men, later identified as Virgilio Gonzalez, Bernard Barker, James McCord, Eugenio Martínez,
and Frank Sturgis.[22] They were charged with attempted burglary and attempted interception of
telephone and other communications. The Washington Post reported that "police found lock-picks
and door jimmies, almost $2,300 in cash, most of it in $100 bills with the serial numbers in
sequence ... a short wave receiver that could pick up police calls, 40 rolls of unexposed film, two 35
millimeter cameras and three pen-sized tear gas guns". [29]
The following morning, Sunday, June 18, G. Gordon Liddy called Jeb Magruder in Los Angeles and
informed him that "the four men arrested with McCord were Cuban freedom fighters, whom Howard
Hunt recruited". Initially, Nixon's organization and the White House quickly went to work to cover up
the crime and any evidence that might have damaged the president and his reelection. [30]
On September 15, 1972, a grand jury indicted the five office burglars, as well as Hunt and Liddy,
[31]
for conspiracy, burglary, and violation of federal wiretapping laws. The burglars were tried by a
jury, with Judge John Sirica officiating, and pled guilty or were convicted on January 30, 1973. [32]
Cover-up and its unraveling[edit]
Initial cover-up[edit]
Address book of Watergate burglar Bernard Barker, discovered in a room at the Watergate Hotel, June 18,
1972
Within hours of the burglars' arrest, the FBI discovered E. Howard Hunt's name in Barker and
Martínez's address books. Nixon administration officials were concerned because Hunt and Liddy
were also involved in a separate secret activity known as the "White House Plumbers", which was
established to stop security "leaks" and investigate other sensitive security matters. Dean later
testified that top Nixon aide John Ehrlichman ordered him to "deep six" the contents of Howard
Hunt's White House safe. Ehrlichman subsequently denied this. In the end, Dean and the FBI's
Acting Director L. Patrick Gray (in separate operations) destroyed the evidence from Hunt's safe.
Nixon's own reaction to the break-in, at least initially, was one of skepticism. Watergate prosecutor
James Neal was sure that Nixon had not known in advance of the break-in. As evidence, he cited a
conversation taped on June 23 between the President and his Chief of Staff, H. R. Haldeman, in
which Nixon asked, "Who was the asshole that did that?" [33] However, Nixon subsequently ordered
Haldeman to have the CIA block the FBI's investigation into the source of the funding for the
burglary.
A few days later, Nixon's Press Secretary, Ron Ziegler, described the event as "a third-rate burglary
attempt". On August 29, at a news conference, Nixon stated that Dean had conducted a thorough
investigation of the incident, when Dean had actually not conducted any investigations at all. Nixon
furthermore said, "I can say categorically that ... no one in the White House staff, no one in this
Administration, presently employed, was involved in this very bizarre incident." On September 15,
Nixon congratulated Dean, saying, "The way you've handled it, it seems to me, has been very
skillful, because you—putting your fingers in the dikes every time that leaks have sprung here and
sprung there."[22]
Kidnapping of Martha Mitchell
Main article: Martha Mitchell § June 1972 Kidnapping, aftermath and vindication
In June 1972, during a phone call with United Press reporter Helen Thomas, Martha Mitchell
informed Thomas that she was leaving her husband until he resigned from the CRP. [34] The phone
call ended abruptly. A few days later, Marcia Kramer, a veteran crime reporter of the New York Daily
News, tracked Mitchell to the Westchester Country Club in Rye, New York, and described Mitchell
as "a beaten woman" with visible bruises.[35] Mitchell reported that, during the week following the
Watergate burglary, she had been held captive in the Watergate Complex hotel, and that security
guard Steve King ended her call to Thomas by pulling the phone cord from the wall. [35][34] Mitchell
made several attempts to escape via the balcony, but was physically accosted, injured, and
forcefully sedated by a psychiatrist. [36][37] Following conviction for his role in the Watergate burglary, in
February 1975, McCord admitted that Mitchell had been "basically kidnapped", and corroborated her
reports of the event.[38]
Money trail[edit]
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On June 19, 1972, the press reported that one of the Watergate burglars was a Republican
Party security aide.[39] Former Attorney General John Mitchell, who was then the head of the CRP,
denied any involvement with the Watergate break-in. He also disavowed any knowledge whatsoever
of the five burglars.[40][41] On August 1, a $25,000 (approximately $153,000 in 2019 dollars) cashier's
check was found to have been deposited in the US and Mexican bank accounts of one of the
Watergate burglars, Bernard Barker. Made out to the Finance Committee of the Committee to
Reelect the President, the check was a 1972 campaign donation by Kenneth H. Dahlberg. This
money (and several other checks which had been lawfully donated to the CRP) had been directly
used to finance the burglary and wiretapping expenses, including hardware and supplies.
Mr. Barker's multiple national and international businesses all had separate bank accounts, which he
was found to have attempted to use to disguise the true origin of the money being paid to the
burglars. The donor's checks demonstrated the burglars' direct link to the finance committee of the
CRP.
Donations totalling $86,000 ($526,000 today) were made by individuals who were deluded that they
were making private donations by certified and cashier's checks for the president's re-election.
Investigators' examination of the bank records of a Miami company run by Watergate burglar Barker
revealed an account controlled by him personally had deposited a check and then transferred it
(through the Federal Reserve Check Clearing System).
The banks that had originated the checks were keen to ensure the depository institution used by
Barker had acted properly in ensuring the checks had been received and endorsed by the check's
payee, before its acceptance for deposit in Bernard Barker's account. Only in this way would the
issuing banks not be held liable for the unauthorized and improper release of funds from their
customers' accounts.
