May 2, 1974

Edited White House transcripts show Pres Nixon warned Justice Dept in Apr '73 that any inquiry into his personal involvement in Watergate cover-up would be 'dangerous to the Presidency'; disclose that by late Apr Nixon was meeting regularly with Asst Atty Gen Henry E Petersen, who was in charge of Watergate case, and won from Petersen pledge that 'we have no mandate to investigate the Pres'; shows that on Apr 27, Nixon was agitated by rept that NY Times and Washington Post had learned that then-White House counsel John W Dean 3d was implicating him in his discussions with Govt prosecutors, headed by Asst US Atty Earl J Silbert; Nixon told Petersen 'we've got to head them off at the pass' because it is 'dangerous to the Presidency'; Petersen subsequently told Nixon that he had relayed message to prosecutors; example of incomplete reptg came after Nixon's counsel James D St Clair told newsmen Apr 30 that Dean attempted to 'blackmail' White House last spring; St Clair, citing Apr 27 transcript, noted that Petersen had told Nixon then that Dean atty Charles Shaffer was threatening to 'bring the Pres in' unless Dean recd immunity; more thorough reading of transcript shows that on Apr 16, Petersen told Nixon of Shaffer's remark and added that he just 'said that in the course of negotiations' over immunity; Petersen noted Shaffer did not say it as threat; transcripts show Petersen was providing Nixon with regular and detailed repts on progress of Watergate grand jury as well as information about unofficial inquiries by Fed prosecutors; during that time Nixon was resisting intense pressure from Petersen and from some aides, including Leonard Garment, either to dismiss or temporarily relieve his 2 key aides H R Haldeman and John D Ehrlichman; much of Nixon's time with Petersen was spent in going over accumulated evidence against 2 men and urging that Dean not be given immunity by prosecutor to testify against them; conversation Nixon had Apr 19 with John J Wilson and Frank Strickler, then attys for Haldeman and Ehrlichman, noted; Nixon's concern on Apr 27 abruptly shifted from these aides to his own legal status; Nixon's order to Ronald L Ziegler to kill stories appearing in NY Times and Washington Post about Dean's implicating Nixon noted; Justice Dept officials say Petersen's role in relaying grand jury and other information to Nixon was perfectly proper and in keeping with his official responsibilities; transcripts show Nixon urged Haldeman and Ehrlichman to make use of confidential information relayed by Justice Dept (L)

NYS Gov Wilson on May 1 orders state's 10-wk-old odd-even gasoline distribution plan lifted but says suspension will work only if motorists continue to observe gasoline conservation measures; says suspension is necessary to protect state's tourist indus; will retain ban on selling gasoline to motorists that already have 1/2 a tank of gasoline; state will receive 90% of 525 million gals of gasoline made available to it in May '73; Wilson illus with NYS energy chief Maj Gen Almerin C O'Hara (M)

HR Judiciary Com rejects Pres Nixon's offer of edited transcripts as substitute for subpoenaed Watergate tape recordings; vote follows disclosure by com attys that transcripts are, at least in part, 'not accurate'; com splits virtually along party lines with Dems prevailing, 20-18, on motion to send Nixon lr formally declaring that he 'failed to comply with the com's subpoena' of tapes of 42 Watergate-related conversations; Dem Reprs J Conyers Jr and J R Waldie vote against motion because they feel it is too weak; Repub Repr W S Cohen approves motion; com rejects, 32-5, proposal by Conyers to seek HR vote holding Nixon in contempt of Cong; com atty John Doar tells com that there are discrepancies between transcripts prepared by White House and transcripts made by com staff of some of recorded conversations Nixon made public Apr 30; says com's tape experts were able to pick up parts of conversations that were marked 'unintelligible' in some of White House transcripts; says tape experts were able, for instance, to 'decipher' portions of crucial Mar 21 '73 conversation between Nixon and John W Dean 3d; says conversation that did not appear on either 2 transcripts made by White House and on 3d prepared by Watergate prosecutor Leon Jaworski were detected by com staff; com Chmn Repr P W Rodino, responding to Nixon's offer to let him and Repr E Hutchinson verify accuracy of trancripts, says it would be 'absolutely impossible' for him to authenticate transcripts; Doar agrees; announces com will begin hearings sometime next wk on evidence assembled by staff; hearings expected to take 6 wks before com begins to draw any conclusions from evidence and votes either to exonerate Pres or to recommend his impeachment; Judiciary subcom drafts tentative rules for impeachment that would 'invite' Nixon to attend and observe com proceedings, authorize Nixon's attys to challenge testimony of witnesses and permit live TV coverage; Reprs R F Drinan, G E Damelson, R McClory, D W Dennis comment; illus of Rodino, Doar and Reprs Conyers, W L Hungate and D Edwards (L)

On the first day after the end of wage and price controls, producers of several basic products raised prices yesterday. The increases ranged from copper and stainless steel to vitamins and light bulbs age 75.