"We are interested in discussing the president's role in this matter and not in defending any former White House personnel," speechwriter Ben Stein wrote deputy counsel Fred Fielding, noting that a white paper "answering fully the charges" was forthcoming. No such paper was released.
In the Aug. 21, 1972, memo, Justice Department lawyers asserted it would be appropriate for Hoffa to elicit union support even though Nixon's pardon a year earlier had imposed a restriction that the labor leader could not return to union activities until 1980.
The lawyers contend there are "sound legal arguments" for Hoffa to make appearances before union groups. However, to avoid a direct conflict with the presidential pardon, it is inadvisable for Nixon officials to "encourage him in any way to initiate open involvement with labor organizations," according to the memo.
"He should be advised to avoid any official contact with labor groups," the memo said.
Nixon handily won re-election in 1972; Hoffa eventually disappeared without a trace on July 30, 1975.
The documents also show Nixon's political calculations when it came to defending the previously secret U.S. bombings and troop movements in Cambodia.
On May 31, 1970, a month after Nixon went on television to explain his actions, asserting that he would not let his nation become "a pitiful, helpless giant," the president met top military and national security aides at the Western White House in San Clemente, Calif.
Revelation of the operation had sparked protests and congressional action against what many lawmakers from both parties considered an illegal war. Nixon noted that Americans believed the Cambodian operation was "all but over," even as 14,000 troops were engaged across the border in a hunt for North Vietnamese operating there.
In a memo from the meeting marked "Eyes Only, Top Secret Sensitive," Nixon told his military men to continue doing what was necessary in Cambodia, but to say for public consumption that the United States was merely providing support to South Vietnamese forces when necessary to protect U.S. troops.
"That is what we will say publicly," he asserted. "But now, let's talk about what we will actually do."
He instructed: "Do not withdraw for domestic reasons but only for military reasons. We have taken all the heat on this one. Just do it. Don't come back and ask permission each time."
___
Associated Press Writer Cal Woodward contributed to this report.
Get paid for your H I P I M P L A N T troubles.>>