yellow yo-yo and said, “This will really please the crowd. It’ s an official Roy Acuff model.” | put the yo-yo in my pocket. Haldeman did not mention that the string had been loosened at the bottom, so when | was onstage and | flung that yo-yo down, it just stayed there. Once again, Haldeman had transformed the president into an asshole. It was Haldeman who had urged me to Install the White House taping system. It was Haldeman who hired Alexander Butterfield, who testified to the whole world about the tapes, and told the FBI about E. Howard Hunt. Butterfield brought in Al Wong to set up the system and check it every day. And it was Wong who brought James McCord onto the team. It all seems so obvious now. One thing about Gerald Ford, though: He keeps his promises—not only to pardon me, but also his promise to fire Alexander Butterfield, even though Ford was actually grateful to him. As for me, | should have listened to L. Patrick Gray when he warned me, “People on your staff are trying to mortally wound you." My wife, Pat, has sworn to me that she never told anyone about our marital difficulties, and of course | believe her, so the leak to Woodward and Bernstein could on/y have come from Haldeman. On top of all his other betrayals, he must have been Deep Throat too. HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_015127