President Refuses to Turn Over Tapes; Ervin Committee, Cox Issue Subpoenas

Wright said that if Cox is a part of the Executive Branch "you are subject to the instructions of your superiors, up to and including the President, and can have access to presidential papers only as and if the President sees fit to make them available to you."

But even more significant, Wright added, is the fact that production of the tapes for Cox would lead to their use in court, "and questions of separation-of-powers are in the forefront when the most confidential documents of the presidency are sought for use in the Judicial Branch.

Cox said after receiving Wright's letter, "Careful study before requesting the tapes convinced me that any blanket claim of privilege to withhold this evidence from a grand jury is without legal foundation."

"It therefore becomes my duty promptly to seek subpoenas and other available legal procedures for obtaining the evidence for the grand jury . . .

"The effort to obtain these tapes and other documentary evidence is the impartial pursuit of justice according to law. None of us should make assumption about what the tapes will show.

"They may tend to show that there was criminal activity -- or that there was none. They may tend to show the guilt of particular individuals or their innocence.

"The one clear point is that the tapes are evidence bearing directly upon whether there were criminal conspiracies, including a conspiracy to obstruct justice, among high government officials."

The Senate committee asked for four tapes of conversations the President held with former counsel Dean to determine if they supported Dean's contentions that the President knew of the Watergate cover-up.

Cox requested eight tapes, including two with Dean, one involving a telephone conversation between the President and former Attorney General John N. Mitchell and one a meeting with Mitchell. The others involved meetings with former aides John D. Ehrlichman and H.R. Haldeman.