Nixon Talked of Auditing All in Congress

At the height of the Watergate scandal, Richard M. Nixon suggested that the Internal Revenue Service audit all members of Congress and was ready with a cover story if questions were raised, presidential papers made public today showed.

Nixon discussed the tax audit scheme in a March 12, 1973, “eyes only” memorandum to White House aide H. R. Haldeman--part of 353,000 pages of White House papers to be released by the National Archives.

“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 wrote. “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.”

The papers also revealed that Nixon was adamant about carrying out wholesale firings at the Central Intelligence Agency to put in his own people.

1972 Memo Quoted

In a May 18, 1972, note to Haldeman and Fred Malek, Nixon wrote, “One department which particularly needs a housecleaning is the CIA. The problem in the CIA is muscle-bound bureaucracy which has completely paralyzed its brain.”

Nixon said he wanted a study immediately as to how many people in the CIA could be fired by presidential action.

“Of course the reduction in force should be accomplished solely on the ground of its being necessary for budget reasons, but you will both know the real reason. . . . “