July & august 1972

While the actual break in at the Watergate didn’t occur until June 1972, the seeds of the scandal were planted in the early years of Nixon’s first term (and a case could be made they go back even farther).

Key Events

  • Formation of The Plumbers
  • The Pentagon Papers

“They’re gonna beat the (expletive) out of some of these people.”

Bob Haldeman

<<June 17 to June 30, 1972

September 1972>>

1972

Saturday, July 01, 1972

John Mitchell resigns as Nixon’s campaign manager citing the need to spend more time with his family.

Saturday, July 01, 1972

Peggy Gleason, a CRP employee, contacts the FBI following her initial interview to say she has more to say, but feared repercussions. She speaks with Agent Magallanes for close to 10 hours in secret.

Monday, July 03, 1972

Hunt, feeling left hung out to dry, returns to DC and hires a lawyer prepared to tell all to the investigators.

Monday, July 03, 1972

Gray destroys the documents from Hunt’s White House safe he received from Dean.

Monday, July 03, 1972

Gleason recruits Judy Hoback Miller (known only as “The Bookkeeper” in “All the President’s Men” until revealing her identity in 1992), another CRP employee, who tells the FBI about the strange practices at CRP including a slush fund of cash.

Early July 1972

Dean secures funds for the burglars, Hunt and Liddy through Herbert Kalmbach, Nixon’s personal lawyer, using CRP funds. Ulasewicz, while initially reluctant to get involved, plays the middle man under the alias of Mr. Rivers to get the funds to the right people.

Wednesday, July 05, 1972

Gray asks Felt if the investigation could be limited to the burglars along with Hunt and Liddy, but Felt tells him it will go much higher the further they dig. Felt sees that Gray will likely keep the full truth from coming out leading him to find another outlet for this information.

Wednesday, July 05, 1972

Al Baldwin strikes a deal with the US Attorney’s Office, and he goes on to explain the details of his brief stint working for CRP including listening to recorded conversations from the DNC and giving the logs to McCord.

Thursday, July 06, 1972

Bernstein meets with a former White House employee who worked in Colson’s office. She describes the secretive nature of the work and that it appeared they were investigating Ted Kennedy particularly about Chappaquiddick. Bernstein contacts a White House librarian who initially says she remembers Hunt checking out several books, but then retracts her statement saying she’s never heard of Hunt.

Thursday, July 06, 1972

Gray tells Nixon that he and CIA Director Walters believe the President’s men are not acting in his best interest by using the CIA. Nixon tells Gray to pursue the investigation aggressively. Later, Nixon tells Ehrlichman to keep Gray and Walters apart on all things Watergate.

Saturday, July 08, 1972

Nixon tells Ehrlichman that their can be no appearance of a cover up.

Wednesday, July 12, 1972

The FBI is ready to arrest Liddy and Hunt, but the prosecutors ask them to hold off so they can continue their work with the grand jury. The FBI is not happy with the narrow focus on just the Watergate now that they have learned from their interviews the scope of operation is much larger.

Tuesday, July 25, 1972

Walter Rugaber of The New York Times reports that at least 15 phone calls were placed from suspected burglar Bernard Barker’s phone in Miami to the Committee to Re-Elect the President. Bernstein learns that a local Florida DA has subpoenaed the records. The DA says his investigator, Martin Dardis, will cooperate if Bernstein comes to Miami.

Monday, July 31, 1972

The New York Times reports that money involved in the break in can be traced to Mexico in the form of four cashier checks totaling $89,000. Bernstein, now in Miami, wants to go to Mexico, but Barry Sussman tells him to stay put in Miami to see what he can find.

Monday, July 31, 1972

When Bernstein reviews the checks himself, he finds one for $25,000 made out to Kenneth H. Dahlberg, but Dardis doesn’t know who that is. Woodward and Bernstein learn Dahlberg works for the Nixon campaign as Midwest finance chairman. Dahlberg tells Woodward he turned the money over to either Hugh Slone (CRP’s Treasurer) or Maurice Stans (CRP’s financial chairman).

Early August 1972

The General Accounting Office (GAO) announces it will investigate any wrongdoing in relation to campaign donations.

Early August 1972

Woodward’s source at the General Accounting Office reveals a “slush fund of cash” inside CRP.

Early August 1972

Bernstein learns from a former administration official that plans are being made to make Liddy the fall guy.

Early August 1972

Felt/Deep Throat tells Woodward they cannot continue to speak on the phone and Woodward will need to come up with another way to signal when he wants to meet in person. They agree Woodward will move a flower pot with a red flag to the rear of his balcony. They would then meet at 2am in an underground garage in Rosslyn, Virginia. If Felt needs to contact him, he will draw a clock on page 20 of Woodward’s copy of the New York Times.

Tuesday, August 01, 1972

The Washington Post story about the Dahlberg check is the first to carry a joint byline with Woodward and Bernstein. From then on, every Watergate story will carry both names. Eventually their colleagues took to calling them “Woodstein”.

Tuesday, August 01, 1972

As the cover up continues, Nixon tells Haldeman, “I’m not that worried about it…”

Tuesday, August 15, 1972

As Magruder prepares to testify before the grand jury, he and Dean discuss his strategy.

Wednesday, August 16, 1972

Clark MacGregor, the new head of CRP, tells reporters that Liddy had used campaign funds for his own priorities.

Mid August 1972

During his testimony, Magruder tells Silbert that Liddy participated in many activities that were legitimate and the amount of money used in the break in was barely a blip in overall CRP budget. The cover up holds as Dean learns from Henry Peterson, Assistant Attorney General, that Magruder is no longer under suspicion.

Mid August 1972

Having acquired a list of CRP employees (a classified document), Woodward and Bernstein begin visiting the homes of the employees looking for information. In most cases, people either refuse to talk or say they wished they could. Others express great concern at being spotted with the reporters at all. This reaction gives the reporters the sense that their story is bigger than they may have previously understood.

Thursday, August 17, 1972

House member Wright Patman, Chairman of the Banking and Currency Committee, begins to investigate the possibility that campaign contributions were used to fund the break in.

Tuesday, August 22, 1972

The Washington Post reports that the GAO uncovered that more than $500,000 in campaign funds had been mishandled and at least $100,000 was set aside for an illegal security fund. The report itself gets delayed and is not released as scheduled that day.

Tuesday, August 22, 1972

Judge Charles Richey, while presiding over the Democrats’ civil trial over the break in, reverses his own ruling and determines all pre-trial testimony will remained sealed until after the case is completed. This ensures all statements from Mitchell and others will not become public prior to the election. The Judge calls Bernstein, whom he’d never met or spoken to before, to say he was not influenced by anyone outside the courtroom.

Wednesday, August 23, 1972

Richard Nixon is nominated for a second term as President at the Republican National Convention.

Friday, August 25, 1972

Rugaber traces the Dahlberg check to a prominent Democratic donor named Dwayne Andreas who gave the check to Dahlberg in Miami.

Saturday, August 26, 1972

Back in Miami, Bernstein, obsessed with the $89,000 in Mexican checks found, learns from Dardis that Stans has been laundering campaign donations perhaps exceeding $750,000 in Mexico to ensure their origins could not be traced.

Saturday, August 26, 1972

The GAO report includes information about the Stans-Mexico operation and refers possible criminal conduct to the Justice Department.

Tuesday, August 29, 1972

Nixon addresses reporters and says both sides have had campaign violations, but he is unable to give any details on Democratic violations. He rejects the suggestion that a special prosecutor be appointed, saying the FBI, Justice Department and others were already conducting investigations. He also says John Dean, special counsel to the President, has conducted his own investigation and concluded that “no one on the White House staff…presently employed, was involved in this very bizarre incident. What really hurts in matters of this sort is not the fact that they occur…What really hurts is if you try to cover it up.” Dean’s private reaction to the comments was one of surprise considering he’d, in fact, been spending his time creating the cover up, not investigating it.

Tuesday, August 29, 1972

The Washington Post story about Nixon’s press conference also includes more information about burglary suspect Bernard Barker. While in Miami, Bernstein spoke to Barker’s former boss who recounted Barker saying he wasn’t worried about the lawsuit because “They’re paying for my attorneys.” He refused to say who “they” referred to.

Late August 1972

Woodard and Bernstein’s visits to CRP employees yields some information including that Sally Harmony, Liddy’s secretary, had withheld information to the grand jury and the FBI in order to protect others. There are also repeated claims that documents were destroyed not long after the Watergate break in, but no one could say they had personally witnessed this taking place.

Wednesday, August 30, 1972

Patman interviews Stans about his criticism of the GAO report. Stans complains the White House staff is bullying him.

<<June 17 to June 30, 1972

September 1972>>