All The President's Men

This page gives a chapter-by-chapter summary of All The President's Men.

However, this is hardly the full story of what happened in Watergate. It was published in 1974, the year that Nixon resigned. Since that time, hundreds of hours of tapes and thousands of documents have been released, revealing the fuller, vastly more complicated tangle of money, lies, and dirty tricks that was Watergate.

I have some additional resources (book summaries, timelines, etc.) over at my Watergate page: Watergate

Chapter Notes

Chapter 1

June 1972

Introduction to burglary (June 17, 1972); introduction to Woodward/Bernstein; court hearing/arraignment for 5 burglars; James McCord; E. Howard Hunt (Woodward calling him at Robert Mullen Company, Hunt saying "Good God!", Bennett; Hunt-CIA connection); DNC lawsuit for $1 million against CRP; Hunt-Colson connection (connecting Hunt to White House)

Chapter 2

July, August 1972

Woodward investigating Hunt-Colson connection; question of WH involvement arises; Nixon public comment: WH is not involved in Watergate; Bennett: organizer of 100 dummy campaign committees to funnel money into CRP; Mitchell began in-house investigation, resigned shortly after; contact in Colson's office knew Hunt; Hunt research into Ted Kennedy; story about this in July; Hunt disappeared after call from Woodward; story in Newsweek about Liddy being fired by Mitchell in July for not answering questions abt Watergate; phone records for Hunt subpoenaed by Miami prosecutor; Bernstein met with him in Miami, got info on $89k in checks deposited into Barker's (a burglar) bank acct, plus additional $25k check; checks were money deposited into Barker's acct in Miami, $89k were from Mexican lawyer, $25k was from Dahlberg; Dahlberg was Midwest campaign head, said money was raised for Nixon campaign, handed money off to Sloan or Stans in April

Chapter 3

July (?), August 1972

Woodward got denial from Michell's successor (as campaign manager), MacGregor; Woodward confirmed that Dahlberg had given check to Stans; no report of this from Stans to the Federal Elections Division of General Accounting Office (GAO); investigation by GAO initiated; Sloan (resigned CRP treasurer) not available; GAO found big slush fund, ~$100k, overseen by Liddy; MacGregor publicly shifted responsibility to Liddy; during Republican National Convention (August), GAO report was scheduled to be released same day Nixon was nominated as candidate; Stans managed to delay report release date; Judge Richey (judge in civil suit, Democrats vs. CRP) reversed a decision and made all testimony sealed (it couldn't be opened until after the election); Stans told GAO the Mexican money came from Texas; Bernstein tried to track down Texas Committee chairman Robert Allen (also president of Gulf Resources nad Chemical Co.), went to Miami again, found out from Dardis (Miami prosecutor) that Allen's lawyer described Nixon campaign money laundering technique; Stans would cover the map asking for money, before the date of the new campaign finance law; money was laundered through Meixco to protect identities of Democrats contributing to Republican campaign, allow corporations to contribute to campaign (forbidden by law), and to allow for money from underground organizations (like the Mob); converted checks/money into cash in Mexico, transferred cash to Washington to CRP; Allen's lawyer estimated amount laundered thru Mexico $750k; GAO report released, estimated slush fund amt at $350k; Nixon held press conf. from CA, claimed violations on BOTH sides, claimed Dean's Watergate investigation found no one presently employed in WH was involved in Watergate; Woodward/Bernstein started to knock on doors of CRP personnel at night to interview them; found out key people who would know about Watergate bugging operation were not interviewed by FBI; Bernstein met with The Bookkeeper; she was accountant, kept track of money in/out of slush fund kept in Stans' safe; indictment of 7 (Hunt, Liddy, and 5 burglars) handed down; FBI contact claimed case was closed

Chapter 4

August, September 1972

Deep Throat introduced; he revealed that Stans' safe slush fund paid the Watergate burglars, that several assistants of Mitchell controlled the fund; Liddy received money from the fund; records of accounts destroyed; Sloan resigned due to his suspicions about Watergate; Post story published about Mitchell's assistants controlling fund; Woodward and Bernstein met with The Bookkeeper (September); confirmed that Liddy, McGruder, and Porter received money from fund; Deep Throat told Woodward that WH was angry about Mitchell story, wanted to track down Post's sources; confirmed that Liddy and McGruder both got > $50k; Post article with that info; no conclusive connection between secret slush fund and Watergate burglary; Bernstein met with Sloan; Liddy and McGruder got $300k from fund; connection between WH and CRP very close (same people, CRP takes its orders from the WH); Post article that Mitchell's assistants Mardian and LaRue directed a massive house cleaning after Watergate, destroyed documents, records, wiretaps, fund ledgers/books, incriminating evidence before FBI investigation began; Mardian and LaRue also directed committee's response to FBI investigators; Attorney General Kleindienst said in interview that if documents were destroyed, an obstruction of justice might have taken place

Chapter 5

September, October 1972

Woodward, Bernstein believed signs pointed to Mitchell; he was involved with CRP even after firings; reporters met with Sloan, found out 5 people had authorization over fund; Mitchell, Stans (Stans would call Mitchell, AG at the time, for disbursement permission), and MacGruder; of the remaining 2, 1 was WH staff, 1 was outsider, not Washingtonian; suspected Colson, Erlichman, Haldemann; since Colson was too careful and Erlichman not involved in campaign, Haldemann was logical choice; Sloan did not confirm Haldemann; Berstein guessed last person was Kalmbach, Nixon's personal lawyer in CA; called FBI source, would not confirm Haldemann; Post article published about Mitchell's control of secret fund, and his approval of fund withdraws as AG, fingering Stans and MacGruder as the two others able to authorize withdraws; unusual phone call between Berstein and Mitchell (JEEEEEEEESUS); the Post was making Grad Jury testimony public, calling Mitchell a crook, stakes for Post were being raised; Bernstein got permission to run Mitchell's comments from Bradlee; Powell (CRP press director) tried to talk Bernstein out of publishing Mitchell's comments, called Bradlee and tried to talk Bradlee out of publishing Mitchell's comments; LA Times published interview with Alfred Baldwin, firsthand account of Watergate bugging operation (October 4th)

Chapter 6

September, October 1972

(September 28) Bernstein received anonymous tip that a friend Alex Shipley (assistant Attorney General in TN) had been approached to join the Nixon campaign by someone - a "ratfucker"; Bernstein called Shipley, who described the proposed activities in detail; gave name of Donald Segretti; Segretti visited Shipley when Segretti had come to DC to interview with Treasury Department; Shipley didn't accept offer; Segretti had big spender[s] financing him to travel around the country, tried to get Shipley to recruit others; Berstein tried (failed) to confirm Segretti-Liddy connection (Liddy worked in Treasury Department around same time); Bernstein got CC records for Segretti (crossed country 10+ times); Meyers (West Coast Post correspondent) tracked down Segretti, confronted him, but Segretti refused to answer questions; Berstein found out Segretti was part of an ongoing DoJ investigation, as was Kalmbach, but couldn't get Segretti-Kalmbach connection confirmed; then "USC Mafia" information revealed by another Post reporter; same DoJ official (October 7th) pointed toward Dwight Chapin as individual who hired Segretti; DoJ attorney confirmed info on "USC Mafia" pointed toward higher levels than Mitchell, meaning Erlichman, Haldemann, or the President; possibility of President being the head "ratfucker"; Post article written about sabotage/espionage campaign for which Segretti was recruiting; Bernstein wanted to run it, Woodward didn't; met with Deep Throat, D.T. said the way to untie the whole knot was "offensive security"; >50 people hired by the WH: false info leaked to press, political sbotage, ratfucking, spying, following, document-planting, theft, bugging, etc.; 4 personell groupings: advertising for CRP, intelligence-gathering and sabotage-planning (for Republican and Democratic primaries), intelligence-gathering and sabotage-planning (for Republican and Democrat conventions), and Howard Hunt group (really heavy operations team); Mitchell was involved, and Nixon was aware of Mitchell's involvement; all "games"/"offensive security"/activities were sponsored by WH; FBI/DoJ knew from Grand Jury testimony but didn't follow up on it

Chapter 7

September, October 1972

Berinstein discovers from another reporter that Clawson (deputy Communications Director at WH) wrote Canuck Letter; when he found out about the Post writing story about it he panicked and said he would deny it; claimed it was a misunderstanding; Post story on FBI establishing that there was massive campaign of sabotage/bugging, that it represented a basic Nixon strategy, that hundreds of thousands of dollars set aside to pay for activities, activities listed (following people, assembling dossiers, sabotaging events, forging letters, leaking false info to press, stealing files, investigating personal lives of campaign workers); Ziegler refused to answer 29 questions about Post article during a press conference; Post published follow-up on charges by Democratic campaign; Bernstein investigated charges by Muskie about his campaign and published story about it; Woodward talked to Larry Young, friend of Segretti, who told them about Segretti-Hunt connection (Hunt would give the orders), and Segretti-Dwight Chapin connection (Chapin was deputy assistant to Pres. Nixon, and later WH scheduler); Segretti was paid by Kalmbach; found by FBI because of calls to/from Hunt; there was interest in Watergate investigation from the top, which was why investigation was strictly limited to bugging only; Sunday story was begun; Nixon administration official said that if Chapin was involved, Haldeman was involved too; Post story about Chapin serving as contact in the spying and sabotage operation; no connection to Kalmbach was mentioned; October (early)

Chapter 8

October 1972

Time magazine story on Sunday quoting Post story, and adding that Chapman had hired Segretti (not just serving as contact), and mentioning Kalmbach; Woodward talked to Sloan, confirmed Kalmbach had control over Stans' secret fund; Dwight Chapin brought the story "to the steps of the White House"; Dole (RNC chair) attacked Post in 3 pages of a speech he gave; MacGregor (new CRP director) held press conf., read prepared statement, did not answer any questions; Bradlee's response was that no charges had been addressed; NY Times published phone records showing Segretti-Chapin phone connection; (October 17); Ziegler held press conf., danced around questions, used "directed" instead of "involved", vague language, etc.

Chapter 9

Late October 1972

Suspicion that 5th person to control Stans' secret fund was Haldeman; he was creator of CRP; he was liason between President and others (Kalmbach, Stans, Colson, others); the President's "son-of-a-bitch"; insulated himself from CRP (deniability); meeting with Deep Throat signaled to ask about Haldeman's involvement, Deep Throat said they would have to get confirmation on their own; Woodward tried to get confirmation from Sloan, he also did not confirm except in very roundabout way; called an FBI agent, who confirmed "John Haldeman" was involved; Bernstein called him back and he confirmed "Bob Haldeman", not "John Haldeman", saying he confused Ehrlichman and Haldeman; B&W prepared to write story naming Haldeman as 5th controller of secret fund, referencing Sloan's Grand Jury testimony as source; wrote story on October 24th, decided to get a 4th source, DoJ lawyer was called, refused to name haldeman, Bernstein did the countdown 10...1 for confirmation; Dole attacked Post for 20 minutes in a speech; the next day, story was published, Sloan's attorney denied that Sloan named Haldeman in Grand Jury testimony; Ziegler denounced the Post during press conference; B&W couldn't work, very upset, contemplated resigning from paper; Sloan's lawyer told Woodward the denial was limited to the story; refused to comment on whether story's essential facts were true, refused to comment on whether the Post should apologize to Sloan, refused to comment on whether Post should apologize to Haldeman, said he would not recommend it; FBI agent was tracked down in person, got nervous, tried to run away, said he would deny everything when the said they would talk to his boss; they talked to his boss, showed the telephone conversation transcript; he ordered them to stay in the building; they left the building, called Bradlee from a payphone, went back inside, determined they would not get any info from FBI; considered publishing source's name, if he had misled them, but decided against it; they called Sloan and confirmed Haldeman's name never came up in the G.J.; B&W made a number of mistakes in how they dealt with their sources, leading to confusion and mix-up; October 26th, MacGregor went on TV nd confirmed existence of Stans' fund, denied it was secret and that it was (knowingly) spent on illegal activities; October 27th, Woodward signaled meeting with Deep Throat, fell asleep, almost missed meeting, D.T. said Haldeman had almost slipped away, admonished B&W, said they had to be absolutely sure with someone like Haldeman, confirmed essential facts were right; next day, B&W wanted to publish story retracting G.J. fact but reasserting Haldeman connection; editors disagreed, but VP Agnew and McGovern (Democratic candidate for Pres.) were both on TV and both commented on Post story, so they decided they had to publish something; published story asserting Haldeman's control of fund and clarifying G.J. was not source of information

Chapter 10

November 1972

Frustration in lead-up to November 7th election; people were less talkative; election Nov 7th; Bernstein went to LA to meet with Meyers (Post reporter on West Coast) and Segretti (who had disappeared after the October 10th story about him); Segretti confirmed being hired by Chapin, paid by Kalmbach; confirmed (wihtout evidence) that Chapin was taking orders from Haldeman; met with Howard Hunt, was asked to do illegal activities to embarrass McGovern; refused to discuss John Dean; Bernstein spent 5 days trying to convince Segretti to go on the record, but did not succeed; Colson attacked Bradlee personally in speech (~1 week after election); no conclusive stories in the 4 weeks following the election; fellow reporter told Woodward (late November, a Sunday) that he knew someone on a G.J., possibly the Watergate G.J.; they interviewed her and found she wasn't on Watergate G.J., went to courthouse to find a list of more people to interview; Judge John Sirica found out, was angry, considered throwing the reporters in jail, but didn't in the end since no jurors gave any information; Bernstein contacted another anonymous source (Z) , she revealed suspicions about how shallow official Watergate investigation was; said to consider Haldeman, Erlichman, Colson, Mardian as group; were organizing better; indicated that the Plumbers did much more than wiretaps and Pentagon Papers; B&W met with Sloan, who revelaed more about Haldeman structure; he was insulated from Sloan/payment requests to Stans' fund; Berinstein got in touch with Plumbers secretary; she named all of the Plumbers, revealed their office location in West Wing, their origins (to find leak originating Pentagon Papers in NY Times), listed other leaks they were investigating; Hunt-Barker connection revealed; Plumbers-Mitchell connection revealed; phone in Plumbers office installed in her name so there would be no WH connection; once FBI investigation started, she was in England (stopped working for Plumbers in March 1972); Dean found her, flew her back to US, briefed her on the situation; she confirmed that G.J. never asked about Haldeman; (December 7th, next day) Bernstein had 2k-word story written on phone installation and Plumbers; B&W traveled to CA to talk to Segretti, look into Liddy and Hunt travels; no leads; Segretti still refused to go on record; FCC challenged Post's ownership of 2 TV stations; Post barred from social functions at WH

Chapter 11

December 1972, January 1973

Judge Sirica ordered reporters to courtroom (December 19), warned G.J. of legal consequences of talking to press, let the reporters off the hook; that afternoon he jailed LA Times correspondent for refusing to turn over tapes of interview with Baldwin; W called another person connected to Hunt, turns out she was a witness, notified prosecutors, Judge Sirica told them to stop, reporters were called off for two days; new rules put into place about talking to witnesses; Post story on Dec. 3 about McCord paying for bugging equipment in cash, information about company that McCord went through came from letterhead of a letter sitting on Judge Sirica's desk, Judge found out, got angry at reporters and refused to talk to them anymore; Watergate trial began (Jan 8th); Judge was John Sirica (assigned case to himself); Silbert (public prosecutor) contended Liddy was leader of operation, worked independently of CRP, basically the CRP's cover story, which was backed up by 60 witnesses, but which didn't make any sense; the CRP spent $235,000 for Liddy, so common sense said CRP would want more for their money than routine intelligence available from FBI/local police; Silbert stressed there was no evidence to charge/indict anyone outside the 7 (5 burglars, Hunt, Liddy); Bernstein followed Miami defendants to airport, got on plane, had conversation with one, found out Hunt told them to plead guilty, that their families would be financially taken care of (Hunt in his old role as their case officer...); Hunt'er lawyer denied it; story on it was held out of concern about Judge Sirica's reaction; Time and NY Times both had stories on defendants, Time's story was that burglars were being paid $1k for each month spent in jail, money funneled through Hunt to Barker; Post ran their Hunt story the next day on the theory that Judge Sirica would have to throw 5+ reporters in jail; Judge questioned 4 burglars about stories (burglars, sans Barker); asked about the money payments, they all denied that they were being payed to plead guilty (said money showed up in unmarked envelopes); denied that they knowingly worked for CIA at any point in past; Barker claimed that he didn't knowwhere the $114k ($89k from Mexican checks + $25k from Dahlberg check) in his bank account came from; Woodward called numbers in burglars' address books, found out FBI hadn't interviewed them; then, he called a witness, who told him what he would say, but Silbert wouldn't ask about: Erlichman controlled Hunt, and Colson also controlled Hunt; Hunt (while in hiding) went to John Dean so that Dean could find Hunt a lawyer; (Jan. 23rd) Nixon committee witnesses (Magruder, Porter, Odle, Sloan) tistified; Sloan testified to Silbert (after jury was ordered to leave courtroom) that he wanted to verify that $199k should be paid to Liddy; he verified it with Maurice Stans, who verified it with John Mitchell; Sirica didn't believe Sloan's testimony; when trial ended, Post article by B&W published on questions that were not asked, answers that were not given, key witnesses who were not called, and lapses of memory of other witnesses; Sirica expressed disappointment with Silbert's case, insisted that Sloan was not being truthful; expressed hope that Congressional investigation would reveal real story

Chapter 12

January, February (?) 1973

(Jan. 24th) Woodward met with Deep Throat, he only verified information, would not give new information; Woodward asked about Colson-Mitchell connection to Watergate; DT said they were behind Watergate; Colson had active role, Mitchell had less active "nod"/approval role; gave 4 factors that would tie them into Watergate (personalities, key meetings/phone calls, tight $ control, and assurance of the 7 defendants that they would be taken care of, which had to come from higher up); Post story next day reporting Mitchell and Colson had knowledge of overall espionage operation conducted by men indicted in Watergate case; Woodward didn't think there was enough proof; sotry didn't run; Woodward met with Senator Ervin, found out he was planning to call everyone up to the President to testify, whhatever it took; wrote Post article on this fact; Ervin introduced a resolution to allocate $500k to Senate Select Committee on presidential Campaign Activities, Republicans/WH tried to add ammendments to expand it to include 64 and 68, all ammendments failed, resolution passed with 77-0 vote; B&W decided to go back to Hunt and Liddy; W interviewed Hunt's friend, and a contact from that interview; Post published story that Hunt was investigating Ted Kennedy's personal life when WH feared a Kennedy campaign; they began to look into Ditta Beard/ITT memo and Hunt's involvement; wrote column based on the new information they found; started to look into the Plumbers, starting with Ergil Krough; found out from calling people that Hunt and Liddy were receiving national security wiretaps from David Young, an assistant secretary to Henry Kissinger and who was also a Plumber; Wh did not flatly deny the story; 2 weeks later, Time published an account of the Nixon adminisstration's wiretaps of news reporters and government officials to trace leaks; started in 1969; CRP issued subpoenas on B&W and 3 others; B told Bradlee where his files were located; Woodward was out of town; custody of documents/notes was transferred from Bernstein to (temporarily) Post ownder Katharine Graham, so that judge would have to throw her in jail to get to the notes

Chapter 13

February, March 1973

Woodward found a source (GWU student) who described CRP spy (his frat brother); was paid by CRP under the table; 25+ other spies; found out from 2 CRP sources about more dishonest/shady political activities paid for from Stans' safe; several other CRP sources came forward/confirmed activities; Woodward met Deep Throat at a small bar; told Woodward that Nixon would spend $5 million left over from campaign to investigate and take down the Post; explained L Patrick Gray was nominated to be permanent FBI director (a decision which didn't make sense to many) because Gray implied he knew too much about Watergate to be cut loose; DT confirmed Gray knew about wiretaps on reporters; reporters tried to construct story to put everything into perspective; that undercover re-election effortwas just part of a broader program directed by the President's men; Gray's confirmation hearing started Feb. 28th; Gray stated he had turned over files for Watergate investigation over to John Dean; Dean had come into possession of contents of Hunt's safe after burglary, didn't tun contents over to FBI for 7 days; 2 notebooks were missing; they would have been useful in building up case against higher-ups; (March 2nd) Nixon held news conference and announced he would claim executive privilege to prevent Dean from testifying at hearings; (March 6th) Gray claimed Dean did not dispose of anything, WH statement said Dean had turned over all contents of safe; Later that afternoon, Gray released statement that Kalmbach had been contacted by Dwight Chapin and that he had hired Segretti; this established credibility for Post, undermined basic WH claim; Post article ("ax murder"): 3 pictures, 3 columns, Chapin, Kalmbach, Segretti; (March 22nd) Gray claimed Dean was "probably" lying when when he said he didn't know if Hunt had a WH office; WH denied, Dean demanded a correction; subpoenas of Post thrown out of court

Chapter 14

March, April 1973

(March 23) McCord's letter to Judge Sirica; stated that perjury had occurred, pressure was applied to defendants to plead guilty and be silent, others involved in Watergate not identified in trial, etc.; Post (Bradlee) wanted names; the details of McCord's disclosures (planned disclosures) were well-kept secret; Sam Dash, chief cousel of Senate Watergate committee, held press conference saying he had interviewed McCord, that McCord would testify in Congressional hearing; expressed concern the press could blow investigation out of water if his charges leaked and could be proven; LA Times reported McCord said Dean and Magruder had known about Watergate break-in; Dean had been named by the President to investigate the bugging, and was also a planner; WH denied charges against Dean; (March 27) Woodward met with deputy press secretary Warren to request meeting with President, ask for WH's side of the story, offer WH a chance to mitigate effect of allegations coming out; meeting declined; B&W convinced government investigation would turn some of President's men into informers; (March 28) McCord's 1st testimony to Senate; testified Liddy told him plans and budget for Watergate operation were approved by Mitchell in February,when he was still A.G.; said Colson knew about Watergate in advance; Post story describing this; Hersh (NY Times reporter) reported that McCord testified that the Watergate payoffs came from CRP - one of the keys much anticipated, connecting CRP to Watergate; Sloan had told B&W earlier that the fund still existed, and was under control of LaRue instead of Stans; now possibility of fund buying defendants' silence was open; LaRue was co-director of Watergate house cleaning, Mitchell's deputy; secret fund had paid for bugging, and had paid for cover-up; at WH correspondents association annual dinner, AG Kleindienst told B&W that Watergate was going to blow up; agreed to meet them on Sunday, missed meeting and explained it was due to urgent WH meeting; Deep Throat told Woodward Dean and Haldeman would resign; Bradlee reluctant to publish resignation story (due to Hoover experience); Nixon held press conference, announced he would suspend anyone indicted, met with AG and assistant AG on Sunday, determined that no one should be given immunity from prosecution; Ziegler, after much prodding, stated "This is the operative statement. The others are inoperative."; Post story about pending indictments by Watergate Grand Jury, including Mitchell, Magruder, Dean; (April 18, next morning), CRP contact said Magruder would be the next McCord, that he went to prosecutors April 14th and agreed to turn on Dean and Mitchell; Magruder told prosecutors about plans for bugging, charts, payoffs, etc.; WH official said this would put Mitchell and Dean in jail; Bernstein reached WH official who confirmed Deep Throat's claim that Haldeman and Dean were done; Post published story that Mitchell and Dean approved and helped plan Watergate break-in, that info came from Magruder, and that Mitchell and Dean arranged to buy silence of Watergate defendants; published April 19th; NY Times had 5 columns on front page dedicated to Watergate headline

Chapter 15

Dean issued statement (via secretary) stating press should be careful drawing conclusions, and saying he would not be a scapegoat; WH did not comment on "unauthorized" statement by Dean; Ziegler did not defend dean during daily news conference; Dean's story was that Magruder not telling whole story; Bernstein talked to friend of Dean's, realized open warfare was among those who had worked for Nixon; friend would serve as go-between between Dean and the Post; told B to look into who brought charges to Nixon's attention; told B that Dean would deny that he was complicit with the bugging plans; that Dean Report of investigation into Watergate was passed on to Nixon by someone other than Dean; that there was no report; that others were trying to pin all blame on Dean and Mitchell; B found mutual acquaintence of Dean's firend, who vouched for Dean's friend's honesty and trustworthiness; W called CRP contact, who confirmed details about Dean - that he brought charges to Nixon's attn, that Dean had been a "runner" in the coerup, that everything was approved by Haldeman (including payoffs); Dean was trying to arrange for a deal with prosecutors; third source confirmed; together with Deep Throat's confirmation that Haldeman was out, Post article was published with Dean's claims; same day, NY Times reported Mitchell was no longer denying complicity; Mitchell claimed he and Dean had both rejected the Watergate bugging plans; Mitchell friend claimed Mitchell hated Erlichman and Haldeman, for poisoning the president and shutting Mitchell off from Nixon; hated Colson because Colson was crazy and eager to go after any Nixon critics; Mitchell publicly stated, after his GJ testimony, that he repeatedly rejected plans to wiretap/do illegal activities; source close to Mitchell claimed h told GJ that he had approved $ for watergate defendants, but only to pay their legal fees (not to bribe them to plead guilty); that he rejected wiretaap plans with Magruder 3rd and final time in FL meeting, that Magruder had gone over his head for approval; thought it was Colson; Dean had kept documentary evidence that would implicate his superiors; Colson had turned documents over to U.S. Attorney's office implicating Dean in cover-up; Haldeman aide testified that Haldeman ordered him to turn over $350k to LaRue after election; LaRue associate said it was payoff money; the $350k and the $80k mentioned by Sloan had been used to pay off conspirators (both were in $100 bill bundles); WH official described situation as "It's every man ofr himself - get a lawyer and blame everyone else"; President and Ziegler flew to FL; NY Times stories reported Haldeman-LaRue connection, possibility that Haldeman received wiretap transcripts, Dean's associate charging that Erlichman was involved in coverup and was action officer; Strachan testimony that Haldeman had approved hiring of Segretti; W talked to Colson associate, who claimed Dean was trying to rat out Colson to get immunity; claimed Colson didn't break the law; claimed Colson told President that there was a cover-up, fingered Dean and Mitchell; another source corroborated that Colson had warned President on multiple occasions about Dean and Mitchell; Colson denied warning President about Dean and Mitchell, refused to discuss communication with President; a third source called W and said to ignore Colson's denial; Post ran story about warnings to President in December by colson; Dean's associate speculated that President was siding with Erlichman and Haldeman against Dean; Dean told President that he, Erlichman, Haldeman would have to tell everything to prosecutors, go to jail, and told President that E and H had been kept informed of everything from the beginning, that they had told Dean not to tell the President; President sent Dean to Camp David to put his thoughts down on paper; Dean came back and realized President ahd sided with E and H, decided to minimize losses, and would try to pin it all on Dean; CRP contact told W and Dean was taking orders from E and H, but had broken ranks to tell the truth; calls to WH confirmed Dean's account; NY Daily News published story that Gray had destroyed documents/evidence taken from Hunt's safe; destroyed bogus State Dept cables to try and link Kennedy to assassination of S. Viet. president Ngo Dinh Diem, and dossier of info on Sen. Ted Kennedy; Senate aide confirmed, said Dean had told assistant AG about it 10 days before; Deep Throat confirmed Gray story; Gray was in meeting with E and Dean, Gray took the files home and burned with his Christmas trash in Dec. 1972; (April 27) news story on AP wire about another break-in at psychiatrist of Ellsberg, who leaked Pentagon Papers, in 1971; Dean's associate said Dean had informed prosecutors about the break-in; claimed Dean's knowledge of activities that had gone on went back to beginning; made the case that Dean was the only way the whole story would come out (wouldn't come from E or H, or from the President); Dean considering implicating the President; said there were meetings discussing cover-up where the President was in attendence; Dean had decided to come out against the president, testify that the President is a felon (info to B from senior Presidential aide)

Chapter 16

April, May, June, July 1973

Post published sunday story that concluded H and E were involved with cover-up; next day (April 30) H, E resigned; Keindienst resigned; Dean fired; Richardson made AG; President made speech on TV that night claiming responsibility rather than blaming people running campaign; Ziegler apologized to Post and B&W; B&W had been sitting on the Dean story for a week; Newsweek story on Saturday (may 5) stated Dean was prepared to describe 2 incidents in previous year indicating Nixon knew about cover-up; WH aide confirmed; Senate aide said it was part of Dean's story; Post ran story on NY Times wiretaps to find Ellsberg leak; Judge in Ellsberg trial insisted government check for evidence of wiretaps in its records; new FBI director Ruckelshaus found records that had not surfaced previously; found in Erlichman's WH safe; 13 government officials and 4 reporters wiretapped; FBI official said authorization had come from Kissinger; W called Kissinger, who did not deny the charge that he had authorized wiretaps, but K mentioned it might have been Haldeman who authorized the wiretaps; story was held out of consideration that FBI might have been trying to shift responsibility away from H; Watergate hearings bean May 17th; Post published long story disclosing vigilante activities described by Deep Throat; story appeared May 17; on May 16, W met with Deep Throat, who told him a whole bunch of things: everyone was in danger; that CIA was possibly wiretapping/bugging reporters/newsroom; Dean had talked to Senator Baker, who relayed the info directly to WH; Nixon had threatened Dean with jail if he revealed national security activities; covert activities involved entire US intelligence community, were deep, but DT couldn't give specifics (against the law); cover-up was to protect covert operations, not Watergate; lots of disturbing connections; Dan go-between between Haldeman-Erlichman and Mitchell-LaRue; Liddy threatened Dean's life if he talked; Hunt had extorted money from the WH after Watergate arrests; ... Bernstein had also been told by a DoJ contact to watch out for surveillance; B&W went to Bradlee's house that night, Bradlee decided he would call meeting of key editors/reporters; held meeting next morning on rooftop garden; B&W met Dean associate for lucnh, who confirmed most of the things DT had told W; confirmed Sen. Baker in bag for WH; confirmed Hunt blackmailing WH; inf Feb meeting, Dean toldNixon cost of silence (to Hunt) would be $1 million, President agreed it would be possible; concrete evidence that President knew about cover-up; Post published article 2 weeks later about Dean's allegations re President's involvement and knowledge of cover-up, and $1 million price of cover-up; 2 more weeks before Hunt blackmail story was confirmed; in May, lunch with high DoJ official indicated serious consideration of President's involvement; President had resisted resignation of E and H for > 2 weeks, against request of DoJ; resisted request for cooperation from his staff; question of legality had come up, calling President before a GJ; legal question of how a President can be investigated; proposed firebombing/burglary of Brookings Institute came up in June; proposal to attack/destroy Washington Post offices came up; both proposed by Colson, who denied; Bremer apartment break-in; (June 19th) W met with Colson and others (partners); Butterfield told presecutors about Nixon taping system in Oval Office on July 13, 1973)

Chapter 17

August, September, October, November, December 1973; January 1974

(Mid-October) special Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox fired by Nixon; AG Richardson and his deputy, Ruckelshaus, resigned; Nixon surrendered tapes to court; DT met with W, indicated one of the tapes had deliberate erasures; afternoon of November 21, announcement in court room by President's lawyers that there was 18.5 minute gap; President was becoming more secretive and distrustful; Kissinger and Chief of Staff Haig tried to convince Nixon to cut ties with H and E and Colson; instead, President built his legal defense in concert with the 3, in late summer 1973; by late February 1974, guilty pleas from Magruder, Porter, Segretti, Kalmbach, LaRue, Krough, Dean, and 8 corporations who contributed to CRP; Chapin accused of perjury; Mitchell and Stans on trial; March 1, G.J. handed up indictments in Watergate cover-up case; charged 7 with obstruction of justice: H, E, Colson, Mitchell, Strachan, Mardian, and laywer Parkinson; 1 week later, another G.J. handed up indictments in Ellsberg's psychologist burglary case; E, Colson, Liddy, and 3 Cuban Americans (2 of original Watergate defendants); House Judiciary Committee began impeachment proceedings/investigations; evidence against President handed over to House Committee, since Constitution precluded possibility of President being indicted by GJ; January 30, President delivered State of Union: "One year of Watergate is enough"; also, "I want you to know that I have no intention whatever of walking away from the job that the American people elected me to do for the people of the United States."