Chapter 17
Section 17 of the Watergate Report, Volume 3. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information, or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Final Report of the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, Volume 3. Chapter 8. The Hughes-Rubozo Investigation and Related Matters, Part 10.
In late April or early May 1973, Rebozo called William E. Griffin and asked Griffin to fly to Florida to discuss a problem that Rebozo had. Rebozo did not indicate what the problem was, except that he had something he wanted to discuss with Griffin that was very important. Griffin met with Rebozo in Florida on May 3rd, 1973, where Rebozo told him for the first time of the Hughes' $100,000 campaign contribution. According to Griffin, Rebozo told him that he
had received two $50,000 cash campaign contributions from Richard Danner. These contributions were made in 1969 and 1970. Rebozo also explained to Griffin that he had maintained the $100,000 in a safe deposit box and that he still had the identical bills which Danner had earlier given to him. Rebozo's concern at this time was how he should handle the matter with the IRS. Griffin testified that he did not offer any advice to Rebozo during the May 3rd, 1973 meeting because he wanted an
opportunity to research certain problem areas which he felt Rebozo may have had concerning his retention of the $100,000. Griffin stated he told Rebozo he was concerned with problems of unreported income, gift tax, campaign statutes, and the election statutes. Griffin testified he could recall that Rebozo stressed that the bills in his safe deposit box were the exact same bills he received from a Hughes representative in 1969 and 1970. Griffin testified he returned to New York
to do some research for Robozo. In early May 1973, Griffin met again with Robozo at Key Biscayne. Griffin testified he told Robozo that he should immediately obtain an independent individual who could act on Robozo's behalf to count the money, identify the bills, verify that the money was in a safe deposit box and that this individual should arrange for the return of the money. Robozo, according to Griffin, accepted his advice and asked Griffin if he could act on Robozo's
behalf. Griffin declined because of his close association with Robert Aplanap, who was also a very close friend of the president's. Griffin felt that any representation made on Robozo's behalf would be tainted with partisanship. According to Robozo, he did not discuss the return of the Hughes contribution with William Griffin. Rebozo, however, did not recall ever asking Griffin to act in Rebozo's behalf to facilitate the return of the money, nor could
Rebozo recall any specific advice Griffin offered to him concerning the need for an independent third party to arrange for the return of the money. Rebozo does recall that Griffin did some research for him and then later advised Rebozo to turn the money back. On May 10, 1973, Rebozo was interviewed by IRS agents Donald Skelton and Albert Keeney. The agents explained to Robozo that they were investigating the Hughes Tool Company, Robert A. Mahew, John Mayer, and other people
associated with the Hughes Association, and that their purpose of interviewing Robozo was to verify some information that they had received concerning a campaign contribution which had allegedly been given to Robozo by Richard Danner. Robozo told the agents that he had, in fact, accepted a contribution from Richard Danner and that he still had the money in a safe deposit box. According to the IRS, Rabozo stated that the only persons who knew of the Hughes contribution were
Rabozo and the agents. Rabozo also told the IRS that he had considered contacting Danner in an effort to return the money, but did not do so because he feared additional publicity. Rabozo has testified that he cannot recall when he first told Danner that he wanted to return the money, but stated he believed he told him in March or April 1973. Rebozo, however, later testified that it was not until after his May 10th, 1973 interview with the IRS that he actually tried to
contact Danner and ask him to take the money back. Danner has stated that he met with Rebozo in Las Vegas, April 1973, but that this meeting was purely social. According to Danner, there were no discussions about the return of the Hughes contribution at this time. Danner has testified that he specifically recalls the first conversation he ever had with Robozo concerning this matter took place over the weekend of May 18th to 20th, 1973. Robozo also recalls meeting with Danner at
this time and discussing the return of the Hughes contribution. During an executive session with the committee, Rabozo testified as follows concerning his May 18th to 20th, 1973 meeting with Danner. One, over the weekend of May 18th to 20th, 1973, Rabozo stayed at the Madison Hotel where he met with Danner and discussed the return of the Hughes contribution. Two, according to Rabozo, both he and Danner were in Washington to attend some social functions, but Rabozo cannot remember what it was.
Rabozo did not request Danner to come to Washington. Three. In addition to discussing the return of the Hughes contribution, Robozo and Danner also discussed the political feelings on the West Coast concerning Watergate. Four. Robozo left Washington on May 19, 1973 to join President Nixon at Camp David. On May 20, 1973, Robozo invited Danner to come to Camp David and discuss with the President
what the political feelings were on the West Coast. Rebozo arranged for a White House limousine to pick Danner up and drive him to Camp David. 5. Danner met with Rebozo for approximately one half hour before the President joined them. Prior to the President's arrival, Danner and Rebozo discussed the return of the Hughes contribution. Throughout the weekend, Danner refused to accept the return of the Hughes contribution,
but promised Rebozo he would talk to his superiors and arrange for it to be returned. 6. The President joined Danner and Rebozo in Rebozo's cabin at Camp David and remained with them for approximately 5 to 10 minutes. During their conversation, there was no mention of the return of the Hughes contribution. The only subject which Danner discussed with President Nixon was the political mood on the West Coast concerning Watergate. 7. After the President left,
Danner and Rebozo visited for a short while and then Danner returned to Washington. 8. On May 18, 1973, Danner, Rebozo, and Mr. and Mrs. Aplinap flew to the Adirondack Fisheries in Aplinap's private jet and had lunch. After lunch, Danner and Rebozo returned to Washington. While they were with Aplinap, there was no discussion whatsoever concerning the Hughes contribution. Danner testified as follows concerning his May 18-20, 1973 meeting with Rebozo.
1. Danner met with Rebozo in Washington during the weekend of May 18-20, 1973, at Rebozo's specific request that he do so. 2. Danner met with Rebozo at the Madison Hotel, and during this meeting, Rebozo told him for the first time that he wanted to return the $100,000 Hughes contribution. This information came as a complete surprise to Danner. 3. Danner refused to take the money back because he felt it wasn't his money to accept. Danner promised Robozo that he would take the necessary inquiries to determine who the money
should be properly returned to. During this weekend, there were extensive conversations between Danner and Robozo concerning the return of the Hughes contribution. 4. Danner has testified that he also spoke with Robozo about the political feelings on the West Coast concerning Watergate. Rebozo asked Danner if he would stay over and come to Camp David on the following morning. Danner agreed. 5. On May 20, 1973, Danner met with Rebozo at Camp David
and prior to the President's arrival, discussed the return of the Hughes contribution. Danner once again refused to accept the return of the money. 6. After the President joined Danner and Rebozo in Rebozo's cabin. There were no discussions of the Hughes contribution or any other campaign contributions. During their meeting, Danner expressed to the president what the political feelings were on the West Coast. After the conversation, the president took Rebozo and
Danner on a brief tour of Camp David. Seven. Danner's meeting with the president and Rebozo lasted one to one and a half hours. Eight. After the president left, Danner and Rebozo had lunch together, and then Danner returned to Washington. Nine, Danner testified that he has never discussed the Hughes contribution with President Nixon. Ten, on May 18, 1973, Danner, Rebozo, and Mr. and Mrs. Aplanap flew to the Adirondacks in Aplanap's private jet to have lunch. While the
four were together, there were no discussions concerning the Hughes campaign contribution. Deputy Press Secretary Gerald L. Warren, in a statement made to the press on January 26, 1974, stated that, General Haig testified that while he was not aware at the time that Daner and Robozo met with President Nixon at Camp David on May 20, 1973, he learned of it when it
became a public relations issue in the White House. Haig discussed this matter with Ron Ziegler, who informed him that the purpose of the meeting at Camp David was to enable Danner to express his support for the president at a time when the president had been under heavy attack. Ziegler stated to Haig that he had discussed this meeting with President Nixon. Haig felt confident that Ziegler was on top of the matter and had the details. Ziegler has stated that he consulted
with both the President and Rebozo to confirm that the May 20, 1973 Camp David meeting was only five or ten minutes long. Warren stated that Ziegler confirmed that Rebozo and Danner had met with President Nixon at Camp David for five or ten minutes. Warren did not check either the cardex or the presidential logs to determine the length of the meeting. Danner, in subsequent testimony to the Senate Select Committee, has reconfirmed his testimony that the meeting he
attended with President Nixon and Rebozo lasted at least one hour. Aplanap has stated that he had no knowledge of the $100,000 Hughes contribution which Rebozo received from Danner. Aplanap recalls that he had only seen Danner three times in his life. The third was in May 1973. Aplanap has never had any conversations with Danner concerning the Hughes contribution. Shortly after the May 20th, 1973 Camp David meeting, Rebozo told Haig of his involvement in the Hughes contribution.
This is the only conversation Rebozo recalls having with Haig concerning the Hughes contribution. Haig testified that Rebozo did tell him of the Hughes contribution and his involvement with it. Haig did not counsel Rebozo to return the money. On May 23rd, 1973, William Simon received a telephone call from General Haig. Haig, at this time, requested an update of information concerning the Hughes contribution which Rebozo received. Simon recalled that this information had been
given to the White House long ago, since Rebozo's name had appeared on sensitive case reports. After the time of Haig's telephone call, Simon called Don Alexander, Commissioner of the IRS, and asked for an update on the IRS investigation into Hughes' $100,000 contribution to Rebozo. Alexander immediately sent a memo to Simon, which detailed the facts of the case. After receiving this memo, Simon called General Haig to inform him that Robozo was going to be investigated by the IRS
concerning his involvement with the Hughes contribution. Simon stated that he thought this was a matter Simon should discuss with the White House counsels, Buzzhart and Garment. After Simon's conversation with Haig on May 23, 1973, Simon testified he discussed with Len Garment the status of the IRS investigation of Rebozo. During his conversation with Garment,
Simon used the memo that Alexander had previously supplied to him. According to Simon's log, he was in contact with General Haig, Len Garment, and Don Alexander on May 23, 1973. Sometime after May 23, 1973, Haig met with White House counsels Garment, Chapman Bowes, and Fred Buzzhart
to be briefed on the IRS investigation of Rebozo. This meeting took place in Haig's office. It was decided that Haig should inform the president of this investigation, since it was a matter which could be potentially embarrassing to the president. It was also decided that there should be no discussions between White House counsel
and Rebozo concerning the IRS investigation. Garment suggested to Haig that Rebozo should get a qualified tax attorney, and that if Rebozo needed a recommendation, Garment would provide one. Haig testified he thereafter met with President Nixon to brief him on the IRS investigation of Rebozo. Haig told the President that the White House counsel felt that Rebozo should have a
competent tax attorney and that, if necessary, they could suggest someone for him. The President told Haig to tell them to do so. It was Haig's general impression that the information he furnished President Nixon concerning the IRS investigation of Rebozo did not come as news to President Nixon. Haig stated, President Nixon just shrugged it off, and as a matter of fact, handled it with a number of ongoing problems that Haig was discussing at the time. Two or three days
later, Haig told President Nixon that Garment had recommended Kenneth Gemmel as a possible attorney for Rebozo. The president then told Haig to give this name to Rebozo on the following weekend when both Haig and Richard Nixon would be in Key Biscayne. On the following weekend, which would be either the last weekend in May or the first weekend in June 1973, Haig gave the name and address of Kenneth Gemmel to Rebozo. Haig testified that. At that time, Mr. Rebozo took it and said
he did not know what he would do with it, but he obviously was well aware at that time of the IRS interest in the Hughes $100,000. There is no question about it. Rebozo has testified that someone in the White House suggested Kenneth Gemmel to him as a good tax attorney. I had heard of Ken Gemmel before, and I had been told when all of this business started that I would probably need Washington counsel, so I got hold of him. On June 8, 1973, Gemmel received a telephone call
from Rebozo. Gemmel testified that Rebozo told him that, Garment says that I should come see you about a problem. Rebozo did not give any details to Gemmel concerning his problem at this time. He merely set up an appointment to see Gemmel on June 11, 1973. Both Gemmel and Rebozo have testified that they met on June 11, 1973 in Gemmel's Philadelphia office. During this meeting, Rebozo explained to Gemmel that he had been interviewed by two IRS agents concerning the
$100,000 campaign contribution. Rebozo then described to Gemmel the events surrounding his acceptance of the $100,000. Gemmel has testified that at no time did Rebozo ever indicate to him that Rebozo had consulted with other lawyers. Gemmel recalled that on June 12, 1973, he also called Len Garment to tell him that Robozo had been to see him. Gemmill recalled that Garment said, I am glad he is in good hands. You handle him as a privileged client and do not tell
me anything about it. Gemmill said, I am to handle him as a privileged client. And Garment said, yes, do not tell me anything about it. And that was the end of that. General Haig recalls that during a subsequent conversation he had with Garment, Garment told him Gemmill had been contacted by Rebozo to represent him in the IRS matter. Gemmel stated that on June 18, 1973, he called Rebozo and told him that he and Wakefield should go to the safe deposit box which they held jointly that
contained the $100,000 Hughes contribution. Both Wakefield and Rebozo were to count the $100,000 and make a list of the serial numbers from each of the bills to be used as a receipt and also a way to identify the bills that were returned. Rebozo asked Gemmel if he thought it would be advisable to have someone from the government there, such as the head of the FBI in Miami, to witness this operation. After some consideration, Gemmell told Robozo that it was a good idea,
since an FBI agent may be able to determine whether the money had been in the same location for a given period of time. Kenneth Whitaker, SAC Miami, FBI, has testified that Robozo called him on June 18, 1973, and offering no explanation, asked him to come to the bank immediately. At around 10 a.m., Whitaker met with Rabozo and Wakefield at the Ivy Biscayne Bank. Rabozo then explained to Whitaker that in 1969 or 1970,
he had received $100,000 in campaign contributions from Danner, a representative of Howard Hughes. Rabozo told Whitaker that this contribution was placed in a bank vault and had never been used or dispersed. Whitaker has testified that Rabozo wanted him to see if he could determine the age of the money. After discussing the money, Rebozo, Wakefield, and Whitaker joined Margaret Barker, Rebozo's sister, and entered the bank vault. Each of them signed the access card, and then Rebozo removed the safe deposit box.
Whitaker has stated that the safe deposit box had two large brown envelopes, the contents of which Rebozo emptied on the tables. These envelopes contained 10 to 12 packets of money, approximately three-quarters of an inch thick. These packets were all $100 bills and appeared to be new. Whitaker has stated that after he saw the money, he told Rebozo that there was no way he could determine the age of the bills.
Whitaker stated that he did initial six or seven of the $100 bills in the upper left-hand corner for identification purposes only. After they had completed counting the money and making a list of serial numbers, they discovered that there was an extra $100 bill. Rebozo called Kenneth Gemmill to tell him that the list had been completed.
Gemmel suggested that Rebozo try to contact Danner and that both of them should be in Philadelphia the following morning. On June 19, 1973, Rebozo met with Gemmel in Philadelphia. Danner, however, did not show up. Gemmel stated that in a telephone call, Danner said that Chester Davis would call. When Davis did call, Gemmel explained to Davis that Rebozo wanted to return the Hughes contribution.
Gemmel and Davis agreed to meet in Washington, D.C. on June 21, 1973. After Gemmel's conversation with Davis, Rebozo told Gemmel that he had the money with him in a briefcase. Since Gemmel was not willing to accept responsibility for the money, Rebozo decided to bring it with him to New York and have Griffin hold it until its return could be arranged. Rebozo then gave Gemmel Griffin's name and telephone number and asked him to contact Griffin after a date was arranged for the return of the money. Gemmel agreed.
Rebozo has testified that later that afternoon he met with Griffin at the Hudson Valley National Bank in Yonkers, New York. Rebozo explained to Griffin that he had just left a meeting in Philadelphia with Gemmel where he had hoped to return the money. Rebozo's efforts, however, were frustrated, and he wanted Griffin to hold it until its return could be arranged. Griffin agreed to hold the money in a safe deposit box at the Hudson Valley National Bank. Griffin testified that while Aplanap was in the area during this conversation, he didn't hear it.
Rebozo assured Griffin that within the next few days he would receive a call from Ken Gemmel, who would tell him when the money should be returned and where. On June 21, 1973, Gemmel has testified that he met privately with Chester Davis in Davis' room at the Madison Hotel. After reviewing Danner's statement to the IRS,
Gemmel and Davis discussed the discrepancies between Danner's and Rebozo's recollection of the delivery of the money. Gemmel has stated that as far as he was concerned, none of these discrepancies affected the return of the money. Davis agreed to arrange for the return of the money and promised to be in contact with Gemmel within a few days. Gemmel has stated that on Monday, June 25, 1973, Davis called and told him that the money could be returned to the Marine
Midland Bank, 140 Broadway, New York City, New York, on Wednesday, June 27, 1973. Since Davis was planning on being out of town on June 27, 1973, he told Gamal that Walter Glaser, the office manager at Davis's law firm, would accept this money on behalf of Howard Hughes and, as previously agreed upon, the money would remain in a safe deposit box until IRS agents had an opportunity to examine it. Gemmill called William Griffin and asked him to meet in New York on June 27, 1973
at the Marine Midland Bank. Since Griffin and Gemmill had not met, Gemmill agreed to produce a copy of the list of bills which Rabozo, Wakefield, and Barker had prepared earlier as a form of identification. Griffin met with Gemmill and Glazer at the Marine Midland Bank on June 27, 1973. After Gemmill provided him with the receipt which Rabozo had earlier prepared, Griffin turned the money over to them.
After a brief discussion, Griffin left. After Griffin's meeting at the Marine Midland Bank, he called Robozo to tell him that the money had been returned. Robozo has testified that shortly thereafter, Robozo told the president that the Hughes contribution had been returned,
and the president once again assured Robozo that that was the right thing to do. End of Section 17. Recording by Suzyk.
