This Day in History: 1972-06-17

Saturday, June 17, 1972

• Frank Willis, a security guard at the Watergate Hotel, discovers what he believes is a burglary in progress in the offices of the National Democratic Committee. He contacts DC police, and at around 2:30am they arrest five men in possession of surveillance equipment and the FBI is called in.
• Hunt and Liddy listen in horror as Baldwin describes what he’s seeing across the street. Hunt tells Baldwin to get rid of the burglar’s vehicle and anything else related to the crime.
• Back at the White House, Hunt contacts Douglas Caddy and asks him to represent the five burglars. He assumes the men will get bail and then flee the area. Generally Hunt is unconcerned knowing the operation was sanctioned by John Mitchell who has the influence to make the whole thing go away.
• Liddy knows that McCord’s alias will be tested since he’s got government ties. He tells his wife he’s probably going to jail.
• Around 9:00am, Bob Woodward, a reporter for the Washington Post, receives a call to come to the office to cover an unusual break in. He arrives to find other Post reporters Carl Bernstein and Alfred Lewis also working on the story.
• Caddy arrives at police headquarters saying he represents the five men. The men had made no phone calls and the attorney does not disclose how he came to be there. The burglars had $2400 in cash on them when arrested. The FBI determines this break in was to rearrange the listening devices installed during a previous break in.
• The Watergate suspects are arraigned at 3:30pm. Asst. US Attorney Earl Silbert requests no bond be granted as the men had given false names and four are of Cuban descent and may flee the country. McCord, states his occupation as “Anti-Communist” but then reveals he’s a former CIA employee. Bob Woodward of the Washington Post is present at the proceedings and learns that Bernard Barker, one of the suspects, told his wife to call Caddy if he didn’t come home.
• Leon Jaworski, the President of the American Bar Association, shows little interest upon hearing news of the Watergate break in.
• Liddy tracks down Attorney General Kleindienst and tells him Mitchell says to keep the burglary suspects out of jail. Kleindienst doesn’t believe such an order would come from Mitchell and ignores it. He does not tell anyone of the incident.