Testimony of Bernard L. Barker - Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee Hearings on Presidential Campaign Activities, May 24, 1973
Testimony of Bernard L. Barker - Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee Hearings on Presidential Campaign Activities, May 24, 1973
Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee Hearings on Presidential Campaign Activities, May 24, 1973 - Testimony of Bernard L. Barker United States Senate Caucus Room, Washington DC
Testimony of Bernard L. Barker - Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee Hearings on Presidential Campaign Activities, May 24, 1973
Senator GURNEY. Begin at the very beginning of this Watergate affair, or the beginning of your contact with Mr Hunt. When and how did he contact you? Mr. BARKER. On April 17, 1971, exactly 10 years after the Bay of Pigs. This is the day they commemorate the Bay of Pigs in Miami. There was - I think it was the day before - when I arrived home, there was a note on my door. And the note said If you are the same Barker I once knew Senator GURNEY. A note pinned to your door? Mr. BARKER. That is correct. Senator GURNEY. Door where? Mr. BARKER. At my home, sir. Senator GURNEY. And it said again what? Mr. BARKER. If you are the same Barker I once knew contact me at such and such hotel. Senator GURNEY. And signed by anybody? Mr. BARKER. Howard. Senator GURNEY. Now what did you do? Mr. BARKER. I immediately contacted him. Senator GURNEY. Where? Mr. BARKER. I don t remember the name of the hotel. I could have been the Trade Winds. I know it was in Miami Beach. I m not too familiar with Miami Beach. Close to 135th Street area. Senator GURNEY. How did you know the name of the hotel? Mr. BARKER. It stated it in the note where I could contact him. Senator GURNEY. It gave the name of the hotel in the note. Mr. BARKER. Yes.
Testimony of Bernard L. Barker - Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee Hearings on Presidential Campaign Activities, May 24, 1973
Senator GURNEY. You contacted him by phone? Mr. BARKER. Yes. Originally by phone and then I immediately drove over there in person. Senator GURNEY. Well, give an account first of the phone conversation. Mr. BARKER. "Greetings and how are you," and so forth. "It would be nice to see you again," and how - "Well, I am a lot older, a lot fatter," and stuff like that. Senator GURNEY. Did he invite you to come over to the hotel? Mr. BARKER. Yes, sir. Senator GURNEY. And did he give any reason why? Mr. BARKER. No, sir. Senator GURNEY. And then you went to the hotel and met him? Mr. BARKER. That is correct. Senator GURNEY. In his room? Mr. BARKER. I do not recollect. I think Mr. and Mrs. Hunt met me downstairs.
Testimony of Bernard L. Barker - Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee Hearings on Presidential Campaign Activities, May 24, 1973
Senator GURNEY. And what transpired - what conversations did you have. Mr. BARKER. All kinds. Senator GURNEY. Well, I am talking now specifically about what he wanted you to do, of course. Mr. BARKER. At that time, nothing. It was just he was there to go back to the 10 years after the Bay of Pigs, he would be present incognito at the celebration of The Bay of Pigs, and asked would I go with him, and I said I would like to. Senator GURNEY. Why did he not want to be known? Mr. BARKER. I do not know the nature of the operation at that time. Mr. Hunt was only known to very few persons in Miami, and we did go to this meeting, we did speak in Spanish to two or three persons that were in the old Cuban Revolutionary Council. Senator GURNEY. Go on; excuse me. Mr. BARKER. Mr. Martinez joined us. I presented him as Edwardo, and he immediately recognized who Eduardo was, although I think Mr. Martinez had met him previously. Then Mrs. Barker and myself, Mr. and Mrs. Hunt, and Mr. Martinez went to lunch in a Cuban restaurant. Nothing was spoken at that time itself. Senator GURNEY. This was still just a visit about old times. Mr. BARKER. Yes, sir.
Testimony of Bernard L. Barker - Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee Hearings on Presidential Campaign Activities, May 24, 1973
Senator GURNEY. Well, now, when did he contact you next? Mr. BARKER. We kept in contact after that without anything special being brought up. I quite frankly waited until Mr. Hunt would tell me if there was any other reason other than social reasons - in the hierarchy, remember that he was my boss - and I expected him in his good time to tell me if there was anything else - and eventually he did. Senator GURNEY. And when did that take place? Mr. BARKER. I would say it was approximately - to the best of my recollection - 2 weeks before the Ellsberg surreptitious entry.
Testimony of Bernard L. Barker - Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee Hearings on Presidential Campaign Activities, May 24, 1973
Senator GURNEY. And what did he tell you? Mr. BARKER. As I have said before, I think, would I be willing to help him on a matter of national security? Senator GURNEY. Was this by a phone call? Mr. BARKER. No, no; personally. He went down to Miami personally, and then after, I would repeat what I said before. Senator GURNEY. I do not know that we need to go through that. Mr. BARKER. Then he said that I should recruit two persons for this operation. And then I said I would, and he left. Then I proceeded to sound out two persons, and both of them accepted. The two persons that I had sounded out were Mr. Martinez and Mr. DeDiego. I selected them for their qualifications, not that they were salesmen in my organization. Mr. Martinez had in his record over 300 infiltrations into Castro Communist Cuba, including the obtaining of hard evidence during the missile crisis. I thought it was perfectly justified for a mission of this nature. I consider him one of the greatest heroes of that effort at that time. Mr. DeDiego had been a member of Operation 40, which had been specially trained to capture documents of the Castro government and the operation was successful. He had received further training as an intelligence officer in the Army of the United States. He also, in my concept, was perfectly qualified for a mission of this nature. I submitted their names and records to Mr. Hunt over the phone - long-distance phone - and some time after that, I do not remember, he called me and said that the two men had been cleared for the mission. Senator GURNEY. Did he say who and how they were cleared? Mr. BARKER. No, he did not.
Testimony of Bernard L. Barker - Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee Hearings on Presidential Campaign Activities, May 24, 1973
Senator GURNEY. And then go on about the mission and be as brief as possible, because I want to get to the Watergate. Mr. BARKER. Mr. Hunt then called me one day and said to proceed with my men to Los Angeles and to stay at - I think it was - the Beverly Wilshire Hotel where he would contact me. I bought the tickets, alerted the men, and we took off and went to Los Angeles. I registered in the hotel and Mr. Hunt contacted me. He gave me a brief - he gave me the address of the place where we were to make the entry. I found the place and I went with my men to familiarize myself with the area. I had the exact address at that time. Then the general plan was given to us. We proceeded to the area, and eventually made the entry. I personally searched for those documents. Senator GURNEY. What documents? Mr. BARKER. A file of Daniel Ellsberg at his psychiatrist's office. This file was not there. I would search - file from file cabinet. I searched his desk and the file cabinet. The men also helped me in the search. The only thing that I found in connection with him was an address book which had his name. This we photographed, and we also photographed the file cabinet to prove that we had forced them open, and then we left.
Testimony of Bernard L. Barker - Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee Hearings on Presidential Campaign Activities, May 24, 1973
Senator GURNEY. Now then let us get to the Watergate: When and where did Mr. Hunt contact you about Watergate? Mr. BARKER. I do not remember whether - I believe it was in one of the trips down to Miami that he told me of an impending operation - double operation - which would take in length about a week. Senator GURNEY. Did you say double operation? Mr. BARKER. I beg your pardon? Senator GURNEY. Did you say double operation? Mr. BARKER. That is correct. Senator GURNEY. What does that mean? Mr. BARKER. At that time, I did not know but I knew at the time it would involve, after that it was quite evident it was an entry into the McGovern's headquarters as well as an entry into the Watergate headquarters.
Testimony of Bernard L. Barker - Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee Hearings on Presidential Campaign Activities, May 24, 1973
Senator GURNEY. Tell us now very carefully what his instructions were. Mr. BARKER. I would like to explain that Mr. Hunt was our immediate superior in this operation - that we were involved only in the documents that we were to obtain. We had no connection with the electronic part. It is - to the best of my recollection - that the electronic part was not even under the direction of Mr. Hunt, much less of myself. Mr. McCord appeared to be quite capable of that, he handled that. I had no knowledge of that bugging he was going to do. All that my mission - that our team mission was - was the documents to which I have referred, and this was explained to me by Mr. Hunt at that time.