Nixon on Tape: Fred Thompson "Dumb as Hell" (ZOT!!! Not dumb like some)

Associated Press via Yahoo! ^ | 7/7/07 | Joan Lowy

[j24601]

WASHINGTON - Fred Thompson gained an image as a tough-minded investigative counsel for the Senate Watergate committee. Yet President Nixon and his top aides viewed the fellow Republican as a willing, if not too bright, ally, according to White House tapes.

Thompson, now preparing a bid for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination, won fame in 1973 for asking a committee witness the bombshell question that revealed Nixon had installed hidden listening devices and taping equipment in the Oval Office.

Those tapes show Thompson played a behind-the-scenes role that was very different from his public image three decades ago. He comes across as a partisan willing to cooperate with the Nixon White House's effort to discredit the committee's star witness.

It was Thompson who tipped off the White House that the Senate committee knew about the tapes. They eventually cinched Nixon's downfall in the scandal resulting from the break-in at Democratic headquarters in the Watergate complex in Washington and the subsequent White House cover-up.

Thompson, then 30, was appointed counsel by his political mentor, Tennessee Sen. Howard Baker, the top Republican on the Senate investigative committee. Thompson had been an assistant U.S. attorney in Nashville, Tenn., and had managed Baker's re-election campaign. Thompson later was a senator himself.

Nixon was disappointed with the selection of Thompson, whom he called "dumb as hell." The president did not think Thompson was skilled enough to interrogate unfriendly witnesses and would be outsmarted by the committee's Democratic counsel.

This assessment comes from audio tapes of White House conversations recently reviewed by The Associated Press at the National Archives in College Park, Md., and transcripts of those discussions that are published in "Abuse of Power: The New Watergate Tapes," by historian Stanley Kutler.

"Oh shit, that kid," Nixon said when told by his chief of staff, H.R. Haldeman, of Thompson's appointment on Feb. 22, 1973.

"Well, we're stuck with him," Haldeman said.

In a meeting later that day in the Old Executive Office Building, Baker assured Nixon that Thompson was up to the task. "He's tough. He's six feet five inches, a big mean fella," the senator told Nixon.

Publicly, Baker and Thompson presented themselves as dedicated to uncovering the truth. But Baker had secret meetings and conversations with Nixon and his top aides, while Thompson worked cooperatively with the White House and accepted coaching from Nixon's lawyer, J. Fred Buzhardt, the tapes and transcripts show.

"We've got a pretty good rapport with Fred Thompson," Buzhardt told Nixon in an Oval Office meeting on June 6, 1973. The meeting included a discussion of former White House counsel John Dean's upcoming testimony before the committee.

Dean, the committee's star witness, had agreed to tell what he knew about the break-in and cover-up if he was granted immunity against anything incriminating he might say.

Nixon expressed concern that Thompson was not "very smart."

"Not extremely so," Buzhardt agreed.

"But he's friendly," Nixon said.

"But he's friendly," Buzhardt agreed. "We are hoping, though, to work with Thompson and prepare him, if Dean does appear next week, to do a very thorough cross-examination."

Five days later, Buzhardt reported to Nixon that he had primed Thompson for the Dean cross-examination.

"I found Thompson most cooperative, feeling more Republican every day," Buzhardt said. "Uh, perfectly prepared to assist in really doing a cross-examination."

Later in the same conversation, Buzhardt said Thompson was "willing to go, you know, pretty much the distance now. And he said he realized his responsibility was going to have be as a Republican increasingly."

Thompson, who declined comment for this story, described himself in his book, "At That Point in Time," published in 1975, as a Nixon administration "loyalist" who struggled with his role as minority counsel. "I would try to walk a fine line between a good-faith pursuit of the investigation and a good-faith attempt to insure balance and fairness," Thompson wrote.

When Dean began testifying on June 25, he implicated Nixon in the break-in and cover-up. But his testimony had little legal impact because it was his word against the president's.

During Dean's testimony, Baker asked the question that became the embodiment of the Watergate scandal: "What did the president know and when did he know it?" Thompson is sometimes credited with supplying the question to Baker.

The question was widely perceived at the time as an example of Baker's willingness to press for truth at the expense of his party's leader. Historian Kutler, however, said he believes that in the context of Dean's testimony, the question was Baker's attempt to point out that the evidence hinged on one witness's word.

It was not until three weeks later — after the disclosure of the existence of tape recordings that might either corroborate or disprove Dean's testimony — that Baker's question took on new meaning, Kutler said.

At a hearing on July 16, Thompson asked former White House aide Alexander Butterfield: "Mr. Butterfield, are you aware of the installation of any listening devices in the Oval Office of the president?"

Butterfield's confirmation of the recordings set off a cascade of events that led to Nixon's resignation 13 months later.

The question made Thompson instantly famous. His political Web site — http://www.imwithfred.com — prominently notes: "Friends in Tennessee still recall seeing the boy they'd grown up with on TV, sitting at the Senate hearing-room dais. He gained national attention for leading the line of inquiry that revealed the audio-taping system in the White House Oval Office."

What rarely is mentioned is that Thompson knew the answer to the question before he asked it. Investigators for the committee had gotten the information out of Butterfield during hours of behind-the-scenes questioning three days earlier, on July 13.

Thompson was not present, but a Republican investigator immediately tracked him down at the Carroll Arms Hotel bar where he was meeting with a reporter. Thompson called Buzhardt over the weekend to tip off the White House that the committee knew about the tapes.

"Legalisms aside, it was inconceivable to me that the White House could withhold the tapes once their existence was made known. I believed it would be in everyone's interest if the White House realized, before making any public statements, the probable position of both the majority and the minority of the Watergate committee," Thompson wrote in his book.

Scott Armstrong, a Democratic investigator for the committee who was part of the Butterfield questioning, said he was outraged by Thompson's tip-off.

"When the prosecutor discovers the smoking the gun, he's going to be shocked to find that the deputy prosecutor called the defendant and said, 'You'd better get rid of that gun,'" Armstrong said in an interview.

The committee chairman, Sen. Sam Ervin, D-N.C., had agreed to allow Thompson to question Butterfield first at the July 16 hearing as a show of bipartisanship because a GOP investigator had elicited the initial information from Butterfield.

"Fred (Thompson) and Baker carried water for the White House, but I have to give them credit — they were watching out for their interests, too," Kutler said. "They weren't going to mindlessly go down the tubes for this guy."

[AnnaZ]

Thompson, who declined comment for this story, described himself in his book, "At That Point in Time," published in 1975, as a Nixon administration "loyalist" who struggled with his role as minority counsel. "I would try to walk a fine line between a good-faith pursuit of the investigation and a good-faith attempt to insure balance and fairness," Thompson wrote.

Even more nefarious, Thompson apparently was the creator of FOX News's slogan.

[asparagus]

the MSM sure is giving Fred both barrels this weekend.

Its not just Fred. The media has an equal opportunity policy with regards to conservatives. They hate them all equally. Mitt is getting pummelled as being "weird" and an animal "abuser". The only front-runner not being pelted by the media (yet) is Rudy.

[Rb ver. 2.0]

Zot mentality is so boring.

[eyedigress]

That’s because he is a Liberal.

[RKV]

You could do worse than support DH.

[jdm]

Why did they post a photo where you can't even see his face?

AP CAPTION:

Fred Thompson, left, listens as Sen. Sam Ervin, D-N.C., chairman of the Watergate Investigating Committee, center, listens to other members of the committee during the first day of public hearings on Capitol Hill in Washington in this May 18, 1973 file photo. From left; Thompson, chief minority counsel; Sen. Howard Baker, R-Tenn., Ervin; and Samuel Dash, Chief majority counsel. Thompson gained an image as a tough-minded investigative counsel for the Senate Watergate committee. Yet President Nixon and his top aides viewed the fellow Republican as a willing, if not too bright, ally, according to White House tapes.(AP Photo/File)

[Josh Painter]

From the crap AP hit piece: "When the prosecutor discovers the smoking the gun, he's going to be shocked to find that the deputy prosecutor called the defendant and said, 'You'd better get rid of that gun,'" Armstrong said in an interview.



Fred Thompson's actual conversation with Buzhardt:

Thompson: “The committee is aware of the fact that every conversation in the White House is on tape. I know you realize the significance of that. It’s not my place to give you advice, but I think that if I were you I’d start making plans immediately to get those tapes together and get them up here as soon as possible.”

(short pause)

Buzhardt: ”Well, I think that is significant, if it is true. We’ll get on that tomorrow.”

Fred's reasoning behind informing Buzhardt: "I did not want to put him in the position either to defy his orders or to lie to me… Evaluating the chat, I concluded that I had made no progress in determining whether the White House was playing a game with the committee; but I was certain that when Buzahardt related our conversation the next day the White House would understand that it could expect no substantial support from our committee if it decided to withhold relevant tapes."

Thompson on Armstrong: "When I read this (Armstrong’s) account I could only laugh and shake my head. Armstrong had struck again! And we had been feeling so smug that on this one occasion the staff had kept a secret, through fear or through choice. I now knew that the (Washington) Post had had the story but had chosen not to run it, either because its editor felt it was insufficiently significant or because he had been unable to corroborate the information. To make matters worse, in the draft prepared by the majority staff for the committee’s final report, the discovery of the tapes was described in great detail and the credit for asking Butterfield the crucial question was given to SCOTT ARMSTONG. I told (Sam) Dash I would make sure this assertion would never appear in the final report; Dash did a little checking and agreed."

Source: Thompson, Fred. ‘At That Point In Time.’ The New York Times Book Co. 1975.

The Truth: Instead of warning the WH to get rid of the tapes, as Armstrong alledges, Fred told them they should bring the tapes to the committee.

Conclusion: This is getting ridiculous. Liberal media hit piece after hit piece, all aimed at Fred. The sheer volume of attack pieces this long holiday weekend is unprecedented, even for the drive-by media. The Clintons must have ordered their media running dogs to pull all the stops our for this one!

[GBA]

Fair enough. Changing the title warrants the "newbie" charge. But the "troll" part is a matter of opinion. There's a bunch of Mitt, Rudy and even Ron Paul fans who would do what they can to paint FDT in a bad light.

Personally, I'm leaning to Fred in a big way, but I have some doubts and want to know what the opposition knows and is getting ready to blind side him (and us) with.

[Clara Lou]

The troll tampered with what he posted. He meddled grossly with the title. Someone else says that he tampered also with the content. People who do that, newbie or old timer, need to be banned.

[GodBlessRonaldReagan]

Check out the book “Silent Coup”. It corroborates what you saw on A&E.

[ktw]

An hit piece for sure!

[FastCoyote]

“The MSM is unintintionally providing Fred with with very thick coating of teflon. For one thing, this barrage of attacks is coming way too early. By the time most voters are paying attention, it will all be “old news.””

It does seem like they are shooting their wad early, since this is probably the most damaging info you can probably dredge up about Fred. The thing is, most voters don’t remember Watergate (much left were alive), you have to be 50 plus. And a lot of conservatives still don’t see Nixon as evil as the Clintons. So this article only plays to dried up old leftists on viagra.

Net impact, zero, since it isn’t enough to derail Fred’s candidacy among the Republican base and 18 months of this same non-story is going to wear it out.

[Styria]

I'm for Thompson.

The only thing that gets me about this article is the suggestion that Thompson takes (or is given) credit for things he didn't do, like uncovering information. However...

What rarely is mentioned is that Thompson knew the answer to the question before he asked it.

This is exactly what a good lawyer is supposed to do!

[Eva]

The reason behind this article is to replace all references to Hillary and her watergate role on all the search engines. Google Hillary Clinton/Watergate and see what comes up. Pages and pages of Fred Thompson and watergate.

[italianquaker]

nytimes headline for sunday Thompson responsible for global warming

[Blake#1]

Your knowledge of Richard Nixon is zero. Your thoughts on the politics of the time should embarrass you! You are repeating the Socialist/Communist propaganda about all Republicans of the 60's and 70".

[RKV]

I was there pinhead. I’m repeating nothing but the facts.

[darkwing104]

Normally, I prefer to keep the kitties out of infighting of pre-primary political infighting but in this case you changed the headlines....

Hope the zot doesn't leave a mark...

Please let me know if you want ON or OFF my Viking Kitty/ZOT ping list!. . . don't be shy.

[Blake#1]

You may have been there, you impudent, rude, slob, but you remember nothing. I also was there, listened to and watched the “phony” senate hearings every day. So stick your head where there is no sunshine, punk!

[sitetest]

Dear FastCoyote,

“The thing is, most voters don’t remember Watergate (much left were alive), you have to be 50 plus.”

Hey! I’m only 47! And I remember Watergate vividly! Or as vividly as my failing memory will allow me. ;-)

I was 13 at the time, and feigned illness to stay home from school and watch ol’ Sen. Sam beat up on the Nixonites. I remember how Sen. Sam Ervin was the toast of the town and the lamestream media. I only found out later that Sen. Ervin had been a die-hard segregationist before that.

But as long as he was beating up on Republicans, that didn't seem to matter.

sitetest