Nixon Papers Disclose Project to Punish Those Leaking Data

WASHINGTON — In the year before Watergate, President Richard M. Nixon became so obsessed with leaks from his Administration that a system was set up to track down people who leaked information and punish them, according to documents released for the first time on Friday.

Nixon’s chief of staff, H. R. Haldeman, agreed that in severe cases “direct means, FBI, polygraphs, etc.” be employed.

Fred Malek, a White House aide, was put in charge of the “leaks project” by Haldeman in September, 1971, after Nixon complained about leaks, the documents show.

From White House

Three months later, Malek reported that “12 leaks were uncovered in the last two weeks” and were being tracked. He said also that “a high proportion of the apparent leaks that have been detected since we have begun our program have emanated from or have been attributed to the White House.”

The documents were among 800,000 pages of Nixon Administration papers opened for public viewing Friday by the National Archives at a warehouse in Alexandria, Va., which houses 40 million papers left behind when Nixon resigned from the presidency.

The newly released documents included the papers of Haldeman and of Charles C. Colson, both of whom served prison sentences for Watergate and related crimes.

IRS Audit of Congress

Some documents showed how at the height of the Watergate scandal, Nixon suggested that the Internal Revenue Service audit all members of Congress and was ready with a cover story if questions were raised.

Nixon discussed the tax audit scheme in a March 12, 1973, “eyes only” memorandum to Haldeman.

“What happened to the suggestion that the IRS should run audits on all members of the Congress?” Nixon wrote.

“What I have in mind is that the IRS run audits of all top members of the White House staff, all members of the Cabinet and all members of Congress,” Nixon said. “It could be said, if any questions are raised, that this is what we are doing because of letters we have received indicating that people in government do not get IRS checks because of their special position.”