President Nixon faced 75 Republican congressmen over breakfast yesterday to try and convince his own party that he is genuine in his desire to clear up the Watergate scandal. The meeting was the second of a series of three planned to rally a doubting Congress. By Friday he hopes to have talked to all the 234 Republican members.

During breakfast in the White House state dining room, the republican congressman questioned President Nixon about his handling of the scandal. The atmosphere was informal and the congressmen did not wrap up the questions they threw. But just at the time when Mr Nixon is trying to gain credibility, his own right hand man Chief of Staff, General Alexander Haig, has become involved in contradictory statements over the missing tapes.