Oral history transcript, Lawrence F. O'Brien, interview 31 (XXXI), 12/10/1987, by Michael L. Gillette

Title:

Oral history transcript, Lawrence F. O'Brien, interview 31 (XXXI), 12/10/1987, by Michael L. Gillette

Number of Pages:

54

Description:

Charles Colson; memos Richard Nixon's staff wrote and distributed attempting to hurt O'Brien's reputation, including one that suggested a conflict of interest between O'Brien as head of O'Brien Associates and Democratic National Committee (DNC) chairman; an August 1970 memo suggesting that O'Brien was connected to Public Affairs Analysts, which was supposedly engaged in foreign activities; efforts by William Safire, John Caufield, John Dean and H. R. Haldeman to investigate all of O'Brien's connections, including his business relationship with Howard Hughes; a January 1971 memo from Nixon to Haldeman indicating Nixon was eager to "make O'Brien accountable"; O'Brien learning of the burglary at the Watergate Hotel DNC headquarters on June 17, 1972; identification of James McCord of the Committee for the Re-election of the President (CREEP) as one of the five burglars; press coverage of the burglary; Jeb Magruder's and G. Gordon Liddy's involvement immediately following the arrest of McCord and the other burglars; the decision to file a lawsuit against CREEP, McCord, and others on behalf of O'Brien and the DNC; efforts to draw press attention to the break-in; U.S. Attorney General John Mitchell's approval and financing of a plan by Liddy, Magruder and Dean to disrupt the Democratic National Convention and bug O'Brien's office and hotel rooms; the break-in to plant bugs in O'Brien's office and steal files; O'Brien as the victim of surveillance, attempted break-ins, and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) audits; the International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation (ITT) case; O'Brien's June 1972 request that the Federal Bureau of Investigation look into the Watergate break-in and the response from Assistant Attorney General Henry E. Petersen; O'Brien's correspondence with Nixon regarding the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate the break-in; what type of files were stolen; O'Brien's knowledge of Nixon's relationship with Howard Hughes; O'Brien's continued interest in ITT's involvement with the Republican National Committee; the out-of-court settlement of a merger case involving ITT; Ed Williams' contact with Alfred Baldwin, who was hired by Howard Hunt and Liddy to watch O'Brien; the purposes of the Watergate break-in; amending O'Brien's lawsuit to name additional defendants; the CREEP's lawsuit against O'Brien; Judge John Sirica; legal counsel for O'Brien; delay of the civil suit during the criminal investigation; O'Brien's efforts to get the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights and the House Committee on Banking and Currency to do investigations; false theories regarding the break-in; DNC security before the Watergate break-in; Watergate press coverage in 1972; Nixon's misuse of the power of the IRS in investigating O'Brien in 1971 and 1972; John Erlichman's, Johnny Walters', and Secretary of the Treasury George Shultz's involvement in the IRS activities; the Senate Watergate Committee, also known as the Ervin Committee; Terry Lenzner's and Sam Dash's theory regarding the reason for the Watergate break-in; Magruder's stated reasons for the break-in; writer Anthony Lucas' support for the Lenzner-Dash theory; the significance of the direct use of the IRS by a president to destroy a citizen; John Connally's support for Nixon's efforts to destroy O'Brien.

Contributor:

O'Brien, Lawrence F. (Lawrence Francis), 1917-1990

Collection:

LBJ Library Oral Histories

Collection Description:

Go to List of Holdings

Series:

Transcripts of LBJ Library Oral Histories

See Also:

See all online interviews with Lawrence F. O'Brien

Relation:

Go to Interviewee bio page

Rights:

Possibly copyright restricted: see deed at end of transcript for details