June 20, 1972: Haldeman: Nixon Intends to Ask Millionaire Friend to Raise Money for Burglars

According to White House aide H. R. Haldeman’s 1978 book The Ends to Power (see February 1978), President Nixon phones Haldeman in a call that Haldeman will claim has remained “unknown to anyone but the president and me to this day.” Nixon wants to raise money for the jailed Watergate burglars (see 2:30 a.m.June 17, 1972). “Those people who got caught are going to need money. I’ve been thinking about how to do it,” Nixon says. “I’m going to have Bebe [Nixon’s millionaire friend, Bebe Rebozo] start a fund for them in Miami. Call it an anti-Castro fund.” [Time, 2/27/1978] But many observers, including Haldeman’s colleague John Ehrlichman, will describe Haldeman’s book as filled with errors (see March 6, 1978), thereby calling into question Haldeman’s account of the reported incident.