White House Statement Following Grand Jury Indictment of Seven Former Administration and Campaign Officials.
THE PRESIDENT has always maintained that the judicial system is the proper forum for the resolution of the questions concerning Watergate.
The indictments indicate that the judicial process is finally moving toward resolution of the matter. It is the President's hope that trials will move quickly to a just conclusion. The President is confident that all Americans will join him in recognizing that those indicted are presumed innocent, unless proof of guilt is established in the courts.
Note: Deputy Press Secretary Gerald L. Warren read the statement at a noon news briefing at the White House.
Earlier in the day, a Federal grand jury had returned an indictment charging conspiracy to obstruct the administration of justice, in connection with the Watergate investigations, and other offenses on the part of seven former Administration and campaign officials. The indictment was returned in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, Judge John J. Sirica presiding. The men indicted and the positions they held during the period covered by the indictment were: H. R. Haldeman, Assistant to the President; John D. Ehrlichman, Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs; John N. Mitchell, Attorney General and, later, campaign director of the Committee for the Re-Election of the President; Charles W. Colson, Special Counsel to the President; Robert C. Mardian, an official of the Committee for the Re-Election of the President; Kenneth W. Parkinson, an attorney representing the Committee for the Re-Election of the President; and Gordon C. Strachan, Staff Assistant to Mr. Haldernan.
Richard Nixon, White House Statement Following Grand Jury Indictment of Seven Former Administration and Campaign Officials. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/256434