File:"Smoking Gun"- Richard Nixon and Bob Haldeman discuss the Watergate break-in, June 23, 1972.webm

English: On June 23, 1972, President Richard Nixon met with Chief of Staff H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman in the White House. This meeting was captured by recording devices in the Oval Office.

In this conversation segment, President Nixon and Haldeman discuss the break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate building. They focus on the progress of the investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, especially on the tracing the source of money found on the burglars. They propose having the Central Intelligence Agency ask the FBI to halt their investigation of the Watergate break-in by claiming that the break-in had been a national security operation.

Persons mentioned include FBI Director L. Patrick ("Pat") Gray, CIA director Richard Helms, FBI Associate Director Mark Felt, and Deputy Director of Central Intelligence Vernon A. Walters; White House aides John Mitchell, John Dean, John Ehrlichman, and Charles ("Chuck") Colson; Watergate operatives G. Gordon Liddy, E. Howard Hunt, Bernard Baker, and the burglars, two of whom were Cuban exiles; as well as Kenneth Dahlberg, Midwest finance chairman for the Committee to Re-elect the President.

This conversation is often referred to as the "smoking gun" in the context of the Watergate investigation.

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The Nixon Presidential Library has prepared captions, which may be accessed through the Closed Caption button. The National Archives does not guarantee the accuracy of these captions.

For the Watergate Special Prosecution Force-prepared transcript, please visit: http://www.nixonlibrary.gov/forresearchers/find/tapes/watergate/trial/exhibit_01.pdf

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AUDIO RECORDING

Conversation 741-002, Audiotape 741 (NARA Identifier #6852462), Oval Office Sound Recordings, White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, College Park, MD and Yorba Linda, CA.

To listen to the entire conversation as well as other excepted Watergate-related conversations, please visit: http://www.nixonlibrary.gov/forresearchers/find/tapes/excerpts/watergate.php

IMAGE

"President Nixon seated at his desk in the Oval Office during a meeting with assistant H. R. Haldeman," September 14, 1970, WHPO-E-4394-04, White House Photo Office Photographs (NARA Identifier #194277), Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, College Park, MD and Yorba Linda, CA.

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For more information, please visit the Nixon Library at www.nixonlibrary.gov or contact us at 714-983-9120 or nixon@nara.gov

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