The Strong Man: John Mitchell and the Secrets of Watergate
Page 68
GHOST
1. E-mail to the author from Jill Mitchell-Reed, September 24, 2003.
2. Harries interview; WHT, 179; Anson, Exile, pp. 213–14; Richard Nixon, In the Arena: A Memoir of Victory, Defeat and Renewal (Pocket Books, 1991), p. 14.
3. WHT, 179 (the Mitchell subject); Nixon-Frost interview, September 8, 1977 (emphases added).
4. “Biographical Information on John Vincent Brennan, Major, United States Marine Corps,” White House Press Release, February 1, 1969, NARA; CBS Evening News, February 11, 1982; Global Research International, Inc. v. Ahmad Habbous, Pan East International and William Phalen, Civ. Case No. 90–0695, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, [filed] March 26, 1990; Martin Tolchin, “Cameo Players in an ’84 Arms Deal with Iraq: Nixon, Agnew, Ceauşescu,” New York Times, June 1, 1990; “All the Ex-President’s Men,” U.S. News & World Report, June 4, 1990; “The Arming of Iraq,” Frontline, PBS program, [aired] September 11, 1990; Maura Pierce, “John Mitchell Died Nearly Broke But Heirs Are Fighting Anyway,” The Washingtonian, October 1990; 60 Minutes, CBS News program, [aired] January 20, 1991; Sidney Blumenthal, “The Prime Republican,” New York Times, November 24, 1991; Dan Fesperman, “Middleman Agnew Does It His Way,” Baltimore Sun, March 7, 1993; CI, January 24, 1987 (impact), January 31, 1987 (Rio), June 5, 1987 (London), December 5, 1987 (Caymans); Jack Brennan, interview with author, March 9, 1992; Deborah Gore Dean interview; James Tully, interview with author, March 2, 1994; Stephen E. Ambrose, Nixon: Ruin and Recovery, 1973–1990 (Touchstone, 1991), pp. 541–42; Adel Darwish and Gregory Alexander, Unholy Babylon: The Secret History of Saddam’s War (St. Martin’s Press, 1991), p. 153; Susan B. Trento, The Power House: Robert Keith Gray and the Selling of Access and Influence in Washington (St. Martin’s Press, 1992), pp. 309–10; Joseph J. Trento, Prelude to Terror: The Rogue CIA and the Legacy of America’s Private Intelligence Network (Carroll & Graf, 2005), pp. 290–310. When Global’s connection to the Iraqis surfaced, on the eve of the Persian Gulf War, the news media painted it in sinister terms. The remarkable convergence of Saddam Hussein, Nicolae Ceauşescu, Sarkis Soghanalian, Nixon, Mitchell, and Spiro Agnew—who represented the Saudis in the uniform deal—delivered an irresistible storyline: All the President’s Men meets The Boys from Brazil. But some got carried away. 60 Minutes overstated the value of the deal by $100 million. PBS denounced “Richard Nixon and his friends supplying Romanian uniforms to Iraq,” when in fact Nixon had nothing to do with the actual deal. Nixon biographer Stephen Ambrose hinted darkly, and without substantiation, that the deal bore some connection to the profitable sale of Nixon’s New York town house to the Syrian government; a few paragraphs later, Ambrose conceded there was “no proof that Nixon did more than write a couple of letters for Brennan and Mitchell, who were men who had served him loyally and well, men to whom he owed many favors.” And liberal essayist Sidney Blumenthal repeated the false claim about the Syrians.
5. John Kennedy, “John Mitchell Sued by Publisher,” Washington Post, February 21, 1981; CI, May 5, 1988 (loves me), November 10, 1988 (Thimmesch); Mary Gore Dean interview; Hundley interview; Warren Burger, interview with author, August 25, 1994; Harries interview; Lawrence Knutson, interview with author, June 25, 2001 (gray); Publishing Agreement, Simon & Schuster, Inc., and John N. Mitchell, July 21, 1975; Acknowledgment of Debt and Schedule of Repayment in Simon & Schuster v. John Mitchell, Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York, Case Index No. 3499/81, [filed] January 21, 1982; letter to Philip E. Taubman, Esq., from [unsigned—Simon & Schuster letterhead], Re: Simon & Schuster v. John Mitchell, March 18, 1988; Release and Accord and Satisfaction [by Simon & Schuster, dated] November 3, 1992, [filed] January 15, 1993; all in MPP. See also letters to Susie Morrison from John Mitchell, August 13, 1975, and September 25, 1975, provided to the author by Morrison; and letter to Steve King from John Mitchell [undated—July 1977], provided to the author by King.
6. Letter to the author from Tony Madison, August 6, 1993; e-mails to the author from Jill Mitchell-Reed, September 24, 2003, and November 25, 2003; Deborah Gore Dean interview; Jill Mitchell-Reed interview; Mary Gore Dean interview; Madison interview; J. Robert Mitchell interview.
7. “Pierce Resigns Position as Counsel at Treasury,” JET, May 17, 1973; Philip Shenon, “Reagan Officials Got Big H.U.D. Fees, a U.S. Audit Finds,” New York Times, April 29, 1989; Leslie Maitland, “Focus of H.U.D. Inquiry: A Woman of Influence and Ambition,” New York Times, May 31, 1989; Debbie Howlett, “HUD Prober Not an ‘Activist,’” USA Today, April 11, 1990; Martin Tolchin, “Grand Jury Indicts Ex-Aide to Reagan’s Housing Chief,” New York Times, April 29, 1992; Mike Brown, “Nunn Tied to Probe of HUD, Mitchell,” Louisville Courier-Journal, June 26, 1992; “Ex-HUD Official Pleads Not Guilty,” New York Newsday, September 14, 1992; Diana McLellan, “Deborah Gore Dean,” The Washingtonian, October 1992; Matt Yancey, “Former HUD Official Dean Wins Tactical Victory Before Conspiracy Trial,” Associated Press, April 6, 1993; Pete Yost, “Dean Did Bidding of HUD Secretary Pierce, Lawyers Say,” Associated Press, September 13, 1993; “Prosecutor Raps Former HUD Aide,” New York Daily News, September 14, 1993; Pete Yost, “Former HUD Aide Singing About Boss’ Political Deals,” Associated Press, October 6, 1993; Michael York, “Dean Lays Blame on System at HUD,” Washington Post, October 8, 1993; “Corruption Case Is Sent to Jurors,” New York Times, October 22, 1993; Stephen Labaton, “Ex-Official Is Convicted in HUD Scandal of 80’s,” New York Times, October 27, 1993; “Ex-Housing Aide Gets 21 Months for Fraud,” New York Times, February 26, 1994; Stanley Meisler, “Ex-HUD Aide Dean Sentenced to 21 Months,” Los Angeles Times, February 26, 1994; David Johnston, “Former Housing Secretary Won’t Be Charged in Investigation,” New York Times, January 11, 1995; Susan Watters, “The Unsinkable Deborah Dean,” W, December 1998; Groer, “Style with a Few Tales” Deborah Gore Dean interview; Audit of Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation Program, Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, [filed] April 26, 1989; Superseding Indictment, United States of America v. Deborah Gore Dean, United States District Court for the District of Columbia, Criminal [Case] No. 92–181–GAG [subsequently 92–181–TFH], [filed] July 7, 1992; Opinion, United States of America, Appellee v. Deborah Gore Dean, Appellant, United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, [argued] November 15, 1994, [decided] May 26, 1995; Robert A. Diamond, ed., The Supreme Court: Justice and the Law (Congressional Quarterly, 1973), p. 107; Bob Woodward and Scott Armstrong, The Brethren: Inside the Supreme Court (Avon, 1981), p. 475; Henry J. Abraham, Justices and Presidents: A Political History of Appointments to the Supreme Court (Oxford, 1985), p. 307; James C. Humes, Confessions of a White House Ghostwriter (Regnery, 1997), pp. 104–6; Haynes Johnson, Sleepwalking Through History: America in the Reagan Years (Norton, 2003), p. 180. A 1996 press release from the Office of Independent Counsel stated that in seven years of investigation, it had secured seventeen criminal convictions, more than $2 million in criminal fines, and the recovery of $10 million in low-income housing funds. Former secretary Pierce was spared prosecution after he acknowledged in writing that his own behavior “contributed to an environment” at HUD that fostered “improper and even criminal conduct.”
EPILOGUE
1. “Present and Accounted For: Mitchell’s Hanging,” Esquire, May 1985 (emphases in original).
2. Larry Martz, “He’s Back: The Rehabilitation of Richard Nixon,” Newsweek, May 19, 1986; CBS Evening News [6:30 and 7:00 p.m. broadcasts] and ABC World News Tonight, November 9, 1988; Sari Horwitz and James Rupert, “John Mitchell, Nixon Official in Watergate Scandal, Dies,” and Laurence Meyer, “John N. Mitchell, Principal in Watergate, Dies at 75” [early and late editions], all in Washington Post, November 10, 1988; Carolyn Skorneck, “Nixon Pal Mitchell Dies at 75,” New York Daily News, November 10, 1988; “John Mitchell, Key Watergate Figure, Dies at 75,” Los Angeles Times, November 10, 1988; James Rupert, “Mistake Didn’t Affect Care of Mitchel
l, Officials Say,” Washington Post, November 11, 1988; “John Mitchell and the Loonies,” New York Times, November 12, 1988; David E. Rosenbaum, “John N. Mitchell Is Remembered as a Victim of ‘Cruel Treatment,’” New York Times, November 13, 1988; Mary Jordan and Lynne Duke, “Farewell for a Friend,” Washington Post, November 13, 1988; “John Mitchell Died Nearly Broke,” The Washingtonian (October 1990); Remarks by Richard A. Moore at the Funeral Service for The Honorable John N. Mitchell, St. Alban’s Church, Washington, D.C., November 12, 1988, provided to the author by Moore; CI, January 24, 1987 (heady), March 1, 1987 (Hall), November 9, 1987 (close), March 29, 1988 (ego), August 19, 1988 (Quayle), October 23, 1988 (Dukakis); Octavius Prince, interview with author, July 22, 2003.
3. HN, July 13, 1970 (Mafia); SSC, IV: 1603–5; UVM, 8021–135 (mildly, agreed); WH memo [to the president from Tom Charles Huston], [Subject:] Domestic Intelligence Gathering Plan: Recommendations, July 1970, reprinted at R. W. Apple Jr., ed., The Watergate Hearings: Break-in and Cover-up (Bantam Books, 1973), pp. 748–51; WH memo for Mr. Huston from H.R. Haldeman, Subject: Domestic Intelligence Review, July 14, 1970, at SSC, III: 1324; WH memo for H. R. Halde man from Tom Charles Huston, Subject: Domestic Intelligence, August 5, 1970, at SSC, III: 1325–29; “The Price of Arrogance,” New York Times, February 22, 1975; Gross, “Conversation with an Author” Adelman, “You Do What Needs to Be Done” Safire, “Watch What We Do” William C. Sullivan with Bill Brown, The Bureau: My Thirty Years in Hoover’s FBI (Norton, 1979), pp. 206–17; Theoharis and Cox, The Boss, pp. 412–43, 470–77; Fred J. Maroon, The Nixon Years, 1969–1974: White House to Watergate (Abbeville Press, 1999), p. 44 (Mrs. Ky); Helms interview; Morrison interview.
4. Mitchell-Reed e-mail, September 24, 2003; William F. Mullen, Presidential Power and Politics (St. Martin’s Press, 1976), p. 244; Emery, Watergate, p. 492 (my dear); Wilson Sr., A Fool for a Client, p. 56 (client); Mitchell-Reed interview (Kennedy); Deborah Gore Dean interview; Rehnquist interview; Landau interviews, December 2, 1993, and January 12, 1994.
NOTES ON SOURCES
LIST OF INTERVIEWS
Addeo, Russell C., via telephone, Belfast, NY, November 10, 1995
Agnew, Spiro T., via correspondence, March 20, 1993
Ayers, Bill, via telephone, Chicago, IL, May 8, 2004
Baldwin, Alfred C. III, via telephone, East Haven, CT, August 19, 1995
———, East Haven, CT, September 9, 1995
———, via telephone, East Haven, CT, September 10, 1995
Barker, Bernard, via telephone, Miami, FL, January 5, 1995
Barreaux, Ted, Washington, DC, February 26, 2004
Bennett, Robert F., via telephone, Washington, DC, May 11, 1995
———, via telephone, Washington, DC, May 26, 1995
Ben-Veniste, Richard, Washington, DC, July 7, 1995
Berg, Richard K., via telephone, Arlington, VA, August 28, 1993
Bogan, Carl, via telephone, New York, NY, March 29, 1994
Bonham, John, via telephone, Bellview, PA, September 6, 1995
Brasco, Frank, via telephone, Brooklyn, NY, February 22, 1994
Brown, Edwin C., via telephone, Alexandria, VA, July 20, 1995
Bruno, Hal, Washington, DC, February 25, 1994
———, Chesapeake Bay, MD, April 13, 2002
Burger, Warren E., Arlington, VA, August 25, 1994
Bush, George H. W., via correspondence, June 11, 1993
———, via correspondence, September 3, 1993
Butterfield, Alexander, via telephone, San Diego, CA, October 12, 1994
Cacheris, Plato, via telephone, Alexandria, VA, September 8, 1993
———, via telephone, Washington, DC, May 16, 2005
Caddy, Douglas, via telephone, Houston, TX, July 7, 1995
———, via telephone, Houston, TX, July 13, 1995
Carlson, Norman, via telephone, Stillwater, MN, September 13, 1993
Carlucci, Frank, via telephone, McLean, VA, February 8, 2001
Carter, Roy V., via telephone, Miami, FL, April 3, 1994
Casey, Mr. and Mrs. J. Doug, Rye, NY, June 3, 1993
Chapin, Dwight L., via telephone, East Hampton, NY, June 2, 2005
Choa, Gregory, via telephone, New York, NY, February 17, 1992
Coggins, William N., via telephone, Washington, DC, July 19, 1995
Cohen, William S., aboard Air Force One, October 18, 2000
Colby William E., via telephone, Washington, DC, January 20, 1995
Colodny, Leonard, Tampa, FL, January 22, 1992
Colson, Charles W., via telephone, Washington, DC, May 24, 2001
Corbin, Sol Neil, New York, NY, August 12, 1993
Cox, Archibald, via correspondence, December 3, 2003
Creditor, Richard, via telephone, Queens, NY, September 10, 1997
Crowe, William J., via telephone, Alexandria, VA, February 16, 2001
Davis, Gil H., Washington, DC, January 13, 2003
Davis, Rennie, via telephone, Boulder, CO, May 9, 2004
Dean, Deborah Gore, via telephone, Washington, DC, February 17, 1992
———, Washington, DC, March 10, 1992
Dean, Gordon, via telephone, Washington, DC, March 10, 1992
Dean, John W. III, via telephone, Los Angeles, CA, August 6, 1999
Dean, Mary Gore, via telephone, Potomac, MD, March 2, 1992
Denis, Richard, via telephone, Green Bay, WI, September 8, 1999
Dent, Harry S., via telephone, Columbia, SC, February 17, 1992
———, via telephone, Columbia, SC, March 2, 1992
Dorsen, David, via telephone, Washington, DC, December 2, 1997
Douglass, Robert R., New York, NY, June 30, 1993
Duersteler, John M., via telephone, Lockport, NY, July 19, 2003
Duval, Michael Raoul, New York, NY, November 5, 1992
Ebbitt, Mr. and Mrs. Ken, Bronxville, NY, October 11, 1993
Ehrlichman, John D., via telephone, Atlanta, GA, March 13, 1992
Elfin, Mel, via telephone, Washington, DC, November 9, 1993
Ellsberg, Daniel, via telephone, Berkeley, CA, March 13, 2004
Evans, Thomas W., New York City, April 23, 1992
Feinberg, Kenneth, Washington, DC, February 4, 2002
Feldman, Cary, via telephone, Bethesda, MD, December 8, 1993
Finch, Robert H., via telephone, Pasadena, CA, June 5, 1993
———, via telephone, Pasadena, CA, June 12, 1993
———, via telephone, Pasadena, CA, August 5, 1993
———, via correspondence, August 31, 1993
———, via telephone, Pasadena, CA, September 17, 1993
Flanigan, Peter M., New York, NY, October 28, 1993
Fleming, David, via telephone, Los Angeles, CA, December 1, 2003
Fleming, Peter, New York, NY, December 17, 1991
———, via telephone, New York, NY, May 3, 1998
Flemming, Harry C., via telephone, Washington, DC, March 4, 1992
Ford, Gerald R., New York, NY, January 25, 1994
———, via telephone, Rancho Mirage, CA, February 13, 2001
Gagliardi, Lee P., via telephone, New York, NY, July 21, 1993
Garment, Leonard, Washington, DC, March 13, 1992
———, via telephone, Washington, DC, December 6, 1999
Gentry, R. Charles, via telephone, Washington, DC, November 16, 1993
Gillenwaters, Ed, via telephone, Carlsbad, CA, November 26, 2003
Gould, Ruth, via telephone, Washington, DC, March 22, 1994
Graham, Fred P., New York, NY, October 8, 1997
Griswold, Erwin N., via telephone, Washington, DC, June 28, 1994
Haig, Alexander M., Washington, DC, July 27, 2000
Haldeman, H. R., via telephone, Santa Barbara, CA, September 26, 1993
Halperin, Morton, via telephone, Washington, DC, March 24, 1994
Harries, Brenton W., New York, NY, November 3, 1994
Helms, Richard M., via te
lephone, Washington, DC, February 2, 1995
———, via telephone, Washington, DC, February 9, 1995
Herman, William C., via telephone, New York, NY, February 10, 1998
———, via telephone, New York, NY, February 12, 1998
Hersh, Seymour M., via telephone, Washington, DC, June 13, 2002
Hickey, Robyn, via telephone, Washington, DC, March 2, 1995
Hirschkop, Philip, via telephone, Lorton, VA, May 15, 2004
Hixson, Sheila, via telephone, Washington, DC, January 30, 1995
Hougan, Jim, via telephone, Ashton, VA, May 11, 1995
Hundley, William G., Washington, DC, March 11, 1992
———, via telephone, Washington, DC, May 16, 2005
Hunt, E. Howard, Miami, FL, January 26, 2003
———, via telephone, Miami, FL, April 1, 2003
Hushen, Jack, via telephone, Cleveland, OH, December 7, 1993
———, via telephone, Gates Mills, OH, December 30, 1993
Huston, Tom Charles, via telephone, Indianapolis, IN, May 7, 1995
Jennings, Clyde Jr., via telephone, Lynchburg, VA, July 23, 2002
———, via telephone, Jacksonville, FL, July 27, 2002
Jennings, Clyde Jay, via telephone, Woodbridge, VA, July 25, 2002
———, Woodbridge, VA, August 1, 2002
King, Anita C., via telephone, Washington, DC, March 30, 1994
King, Peter, Washington, DC, January 16, 2001
———, via telephone, Washington, DC, September 16, 2003
King, Stephen B., via telephone, Milton, WI, February 8, 1992
———, via telephone, Milton, WI, February 23, 1992
Kissinger, Henry A., New York, NY, March 30, 1995
Kleindienst, Richard G., via telephone, Phoenix, AZ, April 21, 1992
Knutson, Lawrence, aboard Air Force One, June 25, 2001
Koch, Edward I., via correspondence, March 19, 1993
Kresky, Edward, New York, NY, August 31, 1993
Kunstler, William, via telephone, New York, NY, August 6, 1993
Kutler, Stanley I., via telephone, Madison, WI, February 17, 1992