Strachan might have known. But he admitted under oath in those same depositions that he had told no one of Liddy’s comment for the year and a half before his trial testimony. In this book, however, he asserts that Liddy’s recollection of having said this is probably mistaken.
• The implication throughout Dean’s book, however, is that the tapes that he has transcribed and excerpted prove that he had been telling the truth all along. One must continue to wonder, since it remains rather clear that President Nixon (as Dean has admitted) did not fully appreciate the magnitude of the Watergate scandal until very late in the game. Whether it was March 13 or March 17 or March 21 of 1973, is largely irrelevant in the great scheme of things. From that point on, once Dean had retained criminal defense counsel, fled to the prosecutors (and taken with him a series of devastatingly embarrassing documents on a number of unrelated issues), and perfected his side of the story, the president found himself without sufficient documentation, friends, or supporters to survive the onslaught.
• Finally, Dean’s claim that any conflicts between his testimony and that of Haldeman, Ehrlichman, and Mitchell were forever fully and finally resolved when they were convicted on all counts in the Watergate cover-up trial is hardly definitive. A book due out next spring by Regnery History will show how those verdicts were a result of highly improper collusion between judges and prosecutors.
One thing is for sure: Watergate’s saga will continue to unfold.
IV. The “Real” Nixon Defense
What, then, would be the “real” Nixon defense, in light of everything that we know today?
Briefly:
• Neither Nixon, Haldeman, nor Ehrlichman knew of the break-in in advance (admitted by Dean).
• But Dean did, since he had not only recruited Liddy for the position, but had attended the two meetings in Mitchell’s attorney general’s office where they were described.
• Contrary to Dean’s assertions that he told Haldeman after the second of those meetings and told Ehrlichman of his own prior involvement right after his walk in the park with Liddy, Dean said nothing to his White House superiors. They orchestrated Mitchell’s rapid resignation after the break-in arrests; they would have moved Dean out even faster had they realized he also was at risk of prosecution—and they would never have assigned him lead role in protecting White House interests in the aftermath of the break-in arrests.
• Dean sought that role and, instead of protecting the president’s interests as his counsel, essentially cast his lot with those at CRP who were already effectuating a cover-up.
• Every day, all over America, lawyers defend clients accused of criminal wrongdoing without they themselves committing criminal acts. It simply never occurred to the president, Haldeman, and Ehrlichman that Dean was not acting in a perfectly legal capacity as their counsel.
• Of course they complimented Dean’s work, on tape and to his face, but he never revealed the extent of his own criminal acts. He was working hard to contain the problem at CRP; they didn’t inquire further as to specifics.
• As the go-between conveying information back and forth between people at CRP and the White House, Dean was in an ideal position to protect his own risk of prosecution. The one thing he could not allow was any sort of written report or disclosure of what really had happened, since it would reveal his own criminal acts, beginning with rehearsing Magruder for his perjured grand jury, but also including improperly sharing prosecutorial information with defense counsel and hiding (and then destroying) materials taken from Hunt’s safe.
• When Dean informed the president of Hunt’s blackmail demands, Nixon’s response, announced later that same day (as well as the following day when
• The implication throughout Dean’s book, however, is that the tapes that he has transcribed and excerpted prove that he had been telling the truth all along. One must continue to wonder, since it remains rather clear that President Nixon (as Dean has admitted) did not fully appreciate the magnitude of the Watergate scandal until very late in the game. Whether it was March 13 or March 17 or March 21 of 1973, is largely irrelevant in the great scheme of things. From that point on, once Dean had retained criminal defense counsel, fled to the prosecutors (and taken with him a series of devastatingly embarrassing documents on a number of unrelated issues), and perfected his side of the story, the president found himself without sufficient documentation, friends, or supporters to survive the onslaught.
• Finally, Dean’s claim that any conflicts between his testimony and that of Haldeman, Ehrlichman, and Mitchell were forever fully and finally resolved when they were convicted on all counts in the Watergate cover-up trial is hardly definitive. A book due out next spring by Regnery History will show how those verdicts were a result of highly improper collusion between judges and prosecutors.
One thing is for sure: Watergate’s saga will continue to unfold.
IV. The “Real” Nixon Defense
What, then, would be the “real” Nixon defense, in light of everything that we know today?
Briefly:
• Neither Nixon, Haldeman, nor Ehrlichman knew of the break-in in advance (admitted by Dean).
• But Dean did, since he had not only recruited Liddy for the position, but had attended the two meetings in Mitchell’s attorney general’s office where they were described.
• Contrary to Dean’s assertions that he told Haldeman after the second of those meetings and told Ehrlichman of his own prior involvement right after his walk in the park with Liddy, Dean said nothing to his White House superiors. They orchestrated Mitchell’s rapid resignation after the break-in arrests; they would have moved Dean out even faster had they realized he also was at risk of prosecution—and they would never have assigned him lead role in protecting White House interests in the aftermath of the break-in arrests.
• Dean sought that role and, instead of protecting the president’s interests as his counsel, essentially cast his lot with those at CRP who were already effectuating a cover-up.
• Every day, all over America, lawyers defend clients accused of criminal wrongdoing without they themselves committing criminal acts. It simply never occurred to the president, Haldeman, and Ehrlichman that Dean was not acting in a perfectly legal capacity as their counsel.
• Of course they complimented Dean’s work, on tape and to his face, but he never revealed the extent of his own criminal acts. He was working hard to contain the problem at CRP; they didn’t inquire further as to specifics.
• As the go-between conveying information back and forth between people at CRP and the White House, Dean was in an ideal position to protect his own risk of prosecution. The one thing he could not allow was any sort of written report or disclosure of what really had happened, since it would reveal his own criminal acts, beginning with rehearsing Magruder for his perjured grand jury, but also including improperly sharing prosecutorial information with defense counsel and hiding (and then destroying) materials taken from Hunt’s safe.
• When Dean informed the president of Hunt’s blackmail demands, Nixon’s response, announced later that same day (as well as the following day when
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