Scandal at the Watergate Cover up in the Nixon Administration

What is the Watergate? The Watergate is an upscale hotel, office, and apartment complex overlooking the Potomac River in Washington D.C. In 1972, it was the Headquarters for the Democratic National Committee On June 17, 1972, the offices were broken into and burglarized The burglars all had connections with the Nixon Administration

The Burglary On the evening of the burglary, a security guard noticed tape on the locks of several doors, which he removed Upon returning later, he noticed that the tape had been replaced, and the offices had been disturbed The police were called, and five men were arrested inside the offices of the DNC Bernard Baker Virgilio Gonzalez Frank Sturgis James McCord Eugenio Martinez All five, plus E. Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy were indicted on burglary, conspiracy, and wiretapping charges All had thousands of dollars in their possession when they were arrested, which came from questionable sources

The “Plumbers” Frank Sturgis E. Howard Hunt G. Gordon Liddy Bernard Baker

Conspiracy All seven me indicted had connections, either directly or indirectly, to the Committee to Reelect the President (CRP) McCord wrote a letter to the trial judge saying that he was being pressured by high ranking government officials to plead guilty to the charges, including United States Attorney General John Mitchell Pleading guilty would remove any further investigation that may lead to the White House This letter raises the event to a national political scandal

Investigation Investigation began with the money Irregularities were found with the processing of donations to the CRP It was discovered that, on orders from Liddy, the donations were used to finance the break in Using the money trail, investigators were able to tie all of the burglars to the White House As more connections were made, the story grew larger and larger

Woodward and Bernstein Carl Bernstein Bob Woodward

Woodward and Bernstein Investigative Reporters for The Washington Post Discovered, mostly through anonymous sources, that the highest ranking officials knew of the break-in, and were involved in a cover-up to mask the President’s involvement The cover-up involved The Justice Department, The FBI, the CIA, and the White House

The Pentagon Papers Study on the Vietnam War Proved that Presidents Johnson and Nixon lied to Congress and the people about the war Released by Activist Daniel Ellsberg

“Deep Throat” Woodward and Bernstein’s main anonymous source was a high ranking government official, whom they only knew as “Deep Throat” His methods of contact with the reporters are unclear and a subject of controversy In the film Watergate film All the President’s Men, he would only meet the reporters in dark spaces, usually parking garages, and would always whisper, or disguise his voice, which is probably not accurate Woodward’s only information to the public about Deep Throat was that it was a man, and that he smoked heavily. Woodward often referred to his informant as “My Friend” His information fueled Woodward and Bernstein’s investigation

William Mark Felt, Sr. In 2005, on of the greatest political mysteries of all time was solved when Deep Throat revealed himself to be W. Mark Felt, Sr. Associate Director of the FBI Denied that he was “My Friend” for most of his life Had access to the most sensitive and damaging information from the Nixon White House Was suspected of leaking by Nixon himself, but that suggestion was shrugged off as absurd It should be noted that Felt did not use his first name, making his common initials M.F., the same as “My Friend”.

Nixon Contemptuous references to the crime and its perpetrator Third Rate Burglary Hanky Panky Clowns As more an more people were implicated, he simply fired them to create distance from himself

Fired by Nixon H. R. Haldeman John Ehrlichman John Dean III Archibald Cox

Senate Watergate Hearings John Dean testimony revealed bombshell after bombshell Fired after testimony Self-preservation Became the key witness against the President Committee asked White House Deputy Assistant to the President Alexander Butterfield if he knew of any recordings of White House conversations When he answered “yes”, the fire was fueled to get the tapes for the hearings Archibald Cox subpoenaed the tapes

“I’m not a crook!” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sh163n1lJ4M

Executive Privilege Nixon refused to release his tapes, citing Executive Privilege As pressure mounted, Nixon released edited transcripts of these tapes The Committee was not satisfied Cox put the pressure on The American people were insistent

Saturday Night Massacre Nixon ordered the firing of Archibald Cox for refusing to withdraw his subpoena of the tapes Attorney General Elliot Richardson refused, and Nixon demanded his resignation Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus also refused, and was also asked to resign Robert Bork, upon getting the job, fired Cox Cox’s replacement, Leon Jaworski, continued the investigation

Transcripts? Seriously? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4rFoX5Qb44

The United States v. Richard M. Nixon The tapes were the major source of controversy Nixon knew that if they were released, his career would be over The Committee knew that, too… The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Executive Privilege did not apply in this case, and ordered Nixon to turn the tapes over to the special prosecutor

The End… Using the tapes as evidence, the House of Representatives prepared articles of Impeachment against Richard Nixon Rather than being impeached, Nixon chose to resign Gerald Ford replaced Richard Nixon as President on August 9, 1974 One of Ford’s first actions was to pardon Richard Nixon of any wrongdoing Controversial decision

Nixon Resigns https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEOGJJ7UKFM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oe3OgU8W0s&t=209s

This is the letter that President Nixon sent to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger announcing his resignation from the Presidency