This Day In 1970's History: Wednesday January 16, 1974
- Judge John Sirica heard more testimony regarding the 18-minute gap in a White House tape. Secret Service agent Louis Sims verified the date of the tape recorder's purchase. Prosecutor Richard Ben-Veniste outlined the time Rose Mary Woods had the tape in her possession. White House assistant Stephen Bull named himself, Miss Woods, Fred Buzhardt, General John Bennett and President Nixon as the only ones having access to the tape. Woods' attorney Charles Rhyne objected to the to line of questioning. Judge Sirica will soon make a decision on sending the case to the grand jury. Rhyne stated that he doesn't think the White House is using Miss Woods as a scapegoat. [CBS]
- Vice President Gerald Ford declared that a tape gap doesn't justify impeachment, but other Republicans want to put some distance between themselves and President Nixon. A cross section of Senators revealed that Nixon is nearly destroyed as a credible president because of the latest outrage. The White House refused comment. An administration spokesman insisted that President Nixon was not responsible for the tape's erasures. [CBS]
- Richard Danner, an aide to Howard Hughes, denied telling the Senate Watergate Committee that President Nixon personally asked for financial support before the 1972 re-election campaign began. [CBS]
- Last October, the Providence Journal Bulletin carried details of President Nixon's income tax payments. The IRS has traced the leak to itself; an IRS employee quit under the threat of being fired. [CBS]
- In the investigation pertaining to Pentagon spying on the White House, Defense Secretary James Schlesinger stated that he found improprieties. Schlesinger attributed the improprieties to overzealous officials in the White House. [CBS]
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