June 26, 1973

ex‐White House counsel J W Dean 3d implicates White House press sec Ziegler, special counsel to Pres R A Moore and former White House aide W H Johnson Jr in Watergate cover‐up attempt; Dean says Ziegler attended Oct 15 '72 meeting to discuss strategy for dealing with 'cascading leaked stories' regarding activities of D H Segretti, who has been described as dirty‐tricks operative in Nixon re‐election campaign; suggests that Segretti's role was to have been minimized, as it in fact was at subsequent news briefings by Ziegler; discusses discrepancies between announced version by Ziegler of reasons for then‐apptmts sec Chapin's resignation and actual reason of his links to Segretti; says that when he confronted then‐White House aide Ehrlichman with data he had gathered about wiretaps on telephones of newsmen and White House staff members, Ehrlichman confirmed existence of taps; says when he asked Ehrlichman what Ziegler should say Ehrlichman told him that Ziegler should 'flatly deny it'; says Moore knew great deal and that he flew to NY to urge ex‐Atty Gen Mitchell to raise money demanded by 7 original Watergate defendants as price for silence; Dean says Johnson was principal in effort to defuse Sen Watergate hearings by planting either Sens or minority counsel likely to take White House point of view

Italian authorities have issued warrant for arrest of R E Hecht Jr, who sold 2,500‐yr‐old Euphronios vase to Met Museum of Art last yr for $1‐million; charge he bought and exported vase illegally; say they have enough evidence to arrest him, should he return to Italy, and to make successful claim for recovery of krater in US, although such a step would not be taken in near future; police chief Col F Mambor says that nature of evidence tends to support account of vase's discovery given by bootleg excavator A Cenere, who has said that he and 5 others found vase in Etruscan tomb near Cerveteri in '71; says that Italian officials are checking out various information before effort is made to confront museum officials in NY

ex‐White House counsel J W Dean 3d tells Sen Watergate com on June 25 that H E Petersen, while head of Justice Dept's criminal investigation of Watergate case, passed information on grand jury testimony to White House and arranged for high White House aides to be questioned outside presence of grand jurors; Dean describes repeated attempts by White House staff members to seek confidential information from Fed agencies investigating scandal and, in some cases, to alter direction or substance of investigation; says he once called Petersen to ask how a Nixon re‐election com official 'had done before the grand jury'; says Petersen later informed him that official J S Magruder, then Nixon campaign deputy dir, 'had made it through by the skin of his teeth'; says Petersen also arranged for 5 high White House aides, including C W Colson, to be questioned by Watergate prosecutors away from grand jury; recounts number of contacts with other Adm officials he alleges were involved in cover‐up and were with Justice Dept; tells of attempts by Haldeman and others to persuade then‐Atty Gen Kleindienst to abandon his 'passive role in the investigaton and prosecution' and later, to convince him to work 'closely' with Repub vice chmn of Watergate com; says Sen Baker had requested Kleindienst as his 'contact point' in Adm; tells of alleged interference with civil lawsuit related to bugging, of attempts to squelch FBI inquiry into Repub campaign contributions that might lead to 'unnecessary embarrassment,' and of telling Pres himself that Justice Dept 'had held off as long as possible the return of the indictments' in case, which were handed down Sept 15; says he learned late last summer that R McPhee, gen counsel for Repub Natl Finance Com was having private discussions with the Fed judge presiding over a civil suit brought by Dems in connection with bugging; charges that ex‐Atty Gen Mitchell was also aware of alleged ex‐parte contacts as were attys for re‐election com; Judge Richey says on June 25 that he cannot remember discussing Dem suit with McPhee, telephone int; re‐election com atty Parkinson says he never 'had any private communications, direct or indirect, with Judge Richey' in connection with suit; Dean describes his dealings with then‐FBI Acting Dir Gray; Dean describes his own role in cover‐up as 1 of reptg to White House and Re‐Election com officials 'all the information I was receiving about the case from the Justice Dept and the FBI'; acknowledges that he was given by Gray some 80 FBI repts on FBI's Watergate investigation; contradicts earlier statements by Petersen when he says he 1st asked Petersen for materials but was told to 'deal directly with Gray'

article on US HR approval on June 25 to cut off additional funding for bombing in Cambodia notes that Presidential deputy press sec at Western White House, San Clemente, Calif, tells newsmen that Pres Nixon feels such restrictions endanger viability of structure of peace achieved in Laos; antiwar provision adopted by HR and drafted by Sen T F Eagleton (Mo) specifies that none of money provided by supplemental appropriations bill and no funds left over from any previous appropriations may be used to support combat activities in Cambodia or Laos

WASHINGTON, June 25 —John W. Dean 3d, asserting that President Nixon had failed to heed a warning that the Watergate case was “a cancer growing on the Presidency,” testified today that the Presi dent had taken part in, the Watergate cover‐up for as long as eight months.