Gray turns over numerous FBI interview reports to Dean.

Wright Patman complains to Judge John Sirica who is presiding over the burglary case that his gag order forbidding discussion of the case with government officials effectively played into the White House’s plans by allowing everyone to use the ruling as an excuse to not talk. Sirica amends his own ruling the next day.

Meyers tracks down Segretti who refuses to answer questions beyond “No Comment” and “I don’t remember”. The two get into a scuffle when Meyers tries to take his photo. Meyers immediately phones Bernstein with the information.

The Washington Post follows the LA Times article with a story saying the Baldwin named Robert Odle, Magruder’s aid, and William Timmons, White House liaison for CRP had access to the transcripts of phone calls. The information was confirmed by a source in the Justice Department. The report, however, turns out to be incorrect.

Karlyn Barker, another Post reporter, gets more details on the Segretti/USC group. They belonged to a group on campus called “Trojans for Representative Government” and engaged in what they called “ratfucking” in attempts to tamper with elections. Ziegler and Chapin joined the Nixon campaign for governor where they met Haldeman.

Bernstein contacts an attorney in the Justice Department who, in reference to “ratfucking”, says “You can go right to the top on that one.” The attorney is incensed at the behavior of those involved, but won’t discuss names. He does say it goes higher than John Mitchell, which Bernstein knows is a very short list that likely only includes Haldeman and Nixon.

In their early morning garage meeting, Felt/Deep Throat tells Woodward “There is a way to untie the Watergate knot.” Adding that the intelligence gathering from CRP just got out of hand. Felt confirms Mitchell was involved, but only Nixon and Mitchell can say how deeply he was in. During Mitchell’s investigation after June 17, he uncovered far more than he expected. Howard Hunt was even tapped to get information for Mitchell, but that ended quickly with Ehrlichman firing him and Hunt leaving town. Felt won’t go into specifics about how things were connected beyond saying nothing was an isolated event. He says Mitchell knew his fate early on after the break in. Felt/Deep Throat details the different undercover operations groups including one related to CRP advertising, one that gathered intelligence for the Democratic and Republican conventions, one that gathered intelligence for primaries, and the Howard Hunt group, which reported to Charles Colson, that did the most damaging operations. Felt/Deep Throat confirms that the FBI limited their investigation to only the events of June 17 and it was clear perjury from Sally Harmony and others had taken place. Woodward continues to push Felt/Deep Throat for specifics that he can actually print,..Read More

With this new information, the Post reporters and editors combine the original three stories into one account reporting the FBI established that the Watergate bugging was only part of an unprecedented level of spying and political sabotage all done at the behest of CRP and the White House. These activities included following candidates and their families, forging letters, misleading leaks to the press, and seizing confidential campaign files. The story also includes the account of the Canuck letter, Felt/Deep Throat’s assertions that over fifty Nixon operatives were working to disrupt Democratic campaigns, and details of Segretti’s activities. CRP’s official comment for the story is “The Post story is not only fiction but a collection of absurdities.”

Bradlee takes Woodward to lunch seeking more information on their sources and wants assurances that they aren’t just using the Post for some other agenda.

During a meeting on Capitol Hill, Muskie tells Bernstein his campaign was besieged by problems and leaks that no one could figure out, but he always felt Nixon’s men were behind it.

Bernstein writes the Muskie sabotage story that has confirmation on several events that were suspicious including facsimiles of Muskie stationary with damaging stories about senator Edward Kennedy, a fundraising dinner in Washington gone awry, calls to white voters in the middle of the night urging them to vote for Muskie because “he’s been so good for the black man,” and polling data disappearing from desks in their campaign headquarters.

Young agrees to go on the record and Woodward meets with a Justice Department attorney familiar with the case who confirms the Chapin/Segretti connection, but admits they aren’t pursuing anything outside of the initial break in. When read a copy of the story the Post was working on based on Young’s interview, the agent calls the story “fundamentally inaccurate.” The story includes the claim that the lawyer paying for Segretti’s activities was a friend of the President.

Woodward meets with Sloan who confirms Kalmbach’s involvement in distributing money from the secret fund.

After Ziegler refuses to comment on any stories at the morning press conference, Clark MacGregor, the new Director of the Nixon Campaign, holds a press conference of his own. Rather than take questions, however, he reads a prepared attack on “McGovernism” and the Washington Post asking why the Post hasn’t investigated any of the attacks on the Nixon campaign.

An FBI memo states that Assistant Attorney General Peterson does not believe Segretti broke any federal laws and sees no reason for the FBI to continue investigating him.

Woodward meets with Felt/Deep Throat and says they are running a story naming Haldeman is as the fifth person controlling the secret fund. He tries to get Felt/Deep Throat to confirm the story, but he refuses. Felt does say he’ll keep the reporters out of trouble which Woodward reads as a confirmation, but Felt/Deep Throat says he is not obligated to warn them off any inaccurate stories.

A Gallop poll shows that 48% of American’s have never heard of Watergate.

Bernstein contacts Special Agent Angelo Lano in the FBI who confirms that the FBI interviewed Sloan. He says Sloan told them about Haldeman and that it came from the Grand Jury. The reporters feel they have enough confirmation to move forward with the story.

Based on what they perceive to be various confirmations, the Post publishes at story naming Bob Haldeman as the fifth person to control the secret fund. After the story runs, Daniel Schorr of CBS catches up to Sloan and his lawyer, and the attorney emphatically denies Sloan named Haldeman to the grand jury. Woodward and Bernstein believe Haldeman is the fifth person, but clearly there was an error in their reporting about how it was known. Ziegler’s press conference turns into an all out attack on the Post saying “I don’t respect the type of shabby journalism that is being practiced by the Washington Post…”

Woodward and Bernstein track down Agent Lano and threaten to go to his boss if he doesn’t give them some straight answers. He refuses so they approach his superior with the information saying they would need to reveal any source that knowingly mislead them, but get nothing further. Bradlee issues a statement, “We stand by our story.”

Nixon tells Colson regarding the Post, “They don’t realize how rough I can play.”

Felt/Deep Throat tells Woodward that his facts are correct saying, “…this whole business is a Haldeman operation.” He says Haldeman relies on Lawrence Higby, Dwight Chapin, Gordon Strachan, and Alexander Butterfield to carry out his orders.

On the CBS evening news, Walter Cronkite, himself starting to believe Watergate is deserving of a national audience, introduces a 14 minute segment devoted to explaining the scandal.

CBS airs a second segment on Watergate over the protests of Colson. Cronkite’s interest begins to shift the country’s attitude.