President Nixon and White House counsel John Dean discuss several topics surrounding the Watergate investigation. The conversation is secretly recorded. [Spartacus Schoolnet, 8/2007]
Watergate Conspiracy Could be Criminal, Dean Warns – According to his later testimony before the Senate Watergate Committee (see June 25-29, 1973), Dean warns Nixon of how serious the Watergate affair can become from a legal standpoint. “I told him that I thought he should know that I was also involved in the post-June 17 activities regarding Watergate,” Dean will testify. “I briefly described to him why I thought I had legal problems in that I had been a conduit for many of the decisions that were made and therefore could be involved in an obstruction of justice. He would not accept my analysis and did not want me to get into it in any detail.” If Dean’s testimony is accurate, Nixon has just been told by his lawyer that the Watergate covnvolve crimes, but brushes that aside. [Time, 7/9/1973]
Hunt’s Wife Carrying Burglar Payoffs – The conversation turns to the plane crash that killed the wife of Watergate burglar E. Howard Hunt (see December 8, 1972). Dean says that Dorothy Hunt was flying to (actually from) Chicago with $10,000 to give to “the Cubans,” referring to the Cuban burglars working under Hunt. Dean says, “You’ve got then, an awful lot of the principals involved who know. Some people’s wives know. Mrs. Hunt was the savviest woman in the world. She had the whole picture together,” possibly referring to Dorothy Hunt’s alleged threats to expose the entire Watergate conspiracy. Nixon, who knows the conversation is being taped, says of Dorothy Hunt’s death, “Great sadness. As a matter of fact there was discussion with somebody about Hunt’s problem on account of his wife and I said, of course commutation could be considered on the basis of his wife’s death, and that is the only conversation I ever had in that light.” Dean concurs: “Right. So that is it. That is the extent of the knowledge.” [Spartacus Schoolnet, 8/2007]