The Plumbers
How a White House unit built to stop leaks led to a burglary, a recording system nobody knew about, and the end of a presidency
After the Pentagon Papers came out, the White House set up a small unit to stop leaks. Three years later the President of the United States resigned.
Nearly every line here comes from the Special Prosecutor’s report, court opinions, Senate hearings and the White House tapes. A charge is an accusation, not a finding of guilt: where a court decided something, the story says which court and when.
1971
The Plumbers. In June 1971 The New York Times began printing the Pentagon Papers. Soon after, the White House set up a unit to stop leaks. Two of its men were E. Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy.
Sep 1971
The first break-in. In September 1971 the unit broke into the Los Angeles office of Daniel Ellsberg’s psychiatrist, looking for his records. Ellsberg was under indictment at the time.
17 Jun 1972
Tape on a door. At 2:00 in the morning on 17 June 1972, police found five men in the Democratic National Committee’s offices at the Watergate, with walkie-talkies and burglary tools. One of them, James McCord, ran security for the President’s campaign.
Jun 1972
The money. The burglars carried $100 bills with their serial numbers in sequence. The bills went back to a bank account in Miami, and that account held checks given to re-elect the President.
23 Jun 1972
Six days later. In the Oval Office, H. R. Haldeman told the President the FBI could trace the money, and how it could be stopped. A tape was running. The President’s answer: “Good. Good deal. Play it tough.”
23 Mar 1973
A letter to the judge. The burglars pleaded guilty or were found guilty in January 1973. On 23 March, Chief Judge John Sirica read out a sealed letter from McCord. It said witnesses had lied at the trial and the defendants had been pressed to stay silent.
25 Jun 1973
A cancer. The Senate opened public hearings in May 1973. John Dean, the President’s former counsel, testified that the President had known of the cover-up since September 1972.
16 Jul 1973
The system. On 16 July 1973 a White House aide, Alexander Butterfield, told the committee that the President’s offices recorded everything. A week later the committee subpoenaed the tapes.
20 Oct 1973
Saturday night. Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox refused the President’s terms for the tapes. The Attorney General resigned rather than dismiss him. His deputy refused and was fired. The third in line did it. A court later ruled the dismissal illegal.
Nov 1973
The gap. One subpoenaed tape held a stretch of humming. The President’s secretary said she might have erased four or five minutes by accident. An expert panel found at least five separate erasures. Prosecutors could not find evidence enough to charge anyone.
24 Jul 1974
Eight to nothing. The President said the tapes were his to keep. On 24 July 1974 the Supreme Court ruled against him, with one justice taking no part. He had to hand them over.
30 Jul 1974
Three articles. Within days the House Judiciary Committee adopted three articles of impeachment: obstruction of justice, 27 to 11; abuse of power, 28 to 10; defying its subpoenas, 21 to 17. Two more failed.
5 Aug 1974
The tape of June 23. On 5 August the President released the conversation from six days after the break-in, and said himself that it did not match what he had told the country.
8 Aug 1974
Noon tomorrow. Three days later he told the country he no longer had the support in Congress to go on. Gerald Ford took the oath the next day.
8 Sep 1974
The pardon. A month later Ford pardoned Nixon for all federal offenses he had committed or might have committed. Nixon was never tried.
1 Jan 1975
Who answered. On 1 January 1975 a jury convicted John Mitchell, H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman in the cover-up; the appeal court upheld those verdicts. John Dean pleaded guilty. Every step of each case is on its page.
It began with the Pentagon Papers: the copying, the court and the case against Daniel Ellsberg are in The Airfield and the Think Tank.
Pictures, from Wikimedia Commons: Pentagon Papers, Yoichi R. Okamoto, White House Press Office (WHPO), Public domain; Daniel Ellsberg, Gotfryd, Bernard, photographer, Public domain; Watergate complex, Allen Lew from Berkeley, USA, CC BY 2.0; G. Gordon Liddy, Department of Justice. Federal Bureau of Investigation. (1935 - ), Public domain; H. R. Haldeman, Oliver F. Atkins (1916-1977), White House photographer, Public domain; John Sirica, White House Photographic Office (WHPO) - Thomas, Public domain; Richard Nixon, Department of Defense. Department of the Army. Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Ope, Public domain; Alexander Butterfield, Oliver F. Atkins, Public domain; Archibald Cox, Warren K. Leffler, Public domain; Watergate, Farragutful, CC BY-SA 3.0; U.S. Supreme Court, UpstateNYer, CC BY-SA 3.0; John N. Mitchell, White House photo office, Public domain.
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