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On the stand, Miss Woods was far more subdued and apologetic than before, but still combative at times. She was jolted by Mrs. Volner's opening reminder that she had a constitutional right to remain silent, and that anything she said could possibly be used against her in future proceedings. Yet she remained cool enough to display her wit. Asked why she hired Rhyne, she replied with a smile: "There aren't many attorneys left around town."
Miss Woods explained that on the weekend of Sept. 29 and 30 she had worked at Camp David to transcribe some of the subpoenaed tapes for Nixon's use and possible transmittal to the court. She played the recordings back on a Sony 800B portable tape recorder —the same model used to make the President's office recordings. Since her machine had no foot pedal, she had to press various buttons to reverse and replay portions of the tapes. She found the job hard, she said, because there were loud sounds on the tapes, and the speakers' voices often overlapped. She testified that Nixon dropped in to see how she was doing. "He pushed a button back and forth and said, 'I don't see how you're getting any of this.' " She labored for some 29 hours on just one conversation—between Nixon and Ehrlichman on June 20.
She returned to her office in the White House the following Monday, Oct. 1, to complete work on the tape. Now she had a West German Uher 5000 recorder. It was equipped with a foot pedal, which can advance the tape—but only when constant pressure is applied. A foot-operated switch on the side of the pedal also permits a rapid rewinding of the tape for replaying a portion. She had completed transcribing the Ehrlichman conversation, she said, when the tape ran on into Haldeman's talk with the President—a portion, she testified, that Haig had told her was not under subpoena. The last she heard, she said, was a chat between Haldeman and Nixon about Ely, Nev., Pat Nixon's birthplace.
Then it happened. Her telephone, behind her and at arm's length to her left, rang. She took off her earphones with both her hands, reached for the stop button with her right hand but by mistake must have hit the record button, which is next to the stop button but of a lighter gray color. With her left hand she reached back for the phone, cradled it under her chin and talked to the caller—although she could not remember who it was. She estimated the length of the call variously from 4½ to 6 minutes. Throughout, she said at first, she kept her left foot on the pedal. She agreed with Mrs. Volner that she could have stopped the recorder by merely lifting her foot. "Then why did you push the button?" asked Mrs. Volner. "Because I've done it both ways," Miss Woods replied. In any event, when both the record button and the pedal are depressed, any sound on the tape is erased.
Explaining that she did not notice the reels turning because the top of the recorder was closed, Miss Woods said that she discovered her error only when she hung up the phone and then listened to the tape. She was horrified to hear the loud hum instead of conversation. She said she rushed right into the Oval Office and told Nixon. "I've made a terrible mistake. I accidentally pushed the record button and part of the tape is empty." He replied: