Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, June 13, 1973 Testimony of Maurice Stans
Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, June 13, 1973 Testimony of Maurice Stans
[00.22.41] Senator TALMADGE. Did you ever question why staff members such as Mr. Liddy and Mr. Porter, Mr. Magruder were drawing off large sums of money? Mr. STANS. Well, I never knew that Mr. Magruder had drawn any money until long after it happened. With respect to 'Mr. Liddy, I knew that, he had been drawing some sums of money. I understood they were relatively small. It had something to do with the primary campaigns and that was the situation up Until Mr. Sloan came to me. With the statement that Mr. Liddy had asked for a substantial amount of money. With respect to 'Mr. Porter, I testified yesterday that I had heard in February or along in there, that, Mr. Porter had a safe with a sum of money in it, that he, was receiving money and disbursing it, that I objected to that, and that, Mr. Porter then stopped disbursing any money. I learned last, night that he did not, disburse any money or receive any money during the month of April and it wasn't until sometime in May that he again received some funds. I was not aware Of those payments. Senator TALMADGE. Mr. Liddy attended 33 out of 39 staff meetings of the finance committee August 6, 1971, to June 28 of 1972, He was general counsel to the committee. He received an assignment In fact, on June 28, the day he was fired. Doesn't, it seem rather incongruous that 'Mr. Liddy, your general counsel, with whom you met daily, could take large sums of money and not report the use of it? Mr. STANS. Senator, Mr. Liddy was accountable in money terms to the treasurer, not to me, and except for, the limited knowledge that I had about transactions with Mr. Liddy, I had no knowledge of what he was doing with the money or how much he had gotten and I was as surprised as many other people when I found out that he had received a total of $199,000. [00.25.10] Let me make a point here which has not yet been Made before the committee. As I read the testimony and depositions in various Civil suits the program for Liddy to receive $250,000, if it was approved by anyone, was approved in March and apparently the $83,000, which happens to be exactly one-third of $250,000, was, paid to Mr. Liddy, if it was paid to him, early in April, The testimony indicates if you take into account the other money that 'Mr. Liddy received. and the money given to him by Porter that he had spent $125,000 before that, before the Watergate espionage Program was approved, I have no idea what that was for, I had no idea until I did the arithmetic that, that was the case. But it, would seem to me that, and this answers one of Senator Baker's questions, that, this is one area of the investigation that no one seems to know anything about. [00.26.35] Senator TALMADGE. Where in the budget did this program for Mr. Liddy appear? Mr. STANS. There was no item in the budget for the program of Mr. Liddy that is identifiable. If the people. I who made the budget had it in mind I do not know what item it would have appeared in. Senator TALMADGE. YOU testified yesterday, did you not, Mr. Sloan told you on July 12 that, he was, approached by, Mr. Magruder and asked by 'Mr. Magruder to minimize the amount, of money that he had disbursed, is that correct? Mr. STANS. I am not sure that I referred to the date of July 12 but I was told by Mr. Sloan that, that had happened and that he had--had told Mr. Magruder and others that he, was not going to do so. Senator TALMADGE. Did that not, raise suspicions in your mind of a possible illegal or unethical use of the money that Magruder was disbursing'? Mr. STANS. Senator, you do not mean Magruder, I take it. Could you rephrase the question? [00.27.38 Senator TALMADGE. Mr. Sloan. did that, not raise suspicions in your mind as to the possible illegal or unethical uses of the money that Mr. Magruder was disbursing? Mr. STANS. No question about that but those suspicions began to generate earlier than that, particularly on June 28 when Mr. Liddy was discharged for failing to cooperate with the FBI. Senator TALMADGE. Did you testify yesterday in effect that your Whole purpose was raising money, that you did not take care of small detailed items? Mr. STANS. That is pretty much true. I will not say that at times I did not got into detail. One is always forced into that but my job was to raise the massive amount of money that I could see was going to be spent. [00.28.30]