From the archives: Nixon officials found guilty in 1975 Watergate cover-up trial — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:02former white house chief of staff H.R
2. 0:04Haldeman found guilty today on five
3. 0:06counts in the Watergate cover-up trial
4. 0:10former White House domestic affairs
5. 0:12adviser John ehrlichmann four counts
6. 0:14guilty
7. 0:17John Mitchell former Attorney General
8. 0:19and head of the Nixon re-election
9. 0:20committee five counts guilty
10. 0:24Robert Martian former political
11. 0:25coordinator for the re-election
12. 0:27committee one count guilty
13. 0:29Kenneth Parkinson lawyer for the
14. 0:31re-election committee two counts the
15. 0:33only defendant found not guilty
16. 0:37this is a special report from CBS News
17. 0:40in Washington the Watergate verdicts
18. 0:44now here is CBS News correspondent Barry
19. 0:48Serafin
20. 0:49good evening some of the defendants in
21. 0:51the Watergate cover-up trial left the
22. 0:52federal courthouse here in Washington
23. 0:54last night expressing wishes for a happy
24. 0:56New Year but most of them were not
25. 0:58surprised when their own New Year began
26. 1:00today with a jury finding all but one of
27. 1:02them guilty the verdict came two and a
28. 1:04half years after the Watergate break-in
29. 1:06and 13 and a half weeks after the trial
30. 1:08began
31. 1:09in those weeks more than 12 000 pages of
32. 1:12transcript were accumulated as more than
33. 1:1480 Witnesses appeared and 34 of those
34. 1:17famous White House tapes were played CBS
35. 1:20News correspondent Fred Graham and Jed
36. 1:22Duvall were at the trial from its
37. 1:23beginning October 1st until it's end
38. 1:25late today Fred first what about the
39. 1:27case against H.R Holderman well the case
40. 1:30against Holliman was the strongest of
41. 1:31all because as Richard Nixon's
42. 1:33right-hand man he was the one most often
43. 1:36recorded on the tapes and they destroyed
44. 1:38him
45. 1:39the most damaging was the conversation
46. 1:41with Mr Nixon on June 23 1972 in which
47. 1:45they agreed to use the CIA to block the
48. 1:47FBI's investigation of Watergate it was
49. 1:49enough to force Richard Nixon from the
50. 1:51presidency but Haldeman told the jury
51. 1:53they didn't do it to cover up Watergate
52. 1:55but just to avoid political
53. 1:56embarrassment Haldeman also turned over
54. 1:58a secret 350 thousand dollar White House
55. 2:01cash fund that was paid to the burglars
56. 2:03he said he didn't know it was to be used
57. 2:05as hush money but again the tapes made
58. 2:08it clear that Haldeman knew finally the
59. 2:10jury found that halderman lied under
60. 2:12oath when he took the stand before the
61. 2:14Senate Watergate committee to defend
62. 2:15Richard Nixon against the allegations of
63. 2:17John Dean Holloman insisted that he's
64. 2:20innocent
65. 2:22I just like to make a very brief
66. 2:23statement simply to say that there's
67. 2:26only one human being in the world
68. 2:28who knows to an absolute moral certainty
69. 2:30the truth of my innocence or guilt I
70. 2:34know
71. 2:35legally and morally I am totally
72. 2:39innocent of each of the charges that's
73. 2:41been brought here
74. 2:42and with that certainty I can live with
75. 2:46myself and I can move ahead now to see
76. 2:51that as this process continues the truth
77. 2:54ultimately does become known and become
78. 2:56understood I have the full conviction
79. 2:58that ultimately it will and with that I
80. 3:02intend to move ahead in the days ahead
81. 3:05on the process of appeal within the
82. 3:07judicial system thank you very much
83. 3:10the testimony of John Dean and Herbert
84. 3:12combat hooked John ehrlichmann to that
85. 3:14money that was given to the burglars and
86. 3:16their attorneys it was Dean who told the
87. 3:18jury that ehrlichmann told him to deep
88. 3:21six some of the evidence
89. 3:22on the witness stand erlichmann tried to
90. 3:24explain himself out of the CIA
91. 3:26involvement by saying that all he did in
92. 3:29the key meeting was say to one of the
93. 3:30intelligence officials here you can use
94. 3:32the phone
95. 3:34back in May of 1973 nearly a year after
96. 3:37the break-in erlichmann sat before a
97. 3:39grand jury and was asked if he had known
98. 3:40of Gordon liddy's involvement in
99. 3:42Watergate his answer was I don't recall
100. 3:45several times more lack of recall when
101. 3:48asked about Herbert combat and that hush
102. 3:50money and the jury decided that his
103. 3:52statements were false and he knew it and
104. 3:55after the verdict he said it does not
105. 3:57change my deep-seated feeling of
106. 3:59Innocence
107. 4:00when you weigh it against the uh harm
108. 4:04done in the whole process I suspect that
109. 4:07the history may strike a different
110. 4:09balance than some of the instant
111. 4:11commentators or striking right now Mr
112. 4:13erlichmann are you saying that too much
113. 4:15has been made of Watergate really well
114. 4:17I'm saying that it is possible to make
115. 4:19too much of it and
116. 4:21uh somehow or another I think the
117. 4:25someone who stands a little farther away
118. 4:28from these events is going to have to
119. 4:30take a Long View and make that balance
120. 4:32obviously neither you nor I can I
121. 4:35suspect that not even Eric severeign
122. 4:38the charge against John Mitchell was
123. 4:40that he approved the Watergate break-in
124. 4:41and then joined the conspiracy to cover
125. 4:43up his guilt he was pictured as the big
126. 4:45enchilada who manipulated the cover-up
127. 4:47from the background holding meetings at
128. 4:49his apartment to plan cover-up strategy
129. 4:51suggesting that Jeb Magruder have a fire
130. 4:54in the summer and drop some evidence in
131. 4:56it arranging to have others make hush
132. 4:57money payments and lying to the grand
133. 4:59jury Mitchell said it just wasn't true
134. 5:01that he had nothing to do with the
135. 5:02break-in and thus had no motive to cover
136. 5:04it up sure he concealed facts about
137. 5:07Watergate he said but he did it to
138. 5:09protect the president's re-election not
139. 5:11to obstruct Justice Mitchell was the
140. 5:13trials mystery man puffing his pipe
141. 5:15cracking occasional jokes refusing to
142. 5:17attack Richard Nixon even after the
143. 5:19tapes proved that Mr Nixon had betrayed
144. 5:21him and saying little else
145. 5:24tonight after the verdict his style
146. 5:26hadn't changed much when asked if he was
147. 5:28going to appeal his answer was you'd
148. 5:30better believe it
149. 5:32it may be the evidence that hurt Robert
150. 5:34Martin evidence of a telephone call
151. 5:36placed to Gordon liddy's number only
152. 5:39hours after the Watergate arrests or it
153. 5:41may be martian on the stand that hurt
154. 5:43Martian's case snapping and snarling so
155. 5:45much at the government's Jill wine
156. 5:47vulner that Martian's attorney Tom Green
157. 5:49apologized for it in his closing
158. 5:52argument to the jury is that relevant
159. 5:54Martian once shot at Ms vulner another
160. 5:56time what do you want me to say yes yes
161. 6:00it was Martian who claimed that the real
162. 6:02day-to-day director of the committee to
163. 6:03re-elect was then President Nixon
164. 6:05himself he discovered this said Martian
165. 6:07only when he found the decisions of his
166. 6:09friend and Mentor John Mitchell being
167. 6:11overruled and figured there was only one
168. 6:14power that could accomplish that
169. 6:16Martian discussed commitments to the
170. 6:18Watergate burglars the government
171. 6:19charged commitments the jury evidently
172. 6:21considers to mean promises to buy
173. 6:24Silence from those who broke in and were
174. 6:25arrested
175. 6:27Martian was there in John Mitchell's
176. 6:29Washington Apartment on the evening of
177. 6:30June 19th two and a half years ago when
178. 6:33Mitchell talked to Magruder about that
179. 6:34fire at his home Magruder did it Martian
180. 6:38had heard it
181. 6:39and it was Marty and who this evening
182. 6:41dogged by a reporter to his hotel room
183. 6:43burst out in Fury used language unheard
184. 6:46even on the tapes and was calmed by John
185. 6:49Mitchell
186. 6:50there was a gasp of appreciation in the
187. 6:52courtroom today when they announced the
188. 6:54acquittal of Kenneth Parkinson he had
189. 6:56presented himself as the Mr Clean of
190. 6:58this case the politically naive lawyer
191. 7:00endure of good Civic Works who was hired
192. 7:03as respectable window dressing by the
193. 7:05Nixon men who didn't tell him they were
194. 7:07involving him in obstruction of justice
195. 7:09Parkinson's lawyer Jacob Steins dressed
196. 7:12that Parkinson was an outsider so
197. 7:14different from the politicians that
198. 7:15Stein said he was proudly helping
199. 7:17crippled children at the moment the
200. 7:19Nixon men were planning to hire call
201. 7:21girls to subvert the Democrats Parkinson
202. 7:24had his credibility problems he told the
203. 7:26jury he didn't read a list of money
204. 7:27demands from the burglars that he
205. 7:29xeroxed and passed along to the White
206. 7:31House but in the end even if the jury
207. 7:33didn't fully believe him they apparently
208. 7:35felt he was a victim not a participant
209. 7:37in the cover-up afterward he and his
210. 7:40lawyer played it calm and cautious
211. 7:42I said then that I was innocent and that
212. 7:46uh
213. 7:47my friends could count on
214. 7:49there there would come a time when I
215. 7:52would be able to clear myself and at
216. 7:53times come today do you think those
217. 7:55prosecutors were too aggressive in this
218. 7:57case now friend you're being too
219. 7:59aggressive
220. 8:03would you answer that we wouldn't want
221. 8:04to comment on that
222. 8:06what are you going to do now go home
223. 8:08take a hot bath
224. 8:10the prosecution team was headed by James
225. 8:12Neal of Tennessee best known before
226. 8:14Watergate for his prosecution of
227. 8:16teamsters President James Hoffa Neil who
228. 8:19had dramatically argued in the courtroom
229. 8:20that the cover-up defendants had defiled
230. 8:22this country's highest offices was
231. 8:25subdued today when asked if he now felt
232. 8:27satisfied
233. 8:28I don't think satisfied is the word it's
234. 8:31uh it's uh
235. 8:33it's one of relief that uh a long and
236. 8:37hard job is um
237. 8:39over
238. 8:41and uh I can go home
239. 8:45how do you feel about the verdict
240. 8:47well I I
241. 8:49know you practice law for long enough
242. 8:51you just you just let the church decide
243. 8:54and you um
244. 8:56you live with them
245. 8:57were you surprised that they've accept
246. 8:59your theory or not
247. 9:02came nearly five months after the
248. 9:04cover-up Scandal forced Richard Nixon to
249. 9:06resign as president to be succeeded by
250. 9:08Gerald Ford Mr Ford was still
251. 9:10vacationing in Colorado when the jury's
252. 9:12decision came in Phil Jones reports
253. 9:16President Ford was watching the Rose
254. 9:18Bowl football game today when the
255. 9:19verdict bulletin came in after
256. 9:21discussions with some of his advisors
257. 9:23the president decided not to make any
258. 9:25public comment on the verdict because in
259. 9:27his new secretary's words the president
260. 9:29doesn't have anything to say about it
261. 9:31however one of Mr Ford's closest
262. 9:33advisors has told CBS news that today's
263. 9:36verdict appears to be a careful one and
264. 9:39that even though one hates to cheer
265. 9:41about anybody's Misfortune this was a
266. 9:43wholesome verdict for good government
267. 9:45the same aide who was asked not to be
268. 9:47identified says there is no chance that
269. 9:50the convicted Watergate defendants will
270. 9:52receive a presidential pardon the Ford
271. 9:54Administration does not expect this
272. 9:56verdict to provoke more criticism of the
273. 9:58Nixon pardon and in the view of this one
274. 10:01Aid today's verdict proves that the
275. 10:03truth could still be ascertained after
276. 10:05the Nixon pardon and the aid continued
277. 10:08today's verdict establishes that former
278. 10:10president Richard Nixon was involved in
279. 10:12the cover-up conspiracy and that Mr
280. 10:15Nixon was also guilty of criminal
281. 10:18conduct
282. 10:19Phil Jones CBS news with the
283. 10:21presidential party in Colorado
284. 10:24today's verdict does not mean the end of
285. 10:26the legal line for the four convicted
286. 10:28cover-up defendants John ehrlichmann
287. 10:30said the legal process is a journey of
288. 10:32one thousand miles he and the others
289. 10:34plan to appeal their convictions more on
290. 10:36that from Fred Graham
291. 10:38the final irony of Watergate could be
292. 10:40the difficulty that these convicted men
293. 10:42may have with their appeals because of
294. 10:44the four Law and Order justices that
295. 10:46President Nixon and John Mitchell put on
296. 10:48the Supreme Court these justices
297. 10:50succeeded in writing into the law A New
298. 10:53Concept of harmless error that is the
299. 10:55rule that even if the defendant's
300. 10:57constitutional rights have been violated
301. 10:59his conviction won't be overturned if it
302. 11:02appears that he was so guilty that the
303. 11:04jury would have convicted him even
304. 11:05without the error defense lawyers
305. 11:07concede that this new Law and Order mood
306. 11:09hurts their chances of success
307. 11:12before the verdict today judge Sarika
308. 11:14agreed to have his picture taken with
309. 11:15the reporters who covered the case and
310. 11:17it was a mild example of the kind of
311. 11:19unusual judicial behavior that created
312. 11:22some talk early in the case that he
313. 11:23might have committed reversible errors
314. 11:25but then things settled down and lawyers
315. 11:28on both sides said he had run a fair
316. 11:30trial with no obvious reversible errors
317. 11:33therefore the defense lawyers intend to
318. 11:36focus their appeals on decisions Sarika
319. 11:39made before the trial began one point
320. 11:41they'll stress is that prejudicial
321. 11:44publicity so soon after the Nixon
322. 11:46resignation and pardon made a fair trial
323. 11:48in Washington impossible long ago as
324. 11:52last March when this indictment was
325. 11:55delivered we began to express our
326. 11:58very strong and sincere concern about
327. 12:00anyone's ability to get a fair trial
328. 12:03under the circumstances in this district
329. 12:04and by a fair trial I mean in the in the
330. 12:07political setting and with a massive
331. 12:09pre-trial publicity and pervasive
332. 12:11publicity and I think when the record of
333. 12:15the jury selection process is finally
334. 12:17released you'll see how terrifically
335. 12:21pervasive all this political publicity
336. 12:24and the impeachment published and so on
337. 12:27has been
338. 12:28another point is that judge Sarika
339. 12:30insisted on trying this case himself
340. 12:32even though it was he who was said all
341. 12:35along that the involvement of higher-ups
342. 12:37in Watergate was being covered up
343. 12:39defendant Robert Martin will appeal on
344. 12:41the ground that he shouldn't have been
345. 12:42tried with the three major defendants
346. 12:44and that the jury simply convicted him
347. 12:47along with a big three but the point
348. 12:49that the defendants think is their
349. 12:51strongest point is Judge sarika's
350. 12:53refusal to delay the trial until former
351. 12:56President Nixon was well enough to
352. 12:57testify
353. 12:59I felt strongly and my attorneys advised
354. 13:01me very politely that Mr Nixon's
355. 13:04testimony was absolutely essential to
356. 13:06the establishment of our defense when
357. 13:08the judge ruled that we couldn't wait
358. 13:10five more days to take his deposition
359. 13:13that was the for my my money it looks
360. 13:16the major turning point in whether or
361. 13:19not this verdict was going to be a
362. 13:21statement about my innocence or was
363. 13:23simply going to be a statement about the
364. 13:24evidence that was presented in the
365. 13:25courtroom