A small aside on domestic spying, Nixon and the Kennedy assassination

The LBN thread "Cheney says Sept 11 attacks could have been averted with wiretaps" reminded me of this little piece of assassination trivia that's not very well known. It comes from a Nixon press conference on August 22nd, 1973 where stories were breaking all over the place. The question Nixon is asked here is not particuarly remarkable (although can you imagine today's gaggle asking it of Bush?) and in answering it he embarks on the tried & tested Republican method - blame the Dems. However in his final sentence he says something really quite interesting:


Q. As long as we are on the subject of the American tradition, and following up Mr. Rather's question, what was authorized, even if the burglary of Dr. Fielding's office was not--what was authorized was the 1970 plan which by your own description permitted illegal acts, illegal breaking and entering, mail surveillance, and the like.

Now, under the Constitution you swore an oath to execute the laws of the United States faithfully. If you were serving in Congress, would you not be considering impeachment proceedings and discussing impeachment possibility against an elected public official who had violated his oath of office?

THE PRESIDENT. I would if I had violated the oath of office. I would also, however, refer you to the recent decision of the Supreme Court, or at least an opinion that even last year--which indicates inherent power in the Presidency to protect the national security in cases like this. I should also point out to you that in the 3 Kennedy years and the 3 Johnson years through 1966, when burglarizing of this type did take place, when it was authorized on a very large scale, there was no tank of impeachment, and it was quite well known.

I shall also point out that when you ladies and gentlemen indicate your great interest in wiretaps, and I understand that, that the height of the wiretaps was when Robert Kennedy was Attorney General in 1963. I don't criticize it, however. He had over 250 in 1963, and of course, the average in the Eisenhower Administration and the Nixon Administration is about 110. But if he had had 10 more and, as a result of wiretaps, had been able to discover the Oswald plan, it would have been worth it.

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=3937

Read it again if you don't quite get it; I missed the point the first time. He's asked about this specifically a few questions later and realises his blunder. I don't think this necessarily proves anything, either about what he knew or believed about the assassination, but it is one of a couple of curious utterances from ol' Tricky Dicky. (See also:

(after the Wallace shooting)"Why don't we play the game a bit smarter for a change. They pinned the assassination of Kennedy on the right wing, the Birchers. It was done by a Communist and it was the greatest hoax that has ever been perpetuated."

(regards an investigation of the Watergate gang)"Look, the problem is that this will open the whole, the whole Bay of Pigs thing." (In his memoir, HR Halderman claims that he believed Nixon was referring to the Kennedy assassination.)

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edit - Basically Nixon is saying that wiretaps could have stopped the assassination. However, we are told that Oswald was a lone-nut assassin who told nobody of his plans. Therefore bugging him would have done jack shit unless there actually was a conspiracy to kill Kennedy.

Nixon seems to be saying that if wiretaps could have prevented the Kennedy assassination, they would have been worth the intrusion. I understand Nixon's later "Bay of Pigs" references, but I don't see how this comment relates to them.

with more clarity, please.... for those of us thick as a brick like myself.

to me was & I want to make people work!

Basically Nixon is saying that wiretaps could have stopped the assassination. However, we are told that Oswald was a lone-nut assassin who told nobody of his plans. Therefore bugging him would have done jack shit unless there actually was a conspiracy to kill Kennedy.

This seems like reading a bit much into it...Nixon was making a general point about it. Even so, if he ordered the gun from "Lone Gunmen R Us," the wiretap could have picked up a question about his rifle order. The mere fact that he didn't tell anyone doesn't mean a wiretap couldn't have been informative.

IMO your conclusion is a bit of a stretch but thanks for replying.

Cheney says Sept 11 attacks could have been averted with wiretaps
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1995066

It's almost as if the same person has been writing them all along? Anybody see Poppy lately. Oh yeah, over by the pencil sharpener.