\n\i a candid conversation with the man who blew the whistle on richard nixon \p
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\f1\fs16\b PLAYBOY: \n You said later that during that conversation with the President about impeachment, you had had a creepy feeling that he was speaking for the recordùthat he might be recording your conversation. Were you shocked when you found out that he \i had \n been taping youùand everyone else? \p
\b DEAN: \n I was \i elated \n. After all, the White House and Nixon's supporters had been calling me a liar. I remember, after my appearance at the hearings, I was taking a few weeks off to relax at the beach in Florida and Dash called and said, "John, I'd like you to come back to Washington." And I said, "Is it important, Sam? I'd really like to spend another few days down here before I get back in the thick of things." And he said, "It's very important!" So I flew back and met with Sam and one of the people on his staff at my house. Dash opened with some pleasantries and a few general questions and I'm thinking, Why in the world does he want me back here for this? But finally he said to me, "John, you said you believed one of your conversations with the President was taped. Do you think \i all \n of his Oval Office and Executive Office Building conversations could have been taped?" And I said, "Gee, I don't know, but I'll tell you how you could find out. First I would go to Albert Redman, the head of the White House Communications Agency, and subpoena him. He's a military man and I think he'd be truthful, because he wants to protect his career and wouldn't want to be caught lying. If he doesn't know about it, the other people who would know about it would be the Secret Service." And Sam started smiling. "Well, we have hard information that all of the conversations \i were \n taped." And I said, 'That's fantastic!" Sam told me later he was testing me to see what my reaction would be. Well, I was delighted, because it wouldn't be my word against everybody else's anymore; there existed a documentary record that would corroborate everything I'd said in testimony. \p
