February and
March 1973

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

<<November ’72 through Janaury ’73

April ’73>>

1973

Monday, February 05, 1973

A resolution is introduced to fund a Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities. The committee will be led by Sam Ervin. He is joined by three Democrats (Talmadge, Inouye, and Montoya) and three Republicans (Baker, Weicker, and Gurney).

Wednesday, February 07, 1973

The resolution to fund the Senate committee passes 77-0.

Thursday, February 08, 1973

Woodward meets with a friend of Hunt’s who says Hunt was always referring to “they” when talking about the White House. He tells Woodward of various schemes Hunt was involved in including his time investigating Ted Kennedy. Hunt had visited a man named Cliff Demotte in Boston who had information on Kennedy.

Friday, February 09, 1973

Hunt’s friend, Cliff DeMotte, tells Woodward that Hunt approached him using an alias and wanted scandalous information on the Kennedy family.

Early February 1973

Ehrlichman, Dean, Haldeman meet to discuss how to handle the impending Senate investigation since this is first probe where they will have little, if any, control of the circumstances. They are also concerned about if the original seven burglars will keep quiet and decide Mitchell will need to work on that.

Saturday, February 10, 1973

The Post runs a story saying Hunt investigated Ted Kennedy’s personal life when the White House feared he may run for President.

Sunday, February 11, 1973

Nixon tells Haldeman they must discredit the Senate hearings on Watergate and deflect everything as a Kennedy lead witch hunt.

Tuesday, February 13, 1973

When speaking with Colson, Nixon begins to express concerns, particularly about the seven defendants.

Wednesday, February 14, 1973

Ehrlichman tells Nixon that he and Dean had given Hunt’s secret files to Gray to hide them.

Wednesday, February 14, 1973

Nixon tells Colson “The cover up is the main ingredient.” He has faith the Mitchell will continue to stonewall.

Friday, February 16, 1973

Although at one point Nixon had intended on replacing him, he meets with Gray to tell him he’s going to be nominated to become the permanent FBI Director. Privately, Nixon believes Gray will stay loyal during the investigation.

Saturday, February 17, 1973

Gray is officially nominated to become the FBI Director.

Tuesday, February 20, 1973

Ervin offers the role of chief counsel to Sam Dash, a law professor from Georgetown. Baker chooses Fred Thompson, a Nashville lawyer, as his chief counsel.

Friday, February 23, 1973

Gray assembles the FBI’s Watergate team so he can answer questions during his confirmation hearing. Immediately he admits to them that he’s been giving their reports to Dean which causes much outrage. Angelo Lano immediately tells Earl Silbert they’ve been duped all along.

Friday, February 23, 1973

Senator Baker, who potentially will be a juror in any impeachment trial, tells Nixon he’ll see to it that the President’s interests are protected.

Sunday, February 25, 1973

Nixon tells Haldeman and Ehrlichman to stay out of Watergate and let Dean and Kleindienst handle it.

Monday, February 26, 1973

A Time magazine story details how the Nixon administration had tapped phones of reporters and government officials from 1969 until such taps were outlawed in June 1972. The tip was given to them by Mark Felt, but it will also come back to haunt Felt later.

Monday, February 26, 1973

CRP subpoenas Woodward and Bernstein as well as others at the Post to get access to their notes on Watergate. Bradlee tells Bernstein to accept the subpoena, but pass many of his notes to Katherine Graham so the judge would have to send her to jail instead of the reporters.

Approximately February 27, 1973

Felt/Deep Throat meets Woodward at a bar and confirms the Time story about wiretaps. He also says the White House will be going after them hard soon, but not to worry. “The flood is coming” and the real story will eventually come out.

Wednesday, February 28, 1973

Confirmation hearings for Patrick Gray begin with questions about the Watergate investigate taking center stage. Gray announces that all files of the investigation were given to John Dean, but tries to downplay the significance. It is clear to the White House that Gray is a lost cause. Dean, whose name had not previously held much prominence in the Watergate coverage, is now moving to the front lines.

Early March 1973

Ted Brill, Chairman of the Young Republic as at George Washington University, admits to Woodward that he had done some spying for CRP to find ways to embarrass the Democrats.

Early March 1973

A CRP official tells Woodward about CRP’s actions to create false support for the President’s decision to mine Haiphong a few months before the election. This included sending in around 4000 faked ballots from advertisements in the Post and Washington Star.

Thursday, March 01, 1973

Hunt’s attorney tells Bernstein the missing notebooks would certainly be useful to the Watergate investigation.

Friday, March 02, 1973

Nixon announces that he will invoke executive privilege if Dean is called to testify at the Gray hearings saying no President would ever let his counsel testify.

Tuesday, March 06, 1973

Gray testifies he’s positive that Dean turned over everything from Hunt’s safe.

Tuesday, March 06, 1973

Reporters gain access to copies of Gray’s documents. In an FBI interview with Herbert Kalmbach, Kalmbach admits paying Segretti at the behest of Chapin severely damaging the White House’s claim of innocence.

Wednesday, March 07, 1973

During testimony, Gray confirms Kalmbach and Chapin were involved with Segretti and that he’d been paid with CRP funds. This revelation flies in the face of all the previous denials about this from the White House.

Thursday, March 08, 1973

The Post runs a story on Gray’s documents which essentially confirms what they had been reporting on since the Fall.

Monday, March 12, 1973

The committee invites Dean to testify, but he declines the next day.

Tuesday, March 13, 1973

Nixon tells Dean he does not think Gray will be a good fit at the FBI.

Wednesday, March 14, 1973

Alexander Butterfield resigns from the White House staff to become the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration.

Saturday, March 17, 1973

In the Oval Office, Nixon tells Dean he thinks the problems are centered around Haldeman, Mitchell, Colson, and Chapin, but Dean adds his own name to this saying he’d been involved since the beginning saying he’d been in the room when Liddy and others had discussed on their plans.

Monday, March 19, 1973

Senator Robert Byrd says if Dean isn’t allowed to testify, Gray’s nomination will have no chance.

Tuesday, March 20, 1973

Gray testifies that he’s been ordered by the White House to stop discussing Watergate.

Tuesday, March 20, 1973

Dean tells Ehrlichman that Hunt is expecting another $125,000 for his family and legal fees.

Tuesday, March 20, 1973

Dean tells Richard Moore, the President’s special counsel, that the cover up will not hold. Moore tells Dean it’s like a cancer.

Tuesday, March 20, 1973

Prior to his scheduled sentencing later in the week, McCord sends a letter to Sirica revealing several bombshells. Sirica tips off Sam Dash it would be in his best interest to attend the sentencing.

Wednesday, March 21, 1973

Dean lays out to the President what he believes Nixon needs to know so he can proceed with the most accurate knowledge. Dean tells him “We have a cancer within – close to the Presidency, that’s growing.” Dean believes there are two immediate issues. The first is the ongoing blackmail. The second is that very soon people will begin to perjure themselves. He tells Nixon they will likely need “a million dollars over the next, uh, two years.” Nixon tells him, “…You could get a million dollars, and you could get it in cash. I know where it could be gotten.” At several points, Nixon makes clear he is well informed about items Dean does not expect he had prior knowledge of. Rather than give up on the blackmail and face the repercussions, Nixon decides they should “fight it out.” It is determined that Haldeman, Dean, Ehrlichman, and Mitchell should sort out the next steps. Privately, Dean wonders if he’s going to be left out in the cold as Gray’s testimony has brought the heat on him.

Wednesday, March 21, 1973

Nixon calls on his secretary, Rose Mary Woods who has been holding onto cash in case the President needed it. He tells her it may be necessary to use.

Wednesday, March 21, 1973

Earl Silbert says Segretti and others involved in the various activities were not a part of the Watergate situation.

Wednesday, March 21, 1973

That evening Colson tells Nixon that Senator Howard Baker will continue to work with them, and any negative comments he makes while serving on Ervin’s committee are just a show to keep eyes off him. They discuss the good work Dean has been doing, but acknowledge that Sirica will be a problem.

Wednesday, March 21, 1973

CRP’s subpoenas to get the Post’s sources are tossed out.

Thursday, March 22, 1973

Gray testifies that Dean lied to the FBI in June that he wasn’t aware Hunt had and office in the White House. Dean wonders if there is any scenario where he can save himself.

Thursday, March 22, 1973

Haldeman tells Nixon about the $350,000 in campaign contributions used to pay off the burglars. Nixon doesn’t believe this is obstruction of justice. They discuss Hunt’s threats to out Ehrlichman for his involvement in the Ellsberg break in. They know it’s time to protect the inner circle and push the blame on CRP, meaning Magruder and Mitchell.

Thursday, March 22, 1973

The President tells Ehrlichman, Dean, Haldeman, and Mitchell, “I want you all to stonewall, let them plead the Fifth Amendment, cover up or anything else, if it’ll save it, save the plan. That’s the whole point.” They agree to pursue the executive privilege line in hopes that it could delay everything potentially through the entire second term. They also tell Dean to start working on a report that exonerates them all since Nixon had already told the country Dean was investigating. (This is the only known meeting of all five Watergate participants at the same time.)

Friday, March 23, 1973

Sirica reads McCord’s letter to the astonishment of those present. The letter makes several claims including: the defendants endured political pressure to plead guilty and stay quiet, perjury took place during the trial, other participants in the Watergate burglary were not identified, and the CIA was not involved in any way. Following the statement, Sirica puts off McCord’s sentencing, but sentences Liddy to six years and gives the other five burglars the maximum sentence.

Friday, March 23, 1973

Sam Dash immediately goes to interview McCord who tells him he doesn’t trust the FBI or Justice Department, but will work with the Senate Committee.

Saturday, March 24, 1973

Having reviewed the transcripts of the trial, McCord gives Dash a memo detailing when Magruder perjured himself by saying he had no prior knowledge of the break in. John Dean is also involved. McCord admits he only has part of the full picture, but believes Hunt has more information.

Saturday, March 24, 1973

Nixon and Haldeman tell Dean to get working on his report that would incriminate Liddy, but no one else. By the end of the weekend, however, Dean determines there are too many lies going on at once and considers coming clean with Nixon in hopes he’d see the light.

Sunday, March 25, 1973

Sam Dash holds a press conference saying he’d interviewed McCord who had named names and gave a full account of Watergate.

Sunday, March 25, 1973

Unbeknownst to Dash, McCord also tells his story to the Los Angeles Times. The times story repeats his claims that Magruder and Dean were involved in planning the Watergate operation. The White House issues a statement denying the charges against Dean which are especially damning since Dean was supposedly leading the White House investigation into Watergate.

Monday, March 26, 1973

Ziegler tells the press that the President has “absolute and total confidence” in John Dean. Privately, Haldeman tells Dean it’s time to cut Mitchell and Magruder loose.

Tuesday, March 27, 1973

Woodward tries unsuccessfully to persuade the White House’s deputy press secretary to grant him an interview with Nixon.

Tuesday, March 27, 1973

In a strategy meeting, Nixon, Haldeman, and Ehrlichman work through ideas to lay everything on Mitchell and have him say he gave some orders, but didn’t know what the results would be and things went to far.

Wednesday, March 28, 1973

McCord begins his closed door testimony. Sources tell the Post that McCord says Mitchell approved the Watergate plans while he was still Attorney General.

Wednesday, March 28, 1973

Dean tells Magruder and Mitchell if he’s called to testify, he’ll tell the truth.

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