Watergate

By alamprech

  • Gathering in Watergate Hotel

    Seven men gathered in room 214 at the Watergate hotel to finalize the plans to break in to the Democratic National Committee's headquarters. One of the men by the name of G. Gordon Liddy was a former FBI agent and another named E. Howard Hunt had retired from the CIA. James McCord handled the bugging, Bernard Barker was in charge of taking pictures of the documents, and Virgilio Gonzalez was in charge of picking the locks. Eugenio Martinez and Frank Sturgis were on lookout duty.

  • Taped Locks on the Doors

    A security guard named Frank WIlls had noticed that there was tape covering the lock on one of the stairway doors. He removed the tape and came back later to discover that the lock was taped again. Wills then called the police who showed up in unmarked cars and plainclothing so that the alarms would not go off. Within the next few minutes the police were able to arrest all 5 burglars.

  • Nixon's Men are Revealed

    On the following Monday the Washington Post had reported, "One of the five men arrested early Saturday in the attempt to bug the Democratic National Committee headquarters is the salaried security coordinator for President Nixon's re-election committee." A search warrant had been executed for the rooms that the burglars had keys to. Inside one of the rooms there were address books that included Howard Hunt's names and initials.

  • Re-Elect the President

    On this day there was a $25,000 check for the Nixon re-election campagian that was found in one of the Watergate burglar's bank account. It was also found that in previous months before their arrests there was more money that had gone through their bank accounts. There were several donations made by individuals who thought that they were donating money to a campaign for the re-election of the president.

  • Secret Republican Fund

    John Mitchell, who was the chairman of the Attorney General and Nixon campaign, had controlled a Republican fund that was used to pay for spying on the Democrats.

  • FBI Report

    The FBI had reported that the break-in at Watergate was a part of a larger campaign of political spying and sabotage on behalf of the Nixon re-election campaign.

  • Re-Election Landslide

    Nixon's re-election was never actually jeopardized. He ended up winning by a landslide. This was also one of the biggest landslides ever in American political history.

  • Watergate Burglar's Trial

    As the trial for the Watergate burglars began, they plead guilty on one of the first trials.

  • Liddy and McCord

    Ten days after Nixon's second inauguration, Liddy and McCord were convicted on wiretapping, burglarly, and charges conspiracy.

  • Linked to Cover-Up

    L. Patrick Gray, who was a FBI Director, testified before the Judiciary Committee in regards to his nomination to replace J. Edgar Hoover. Sam Ervin, a Committee chariman, had referenced some newspaper articles and questioned how the White House gained access to the FBI files that were related to Watergate. Gray then said that he had given reports to John Dean who was apart of the White House counsel. Dean ordered him for daily updates and had probably lied to FBI investigators.

  • Forced to Plead Guilty

    James McCord had written a letter to the U.S. District Judge saying that he was forced to plead guilty and remain silent during the trial. He said that the break-in was not part of a CIA operation and that other government officials were involved with it.

  • McCord Testifies

    and that White House Special Counsel to the President Charles Colson knew about the Watergate operation in advance (Colson had just quit his post to return to private practice). The next day, Colson told a National Press Club audience "I had no involvement or no knowledge of the Watergate, direct or indirect."James McCord testified before the Senate Watergate Committee in a closed 5-hour session. Although this session was closed, there were some leaks. Since there were so many leaks they decided to make the next one public. One of the most significant leaks was that one of the fellow burglars, Liddy, had told McCord that the burgarly and surveillance was approved by Attorney General, at the time, John Mitchell back in February of 1972. He also said that President Colson had known about the operation.

  • Impeachment

    Impeachment hearings began with the House Judiciary Committee.