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!