee had at that time a tape of a portion of a conversation on September 15 between the President and Haldeman from approximately 5:17 to 5:27 p.m. and among the President, Dean and Haldeman from 5:27 to 6:00 p.m. Segments of the taped conversation that the Committee possesses, an affidavit by Special Prosecutor Jaworski seeking the portion of the conversation from 6:00 to 6:13 p.m. on the ground that it relates to alleged abuse of the IRS, the decision of Judge Sirica (after listening to the conversation) ordering that it be turned over to the Special Prosecutor, and the testimony of John Dean before the Committee, (Dean testimony, 2 HJC 228-29; HJCT 1-18) all demonstrate that the two conversations sought by the Committee in its June 24 subpoena bear on the President's actions in connection with the use of the Internal Revenue Service to harass or obtain information about political enemies.

The White House staff in re-recording for the Committee a portion of a conversation among the President, Haldeman and Dean on September 15, 1972, from 5:27 to 6:00 p.m., inadvertently recorded approximately ten minutes of additional conversation between the President and Haldeman prior to 5:27 p.m. This additional ten minutes proved to be relevant to the Committee's inquiry into both the Watergate matter and alleged abuse of the IRS.

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C. DOMESTIC SURVEILLANCE

Five of the ten subpoenaed conversations in the domestic surveillance area relate to the issue of the President's knowledge of the breakin by the Plumbers into the office of Dr. Fielding. On September 7, 1971, shortly after the break-in, Egil Krogh and David Young, who headed the White House Plumbers unit, reported to Ehrlichman on the results of the break-in. (Book VII, 1310-17) The Committee subpoenaed three conversations between the President and Ehrlichman between September 7 and September 10, 1971-two of which occurred immediately before and after Ehrlichman's meetings with Krogh and Young at which the break-in was discussed.

The Committee also subpoenaed five conversations between the President and Colson that took place between June 23 and September 10, 1971. It was Colson who had arranged for the delivery of funds that were used to finance the break-in of Dr. Fielding's office. (Book VII, 1248-49) During this period the events also occurred that ultimately resulted in Colson's pleading guilty to having endeavored to obstruct justice in connection with the trial of Daniel Ellsberg. Colson has stated that he discussed with the President the release of derogatory information about Ellsberg and his attorney. ("Criminal Case," 22-23)

Finally, with respect to domestic surveillance, the Committee subpoenaed documents from the files of Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Colson, Krogh and Young relating to the origin and activities of the White House Plumbers unit. These documents were necessary for a thorough investigation by the Committee of domestic surveillance activities. The President refused to produce any of the documents from the files of his aides except for a portion of the edited Ehrlichman notes of meetings and conversations with the President which had previously been turned over to Ehrlichman and the Special Prosecutor for use in the trial in United States v. Ehrlichman.

D. DAIRY

In this area of its inquiry, the Committee was investigating the relationship between political contributions by certain dairy cooperatives and governmental decisions affecting the dairy industry. On March 12, 1971, the Secretary of Agriculture announced his decision not to raise milk price supports. (Book VI, 392-93) On March 25, 1971, that decision was reversed. (Book VI 768-69) The 18 conversations sought by the Committee's subpoena of June 24, 1974, all occurred during the six-day period from March 19 to March 25, 1971. They were conversations: (1) between the President and Ehrlichman who, as the President's principal advisor in domestic affairs, participated in the White House review of the initial decision not to raise price supports (Book VII, 382, 628-71); (2) between the President and Secretary of the Treasury John Connally, who was present at discussions with the President respecting the milk price support issue; and (3) between the President and Colson, who was one of the President's chief political advisors, the White House liaison with

On July 29, 1974. Connally was indicted for accepting money to influence the decision respecting milk price supports.

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