Watergate scandal

The Watergate Scandal (1972–1974) (or just "Watergate") was an American political scandal and constitutional crisis that led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon.

The burglary

On June 17th 1972, Frank Wills, a security guard working at office complex of the Watergate Hotel, Washington, D.C., noticed a piece of tape on the door between the basement stairwell and the parking garage. It was holding the door unlocked, so Wills removed it, assuming the cleaning crew had put it there. Later, he returned and discovered that the tape had been replaced. Wills then contacted the D.C. police.

Related Topics:
June 17th - 1972 - Frank Wills - Washington, D.C.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After the police came, five men — Bernard Barker, Virgilio González, Eugenio Martínez, James W. McCord, Jr. and Frank Sturgis — were discovered and arrested for breaking into the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee. The men had broken into the same office three weeks earlier as well, and had returned intending to fix wiretaps that were not working and, according to some, to photograph documents.

Related Topics:
Bernard Barker - Virgilio González - Eugenio Martínez - James W. McCord, Jr. - Frank Sturgis - Democratic National Committee - Wiretap

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The need to break into the office for a second time was just the highlight of a number of mistakes made by the burglars. Another, the telephone number of E. Howard Hunt in McCord's notebook, proved costly to them — and the White House — when found by the police. Hunt had previously worked for the White House, while McCord was officially employed as Chief of Security at the Committee to Re-elect the President (CRP), later commonly referred to as CREEP. This quickly suggested that there was a link between the burglars and someone close to the President. However, Nixon press secretary Ron Ziegler dismissed the affair as a "third-rate burglary". Though the burglary occurred at a sensitive time, with a looming presidential campaign, most Americans initially believed that no President with Nixon's advantage in the polls would be so foolhardy or unethical as to risk association with such an affair.

Related Topics:
E. Howard Hunt - White House - Committee to Re-elect the President - Ron Ziegler

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

At his arraignment, burglar McCord identified himself as retired from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The Washington D.C. district attorney's office began an investigation of the links between McCord and the CIA, and eventually determined that McCord had received payments from CRP. Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward was at the arraignment, and he along with his colleague, Carl Bernstein, began an investigation into the burglary. Most of what they published was known to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other governmental investigators—these were often Woodward and Bernstein's sources—but they helped keep Watergate in the spotlight and embarrass the White House. Woodward's relations with a principal inside source added an extra layer of mystery to the affair. This source was codenamed "Deep Throat", and his true identity was kept from the public. Decades of speculation ended on May 31, 2005 when W. Mark Felt, the No. 2 official at the FBI in the early 1970s, revealed that he was Deep Throat—a claim later confirmed by Woodward.

Related Topics:
Arraignment - Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) - Washington Post - Bob Woodward - Carl Bernstein - Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) - Deep Throat - May 31 - 2005 - W. Mark Felt

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

President Nixon and White House Chief of Staff H. R. "Bob" Haldeman were tape-recorded (a standard, but secret, Nixon practice) on June 23 discussing use of the CIA to obstruct the FBI's investigation of the Watergate break-ins. Nixon followed through by asking the CIA to slow the FBI's investigation of the crime, claiming that national security would be put at risk. In fact, the crime and numerous other "dirty tricks" had been undertaken on behalf of CRP, mainly under the direction of Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy. The pair had also worked in the White House in the Special Investigations Unit, nicknamed the "Plumbers". This group investigated leaks of information the administration did not want publicly known, and ran various operations against the Democrats and anti-war protestors. Most famous of their activities was the break-in at the office of the psychiatrist of Daniel Ellsberg. Ellsberg, a former employee of The Pentagon and State Department, had leaked the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times and as a result was prosecuted for espionage, theft, and conspiracy. Hunt and Liddy found nothing useful, however, and trashed the office to cover their tracks. The break-in was only linked to the White House much later, but at the time it caused the collapse of Ellsberg's trial due to evident government misconduct.

Related Topics:
White House Chief of Staff - H. R. "Bob" Haldeman - June 23 - Dirty tricks - G. Gordon Liddy - Plumbers - Daniel Ellsberg - The Pentagon - State Department - Pentagon Papers - New York Times

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

There is still much dispute about the level of involvement of leading figures in the White House, such as Attorney General John Mitchell, chief of staff Haldeman, leading aides Charles Colson and John Ehrlichman, and Nixon himself. Mitchell dubbed these events the White House horrors. As the head of CRP, along with campaign manager Jeb Stuart Magruder and Fred LaRue, Mitchell approved Hunt and Liddy's espionage plans, including the break-in, but whether it went above them is unclear. Magruder, for instance, gave a number of different accounts, including that he had overheard Nixon order Mitchell to conduct the break-in in order to gather intelligence about the activities of Larry O'Brien, the director of the Democratic Campaign Committee.

Related Topics:
John Mitchell - Charles Colson - John Ehrlichman - White House horrors - Jeb Stuart Magruder - Fred LaRue - Larry O'Brien

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On January 8, 1973, the original burglars along with Liddy and Hunt went to trial. All except McCord and Liddy pleaded guilty, and all were convicted of conspiracy, burglary and wiretapping. The accused had been paid by CRP to plead guilty but say nothing, and their refusal to allocute to the crimes angered the trial judge John Sirica (known as "Maximum John" because of his harsh sentencing). Sirica handed down thirty-year sentences, but indicated he would reconsider if the group would be more cooperative. McCord complied, implicated CRP in the burglary and the payoff for the burglars' silence, and admitted to perjury.

Related Topics:
January 8 - 1973 - Allocute - John Sirica - Perjury

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~