In an era when the perceived threat of communism was a major domestic issue, Chotiner advised the future president to link his liberal opponent, Representative Jerry Voorhis, to a political organization which was believed to be communist-dominated.

Chotiner used a similar strategy in that campaign, stressing Douglas' liberal voting record and printing the accusations on pink paper to hint at communist sympathy.

After Congress investigated Chotiner in 1956, suspecting he was using his connections to Nixon for influence peddling to benefit his private legal clients, the vice president and his former campaign manager temporarily parted ways.

Lyon cross-filed and secured his re-election by winning both primaries, defeating Chotiner in the Republican poll, and narrowly beating Robert A. Heinlein (who subsequently turned to writing science fiction) in the Democratic contest.

[9] However, he alienated Warren when, hoping for a favor in light of his 1942 support, he asked the newly inaugurated governor to decline to approve the extradition of one of his clients to another state.

[16] Chotiner coined the campaign slogan, "We will not surrender" for Knowland, implying that Democratic challenger Will Rogers Jr. would permit communism to take over the country.

[21] However, the Northern California campaign chairman for Nixon, John Dinkenspiel, and his paid assistant, Harvey Hancock, declined to use the Pink Sheet in their territory.

[33] Chotiner had volunteered to take care of many of the convention arrangements for the California delegation, and for the Warren campaign headquarters at the Conrad Hilton Hotel.

Warren paid a courtesy call on Eisenhower, and later wrote in his memoirs, "Imagine my surprise when the doorkeeper who admitted me to the general's suite was Murray Chotiner.

[43] When the media discovered that Nixon had received reimbursement for political expenses from a fund set up by a private group, the nominee was severely criticized, and he was pressured to give up his place on the ticket.

[1] His spirits revived by Chotiner's loyalty, Senator Nixon delivered the televised Checkers speech, during which he defended himself and emotionally stated he would not return a black and white dog that had been given to his children.

"[50] Nixon family friend and Whittier College trustee Herman Perry stated, "When Murray develops a little more of the techniques of public relations, I will be one of the first to recognize it and one of the first to give him credit ...

However, he had represented two Atlantic City clothing manufacturers, the Kravitz brothers, who had been fined and barred from further government contracts for fraud,[6] and on April 25, 1956, a subcommittee of the Senate Permanent Committee on Investigations, looking into military procurement, subpoenaed him to appear before it.

The senators wanted to inquire why a New Jersey firm which already had six attorneys would hire a California lawyer, especially one with close ties to Vice President Nixon.

[52] When Chotiner appeared before the subcommittee on May 2, he testified that he had been retained by the firm when it was seeking to expand to California, that he had conferred with Justice Department attorneys regarding the criminal charges, and that no special favors had been asked or given.

"[53] Patrick Murphy Malin, head of the American Civil Liberties Union concurred that requiring Chotiner to testify had "overtones of political harassment.

"[53] Time magazine summed up the hearings, "At week's end two points were clear: 1) Murray Chotiner had been sought out by, and had gone to work for, unsavory clients who obviously regarded him as a man of influence; and 2) on the basis of evidence so far adduced, he had been remarkably unsuccessful in wielding any.

[6] Chotiner ran for the United States House of Representatives in 1960, proclaiming himself "vindicated and exonerated" by the fact that no adverse report had been issued against him by the Senate.

[29] He was able to place a "mole" on the Humphrey campaign press plane;[72] the agent sent back almost daily reports on off-the-record or unreported comments made by the Democratic candidate and his staff, and evaluations of their morale.

Haldeman refused to have him in the White House, and Nixon's aides deemed that the Democratic-controlled Senate was unlikely to confirm Chotiner for any post requiring its approval.

[73] Nixon press secretary Ron Ziegler stated that the salary had been raised because the new incumbent was expected to play a more active role than had previous holders of the position.

[77] Ziegler indicated that the new staffer would be handling "special projects of a wide variety", and The New York Times speculated that in view of his past, his duties would most likely be political.

[84] Chotiner also lobbied the White House on behalf of milk producers, who were seeking increased United States Department of Agriculture price supports and who were major contributors to the Republican Party.

[29] Chotiner negotiated a $2 million campaign contribution from Associated Milk Producers to the Committee for the Re-Election of the President (CRP) with John Connally and Herbert W. Kalmbach in exchange for an increase in price supports.

[85] During the 1972 presidential election, Chotiner served as head of the Ballot Security Task Force for the Nixon campaign,[86] a job that The Washington Post described as "largely token".

[6] At the instructions of Mitchell, in March 1971, he hired out-of-work reporter Seymour Friedin to present himself as a working journalist and travel with the campaigns of various Democratic presidential hopefuls.

Friedin sent reports back to Chotiner, who edited them, had them typed by his secretary, and forwarded them to Mitchell (who had resigned as United States Attorney General in 1972 to manage Nixon's re-election bid) and Haldeman.

[86] Chotiner, however, stated that there was "nothing underhanded or illegal" about the arrangement,[12] and Watergate prosecutors later chose not to prosecute CRP officials concerning the payments, deciding they could not prove criminal intent.

[89] Chotiner described Watergate in January 1973 as "a stupid, useless, inane experiment by people who have seen too many TV shows and especially too many productions of Mission Impossible".

[6] In a taped discussion of the fallout from Watergate, Haldeman told Nixon that his former campaign manager was not "wired in", and the President expressed strong opposition to Chotiner being used as a White House contact.