Watergate scandal

== Cover-up and its unraveling ==

=== Initial cover-up ===
[[File:Address Book of Watergate Burglar Bernard Barker, Discovered in a Room at the Watergate Hotel, June 18, 1972 - NARA - 304966.tif|thumb|Address book of Watergate burglar Bernard Barker, discovered in a room at the Watergate Hotel, June 18, 1972]]

Within hours of the burglars' arrests, the FBI discovered [[E. Howard Hunt]]'s name in Barker and Martínez's address books. Nixon administration officials were concerned because Hunt and Liddy were also involved in a separate secret activity known as the "[[White House Plumbers]]", which was established to stop security "[[News leak|leaks]]" and investigate other sensitive security matters. Dean later testified that top Nixon aide [[John Ehrlichman]] ordered him to "[[wikt:deep six|deep six]]" the contents of Howard Hunt's White House safe. Ehrlichman subsequently denied this. In the end, Dean and [[L. Patrick Gray]], the FBI's acting director, (in separate operations) destroyed the evidence from Hunt's safe.

Nixon's own reaction to the break-in, at least initially, was one of skepticism. Watergate prosecutor James Neal was sure that Nixon had not known in advance of the break-in. As evidence, he cited a conversation taped on June 23 between the President and his chief of staff, [[H. R. Haldeman]], in which Nixon asked, "Who was the asshole that did that?"<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/sites/default/files/forresearchers/find/tapes/watergate/trial/exhibit_01.pdf |title=Transcript of a Recording of a Meeting Between The President And H.R. Haldeman in the Oval Office On June 23, 1972 From 10:04 To 11:39 a.m. |website=Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum |access-date=September 10, 2018 |archive-date=August 28, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180828075741/https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/sites/default/files/forresearchers/find/tapes/watergate/trial/exhibit_01.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> However, Nixon subsequently ordered Haldeman to have the CIA block the FBI's investigation into the source of the funding for the burglary.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/08/06/archives/nixon-ordered-that-the-fbi-be-told-dont-go-any-further-into-this.html|work=The New York Times|date=August 6, 1974|title=Nixon Ordered That the F.B.I. Be Told: 'Don't Go Any Further Into This Case'|author=John M. Crewdson|access-date=September 24, 2023|archive-date=August 19, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230819170548/https://www.nytimes.com/1974/08/06/archives/nixon-ordered-that-the-fbi-be-told-dont-go-any-further-into-this.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

A few days later, Nixon's press secretary, [[Ron Ziegler]], described the event as "a third-rate burglary attempt". On August 29, at a news conference, Nixon stated that Dean had conducted a thorough investigation of the incident, when Dean had actually not conducted any investigations at all. Nixon furthermore said, "I can say categorically that&nbsp;... no one in the White House staff, no one in this Administration, presently employed, was involved in this very bizarre incident." On September 15, Nixon congratulated Dean, saying, "The way you've handled it, it seems to me, has been very skillful, because you—putting your fingers in the dikes every time that leaks have sprung here and sprung there."<ref Name=TimeRetrospective/>

=== Kidnapping of Martha Mitchell ===
{{main|Martha Mitchell#June 1972 kidnapping, aftermath and vindication}}

[[Martha Mitchell]] was the wife of Nixon's [[United States Attorney General|Attorney General]], [[John N. Mitchell]], who had recently resigned his role so that he could become campaign manager for Nixon's [[Committee for the Re-Election of the President]] (CRP). John Mitchell was aware that Martha knew McCord, one of the Watergate burglars who had been arrested, and that upon finding out, she was likely to speak to the media. In his opinion, her knowing McCord was likely to link the Watergate burglary to Nixon. John Mitchell instructed guards in her security detail not to let her contact the media.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Brockell|first=Gillian|title='I'm a political prisoner': Mouthy Martha Mitchell was the George Conway of the Nixon era|language=en-US|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/03/21/im-political-prisoner-how-martha-mitchell-became-george-conway-nixon-era/|access-date=November 17, 2020|issn=0190-8286|archive-date=November 25, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125022741/https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/03/21/im-political-prisoner-how-martha-mitchell-became-george-conway-nixon-era/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In June 1972, during a phone call with [[United Press International]] reporter [[Helen Thomas]], Martha Mitchell informed Thomas that she was leaving her husband until he resigned from the CRP.<ref name="Cadden">{{Cite web |url=http://jfk.hood.edu/Collection/White%20Materials/Watergate/Watergate%20Items%2004357%20to%2004655/Watergate%2004358.pdf |title=Martha Mitchell: the Day the Laughing Stopped |last=Cadden |first=Vivian |date=July 1973 |website=The Harold Weisberg Archive |publisher=McCall's Magazine |access-date=October 14, 2019 |archive-date=June 22, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200622233058/http://jfk.hood.edu/Collection/White%20Materials/Watergate/Watergate%20Items%2004357%20to%2004655/Watergate%2004358.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The phone call ended abruptly. A few days later, [[Marcia Kramer]], a veteran crime reporter of the ''[[New York Daily News]]'', tracked Mitchell to the [[Westchester Country Club]] in Rye, New York, and described Mitchell as "a beaten woman" with visible bruises.<ref name="STEIN">{{Cite web |url=https://www.newsweek.com/2017/12/29/donald-trump-watergate-stephen-king-martha-mitchell-richard-nixon-john-744823.html |title=Trump Ambassador Beat and 'Kidnapped' Woman in Watergate Cover-Up: Reports |last=Stein |first=Jeff |date=December 11, 2017 |website=Newsweek |access-date=September 12, 2019 |archive-date=September 1, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190901183117/https://www.newsweek.com/2017/12/29/donald-trump-watergate-stephen-king-martha-mitchell-richard-nixon-john-744823.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Mitchell reported that, during the week following the Watergate burglary, she had been held captive in a hotel in California, and that security guard [[Steve King (ambassador)|Steve King]] ended her call to Thomas by pulling the phone cord from the wall.<ref name="STEIN" /><ref name="Cadden" /> Mitchell made several attempts to escape via the balcony, but was physically accosted, injured, and forcefully sedated by a psychiatrist.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Reeves |first=Richard |url=https://archive.org/details/presidentnixon00rich |title=President Nixon : alone in the White House |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=2002 |isbn=0-7432-2719-0 |edition=1st Touchstone ed. 2002. |location=New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/presidentnixon00rich/page/511 511] |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=McLendon |first=Winzola |url=https://archive.org/details/marthalifeofmart00mcle |title=Martha: The Life of Martha Mitchell |year=1979 |publisher=Random House |isbn=9780394411248 |url-access=registration}}</ref> Following conviction for his role in the Watergate burglary, in February 1975, McCord admitted that Mitchell had been "basically kidnapped", and corroborated her reports of the event.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/02/19/archives/mccord-declares-that-mrs-mitchell-was-forcibly-held-comment-from.html |title=McCord Declares That Mrs. Mitchell Was Forcibly Held |date=February 19, 1975 |work=The New York Times |access-date=September 12, 2019 |archive-date=October 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020100156/https://www.nytimes.com/1975/02/19/archives/mccord-declares-that-mrs-mitchell-was-forcibly-held-comment-from.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Money trail ===
{{More citations needed section|date=March 2016}}

On June 19, 1972, the press reported that one of the Watergate burglars was a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] security aide.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://watergate.info/chronology/brief-timeline-of-events |title=Brief Timeline of Events |publisher=Malcolm Farnsworth |access-date=May 24, 2012 |archive-date=May 19, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120519151808/http://watergate.info/chronology/brief-timeline-of-events |url-status=live }}</ref> Former attorney general John Mitchell, who was then the head of the CRP, denied any involvement with the Watergate break-in. He also disavowed any knowledge whatsoever of the five burglars.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/11/10/obituaries/john-n-mitchell-dies-at-75-major-figure-in-watergate.html |title=John N. Mitchell Dies at 75; Major Figure in Watergate |date=November 10, 1988 |work=The New York Times |access-date=January 25, 2017 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=February 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210215204224/https://www.nytimes.com/1988/11/10/obituaries/john-n-mitchell-dies-at-75-major-figure-in-watergate.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/watergate/stories/mitchobit.htm |title=John N. Mitchell, Principal in Watergate, Dies at 75 |last=Meyer |first=Lawrence |date=November 10, 1988 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=August 22, 2017 |archive-date=August 30, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080830004048/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/watergate/stories/mitchobit.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> On August 1, a $25,000 (approximately ${{Inflation|US|25000|1972|r=-3|fmt=c}} in {{inflation-year|US}} dollars) [[cashier's check]] was found to have been deposited in the US and Mexican bank accounts of one of the Watergate burglars, Bernard Barker. Made out to the finance committee of the Committee to Reelect the President, the check was a 1972 campaign donation by [[Kenneth H. Dahlberg#Watergate|Kenneth H. Dahlberg]]. This money (and several other checks which had been lawfully donated to the CRP) had been directly used to finance the burglary and wiretapping expenses, including hardware and supplies.

Barker's multiple national and international businesses all had separate bank accounts, which he was found to have attempted to use to disguise the true origin of the money being paid to the burglars. The donor's checks demonstrated the burglars' direct link to the finance committee of the CRP.

Donations totaling $86,000 (${{Inflation|US|86000|1972|r=-3|fmt=c}} today) were made by individuals who believed they were making private donations by certified and cashier's checks for the president's re-election. Investigators' examination of the bank records of a Miami company run by Watergate burglar Barker revealed an account controlled by him personally had deposited a check and then transferred it through the [[Federal Reserve System#Check clearing system|Federal Reserve Check Clearing System]].

The investigation by the FBI, which cleared Barker's bank of fiduciary malfeasance, led to the direct implication of members of the CRP, to whom the checks had been delivered. Those individuals were the committee bookkeeper and its treasurer, [[Hugh Sloan]].

As a private organization, the committee followed the normal business practice in allowing only duly authorized individuals to accept and endorse checks on behalf of the committee. No financial institution could accept or process a check on behalf of the committee unless a duly authorized individual endorsed it. The checks deposited into Barker's bank account were endorsed by Committee treasurer Hugh Sloan, who was authorized by the finance committee. However, once Sloan had endorsed a check made payable to the committee, he had a legal and fiduciary responsibility to see that the check was deposited only into the accounts named on the check. Sloan failed to do that. When confronted with the potential charge of federal bank fraud, he revealed that committee deputy director [[Jeb Magruder]] and finance director [[Maurice Stans]] had directed him to give the money to [[G. Gordon Liddy]].

Liddy, in turn, gave the money to Barker and attempted to hide its origin. Barker tried to disguise the funds by depositing them into accounts in banks outside of the United States. Unbeknownst to Barker, Liddy, and Sloan, the complete record of all such transactions was held for roughly six months. Barker's use of foreign banks in April and May 1972 to deposit checks and withdraw the funds via cashier's checks and money orders, resulted in the banks keeping the entire transaction records until October and November 1972.

All five Watergate burglars were directly or indirectly tied to the 1972 CRP, thus causing Judge Sirica to suspect a conspiracy involving higher-echelon government officials.<ref>Quote: "There were still simply too many unanswered questions in the case. By that time, thinking about the break-in and reading about it, I'd have had to be some kind of moron to believe that no other people were involved. No political campaign committee would turn over so much money to a man like Gordon Liddy without someone higher up in the organization approving the transaction. How could I not see that? These questions about the case were on my mind during a pretrial session in my courtroom on December 4."
{{Cite book |last=Sirica, John J. |url=https://archive.org/details/tosetrecordstrai00siri/page/56 |title=To Set the Record Straight: The Break-in, the Tapes, the Conspirators, the Pardon |publisher=Norton |year=1979 |isbn=0-393-01234-4 |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/tosetrecordstrai00siri/page/56 56]}}</ref>

On September 29, 1972, the press reported that John Mitchell, while serving as attorney general, controlled a secret Republican fund used to finance intelligence-gathering against the Democrats. On October 10, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of ''[[The Washington Post]]'' reported that the FBI had determined that the Watergate break-in was part of a massive campaign of political spying and sabotage on behalf of the Nixon re-election committee. Despite these revelations, Nixon's campaign was never seriously jeopardized; on November 7, the [[1972 United States presidential election|President was re-elected]] in one of the biggest landslides in American political history.

=== Role of the media ===
The connection between the break-in and the re-election committee was highlighted by media coverage—in particular, investigative coverage by ''[[The Washington Post]]'', ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', and ''[[The New York Times]]''. The coverage dramatically increased publicity and consequent political and legal repercussions. Relying heavily upon [[anonymous sources]], ''Post'' reporters [[Bob Woodward]] and [[Carl Bernstein]] uncovered information suggesting that knowledge of the break-in, and attempts to cover it up, led deeply into the upper reaches of the Justice Department, FBI, CIA, and the White House. Woodward and Bernstein interviewed [[Judy Hoback Miller]], the bookkeeper for Nixon's re-election campaign, who revealed to them information about the mishandling of funds and records being destroyed.<ref>[http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2012/06/woodward-and-bernstein-downplay-deep-throat-125950.html "Woodward Downplays Deep Throat"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120619092918/http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2012/06/woodward-and-bernstein-downplay-deep-throat-125950.html |date=June 19, 2012 }}, ''Politico''. blog, June 2012. Retrieved February 8, 2015</ref><ref name="watergate_case_study_jm_perry_columbia_edu" />

[[File:Watergate garage with historic marker.jpg|thumb|Garage in Rosslyn where Woodward and Felt met. Also visible is the historical marker erected by the county to note its significance.]]

Chief among the ''Post's'' anonymous sources was an individual whom Woodward and Bernstein had nicknamed [[Deep Throat (Watergate)|Deep Throat]]; 33 years later, in 2005, the informant was identified as [[Mark Felt]], deputy director of the FBI during that period of the 1970s, something Woodward later confirmed. Felt met secretly with Woodward several times, telling him of Howard Hunt's involvement with the Watergate break-in, and that the White House staff regarded the stakes in Watergate as extremely high. Felt warned Woodward that the FBI wanted to know where he and other reporters were getting their information, as they were uncovering a wider web of crimes than the FBI first disclosed. All the secret meetings between Woodward and Felt took place at an underground parking garage in [[Rosslyn, Virginia|Rosslyn]] over a period from June 1972 to January 1973. Prior to resigning from the FBI on June 22, 1973, Felt also anonymously planted [[News leak|leaks]] about Watergate with [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' magazine]], ''[[The Washington Daily News]]'' and other publications.<ref name="watergate_case_study_jm_perry_columbia_edu" /><ref name="Holland">[http://www.pressherald.com/2012/02/19/the-profound-lies-of-deep-throat_2012-02-19/ "The profound lies of Deep Throat"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202043015/http://www.pressherald.com/2012/02/19/the-profound-lies-of-deep-throat_2012-02-19/ |date=February 2, 2017 }}, ''The Miami Herald'', republished in Portland Press Herald, February 14, 2012</ref>

During this early period, most of the media failed to understand the full implications of the scandal, and concentrated reporting on other topics related to the 1972 presidential election.<ref name="TimeWatergateCoverage">{{Cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,943934-1,00.html |title=Covering Watergate: Success and Backlash |date=July 8, 1974 |magazine=Time |access-date=July 24, 2011 |archive-date=June 2, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130602032102/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,943934-1,00.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Most outlets ignored or downplayed Woodward and Bernstein's scoops; the crosstown ''[[Washington Star-News]]'' and the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' even ran stories incorrectly discrediting the ''Post's'' articles. After the ''Post'' revealed that [[H.R. Haldeman]] had made payments from the secret fund, newspapers like the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' and ''[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]]'' failed to publish the information, but did publish the White House's denial of the story the following day.<ref name="BoysontheBus">Crouse, Timothy (1973).''The Boys on the Bus'', Random House, p. 298</ref> The White House also sought to isolate the ''Post's'' coverage by tirelessly attacking that newspaper while declining to criticize other damaging stories about the scandal from the ''[[New York Times]]'' and [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' magazine]].<ref name="BoysontheBus" /><ref name="watergate_case_study_jm_perry_columbia_edu" />

After it was learned that one of the convicted burglars had written to Judge Sirica alleging a high-level cover-up, the media shifted its focus. ''Time'' magazine described Nixon as undergoing "daily hell and very little trust". The distrust between the press and the Nixon administration was mutual and greater than usual due to lingering dissatisfaction with events from the [[Vietnam War]]. At the same time, public distrust of the media was polled at more than 40%.<ref name=TimeWatergateCoverage />

Nixon and top administration officials discussed using government agencies to "get" (or retaliate against) those they perceived as hostile media organizations.<ref name=TimeWatergateCoverage /> Such actions had been taken before. At the request of Nixon's White House in 1969, the FBI tapped the phones of five reporters. In 1971, the White House requested an audit of the tax return of the editor of ''[[Newsday]]'', after he wrote a series of articles about the financial dealings of [[Charles Rebozo|Charles "Bebe" Rebozo]], a friend of Nixon.<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,911434-3,00.html |title=The Nation: More Evidence: Huge Case for Judgment |date=July 29, 1974 |magazine=Time |access-date=July 24, 2011 |archive-date=May 21, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130521074309/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,911434-3,00.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The administration and its supporters accused the media of making "wild accusations", putting too much emphasis on the story and of having a liberal bias against the administration.<ref name="watergate_case_study_jm_perry_columbia_edu" /><ref name=TimeWatergateCoverage /> Nixon said in a May 1974 interview with supporter [[Baruch Korff]] that if he had followed the liberal policies that he thought the media preferred, "Watergate would have been a blip."<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,942981-11,00.html |title=The Nixon Years: Down from the Mountaintop |date=August 19, 1974 |magazine=Time |access-date=July 24, 2011 |archive-date=May 21, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130521074203/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,942981-11,00.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> The media noted that most of the reporting turned out to be accurate; the competitive nature of the media guaranteed widespread coverage of the far-reaching political scandal.<ref name=TimeWatergateCoverage />

=== Scandal escalates ===
Rather than ending with the conviction and sentencing to prison of the five Watergate burglars on January 30, 1973, the investigation into the break-in and the Nixon Administration's involvement grew broader. "Nixon's conversations in late March and all of April 1973 revealed that not only did he know he needed to remove Haldeman, Ehrlichman, and Dean to gain distance from them, but he had to do so in a way that was least likely to incriminate him and his presidency. Nixon created a new conspiracy—to effect a cover-up of the cover-up—which began in late March 1973 and became fully formed in May and June 1973, operating until his presidency ended on August 9, 1974."<ref name="Dean 2014" />{{rp|p. 344}} On March 23, 1973, Judge Sirica read the court a letter from Watergate burglar [[James W. McCord Jr.|James McCord]], who alleged that [[perjury]] had been committed in the Watergate trial, and defendants had been pressured to remain silent. In an attempt to make them talk, Sirica gave Hunt and two burglars provisional sentences of up to 40 years.

Urged by Nixon, on March 28, aide John Ehrlichman told Attorney General [[Richard Kleindienst]] that nobody in the White House had had prior knowledge of the burglary. On April 13, Magruder told U.S. attorneys that he had perjured himself during the burglars' trial, and implicated John Dean and John Mitchell.<ref Name=TimeRetrospective/>

John Dean believed that he, Mitchell, Ehrlichman, and Haldeman could go to the prosecutors, tell the truth, and save the presidency. Dean wanted to protect the president and have his four closest men take the fall for telling the truth. During the critical meeting between Dean and Nixon on April 15, 1973, Dean was totally unaware of the president's depth of knowledge and involvement in the Watergate cover-up. It was during this meeting that Dean felt that he was being recorded. He wondered if this was due to the way Nixon was speaking, as if he were trying to prod attendees' recollections of earlier conversations about fundraising. Dean mentioned this observation while testifying to the Senate Committee on Watergate, exposing the thread of what were taped conversations that would unravel the fabric of the conspiracy.<ref name="Dean 2014" />{{rp|pp. 415–416}}

Two days later, Dean told Nixon that he had been cooperating with the [[U.S. attorneys]]. On that same day, U.S. attorneys told Nixon that Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Dean, and other White House officials were implicated in the cover-up.<ref Name=TimeRetrospective/><ref name="UPI 1973 in Review">{{Cite web |url=http://www.upi.com/Audio/Year_in_Review/Events-of-1973/Watergate-Scandal/12305770297723-4/ |title=Watergate Scandal, 1973 Year in Review |date=September 8, 1973 |access-date=June 17, 2010 |work=United Press International |archive-date=July 22, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100722184318/http://www.upi.com/Audio/Year_in_Review/Events-of-1973/Watergate-Scandal/12305770297723-4 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>"When Judge Sirica finished reading the letter, the courtroom exploded with excitement and reporters ran to the rear entrance to phone their newspapers. The bailiff kept banging for silence. It was a stunning development, exactly what I had been waiting for. Perjury at the trial. The involvement of others. It looked as if Watergate was about to break wide open."
{{Cite book |last=Dash, Samuel |url=https://archive.org/details/chiefcounselinsi00dash/page/30 |title=Chief Counsel: Inside the Ervin Committee – The Untold Story of Watergate |publisher=Random House |year=1976 |isbn=0-394-40853-5 |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/chiefcounselinsi00dash/page/30 30] |oclc=2388043}}</ref>

On April 30, Nixon asked for the resignation of Haldeman and Ehrlichman, two of his most influential aides. They were both later indicted, convicted, and ultimately sentenced to prison. He asked for the resignation of Attorney General Kleindienst, to ensure no one could claim that his innocent friendship with Haldeman and Ehrlichman could be construed as a conflict. He fired [[White House Counsel]] John Dean, who went on to testify before the [[Senate Watergate Committee]] and said that he believed and suspected the conversations in the Oval Office were being taped. This information became the bombshell that helped force Richard Nixon to resign rather than be impeached.<ref name="Dean 2014" />{{rp|pp. 610–620}}

Writing from prison for ''New West'' and ''[[New York (magazine)|New York]]'' magazines in 1977, Ehrlichman claimed Nixon had offered him a large sum of money, which he declined.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090205143412/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,918947-2,00.html "Sequels: Nixon: Once More, with Feeling"], ''Time'', May 16, 1977</ref>

The President announced the resignations in an address to the American people:

{{blockquote|Today, in one of the most difficult decisions of my Presidency, I accepted the resignations of two of my closest associates in the White House, Bob Haldeman, John Ehrlichman, two of the finest public servants it has been my privilege to know. [...] Because Attorney General Kleindienst, though a distinguished public servant, my personal friend for 20 years, with no personal involvement whatever in this matter has been a close personal and professional associate of some of those who are involved in this case, he and I both felt that it was also necessary to name a new Attorney General. The [[Counsel to the President]], John Dean, has also resigned.<ref name="UPI 1973 in Review" /><ref name="April 30, 1974 video">{{cite web |title=April 30, 1973: Address to the Nation About the Watergate Investigations |url=https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/presidential-speeches/april-30-1973-address-nation-about-watergate-investigations |website=Presidential Speeches – Richard M. Nixon Presidency |date=October 20, 2016 |publisher=University of Virginia Miller Center |access-date=9 August 2023 |archive-date=August 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810230312/https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/presidential-speeches/april-30-1973-address-nation-about-watergate-investigations |url-status=live }}</ref>}}

On the same day, April 30, Nixon appointed a new attorney general, [[Elliot Richardson]], and gave him authority to designate a special counsel for the Watergate investigation who would be independent of the regular [[United States Department of Justice|Justice Department]] hierarchy. In May 1973, Richardson named [[Archibald Cox]] to the position.<ref Name=TimeRetrospective/>

=== Senate Watergate hearings and revelation of the Watergate tapes ===
{{Main|Nixon White House tapes}}
{{See also|United States Senate Watergate Committee|G. Bradford Cook}}
[[File:ThompsonWatergate.jpg|thumb|Minority counsel [[Fred Thompson]], [[ranking member]] [[Howard Baker]], and chair [[Sam Ervin]] of the Senate Watergate Committee in 1973]]

On February 7, 1973, the United States Senate voted 77-to-0 to approve 93 {{USBill|93|S. Res.|60}} and establish a select committee to investigate Watergate, with [[Sam Ervin]] named chairman the next day.<ref name="TimeRetrospective">[https://web.archive.org/web/20121107191632/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,942983-1,00.html "Watergate Retrospective: The Decline and Fall"], ''Time'', August 19, 1974</ref> The hearings held by the Senate committee, in which Dean and other former administration officials testified, were broadcast from May&nbsp;17 to August&nbsp;7. The three major networks of the time agreed to take turns covering the hearings live, each network thus maintaining coverage of the hearings every third day, starting with [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] on May&nbsp;17 and ending with [[NBC]] on August&nbsp;7. An estimated 85% of Americans with television sets tuned into at least one portion of the hearings.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.museum.tv/eotv/watergate.htm |title=Watergate |last=Garay |first=Ronald |website=The Museum of Broadcast Communication |access-date=January 17, 2007 |archive-date=June 5, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180605220734/http://www.museum.tv/eotv/watergate.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

On Friday, July 13, during a preliminary interview, deputy minority counsel [[Donald Sanders]] asked White House assistant [[Alexander Butterfield]] if there was any type of recording system in the White House.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kranish |first=Michael |url=https://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/07/04/not_all_would_put_a_heroic_sheen_on_thompsons_watergate_role/?page=2 |title=Select Chronology for Donald G. Sanders |date=July 4, 2007 |work=Boston Globe |access-date=February 21, 2020 |archive-date=March 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303213236/http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/07/04/not_all_would_put_a_heroic_sheen_on_thompsons_watergate_role/?page=2 |url-status=live }}</ref> Butterfield said he was reluctant to answer, but finally admitted there was a new system in the White House that automatically recorded everything in the [[Oval Office]], the [[Cabinet Room (White House)|Cabinet Room]] and others, as well as Nixon's private office in the [[Old Executive Office Building]].

On Monday, July 16, in front of a live, televised audience, chief minority counsel [[Fred Thompson]] asked Butterfield whether he was "aware of the installation of any listening devices in the Oval Office of the president". Butterfield's revelation of the taping system transformed the Watergate investigation. Cox immediately subpoenaed the tapes, as did the Senate, but Nixon refused to release them, citing his [[executive privilege]] as president, and ordered Cox to drop his subpoena. Cox refused.<ref name="UPI 1973 in Review" />

=== Saturday Night Massacre ===
{{Main|Saturday Night Massacre}}

On October 20, 1973, after Cox, the special prosecutor, refused to drop the subpoena, Nixon ordered Attorney General [[Elliot Richardson]] to fire him. Richardson resigned in protest rather than carry out the order. Nixon then ordered Deputy Attorney General [[William Ruckelshaus]] to fire Cox, but Ruckelshaus also resigned rather than fire him. Nixon's search for someone in the Justice Department willing to fire Cox ended with Solicitor General [[Robert Bork]]. Though Bork said he believed Nixon's order was valid and appropriate, he considered resigning to avoid being "perceived as a man who did the President's bidding to save my job".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Noble |first=Kenneth |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/07/02/us/bork-irked-by-emphasis-on-his-role-in-watergate.html |title=Bork Irked by Emphasis on His Role in Watergate |date=July 2, 1987 |work=The New York Times |access-date=May 26, 2009 |archive-date=September 1, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180901010849/https://www.nytimes.com/1987/07/02/us/bork-irked-by-emphasis-on-his-role-in-watergate.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Bork carried out the presidential order and dismissed the special prosecutor.

These actions met considerable public criticism. Responding to the allegations of possible wrongdoing, in front of 400 [[Associated Press]] managing editors at [[Disney's Contemporary Resort]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/attractions/the-daily-disney/os-nixon-watergate-and-walt-disney-world-20161028-story.html |title=Nixon, Watergate and Walt Disney World? There is a connection |last=Pope |first=Rich |website=Orlando Sentinel |date=October 31, 2016 |access-date=April 8, 2017 |archive-date=April 9, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170409020951/http://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/attractions/the-daily-disney/os-nixon-watergate-and-walt-disney-world-20161028-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1117.html#article |title=Nixon Declares He Didn't Profit From Public Life |last=Apple |first=R.W. Jr. |work=The New York Times |access-date=August 22, 2017 |archive-date=September 7, 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010907045420/https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1117.html#article |url-status=live }}</ref> on November 17, 1973, Nixon emphatically stated, "Well, I am not a crook."<ref>{{cite web |title=Question-and-Answer Session at the Annual Convention of the Associated Press Managing Editors Association, Orlando, Florida {{!}} The American Presidency Project |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/question-and-answer-session-the-annual-convention-the-associated-press-managing-editors |website=www.presidency.ucsb.edu |quote=Well, I am not a crook |access-date=July 16, 2019 |archive-date=July 16, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190716083931/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/question-and-answer-session-the-annual-convention-the-associated-press-managing-editors |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Kilpatrick |first=Carroll |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/watergate/articles/111873-1.htm |title=Nixon Tells Editors, 'I'm Not a Crook |date=November 18, 1973 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=August 22, 2017 |archive-date=November 30, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131130062554/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/watergate/articles/111873-1.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> He needed to allow Bork to appoint a new special prosecutor; Bork, with Nixon's approval, chose [[Leon Jaworski]] to continue the investigation.<ref>{{Cite news |author=John Herbers |date=November 2, 1973 |title=Nixon Names Saxbe Attorney General; Jaworski Appointed Special Prosecutor |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/11/02/archives/nixon-names-saxbe-attorney-general-jaworski-appointed-special.html |access-date=December 29, 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=December 29, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221229172733/https://www.nytimes.com/1973/11/02/archives/nixon-names-saxbe-attorney-general-jaworski-appointed-special.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Legal action against Nixon administration members ===
On March 1, 1974, a [[grand jury]] in Washington, D.C., indicted several former aides of Nixon, who became known as the "[[Watergate Seven]]"—[[H. R. Haldeman]], [[John Ehrlichman]], [[John N. Mitchell]], [[Charles Colson]], [[Gordon C. Strachan]], [[Robert Mardian]], and [[Kenneth Parkinson]]—for conspiring to hinder the Watergate investigation. The grand jury secretly named Nixon as an [[unindicted co-conspirator]]. The special prosecutor dissuaded them from an indictment of Nixon, arguing that a president can be indicted only after he leaves office.<ref name="TimeLegal">{{Cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,942980,00.html |title=The Legal Aftermath Citizen Nixon and the Law |date=August 19, 1974 |magazine=Time |access-date=July 24, 2011 |archive-date=December 21, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111221055507/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,942980,00.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> John Dean, [[Jeb Stuart Magruder]], and other figures had already pleaded guilty. On April 5, 1974, [[Dwight Chapin]], the former Nixon appointments secretary, was convicted of lying to the grand jury. Two days later, the same grand jury indicted [[Ed Reinecke]], the Republican [[Lieutenant Governor of California]], on three charges of perjury before the Senate committee.

=== Release of the transcripts ===
[[File:Nixon E2679c-09A.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|left|President Nixon explaining release of edited transcripts, April 29, 1974]]

The Nixon administration struggled to decide what materials to release. All parties involved agreed that all pertinent information should be released. Whether to release unedited [[profanity]] and vulgarity divided his advisers. His legal team favored releasing the tapes unedited, while Press Secretary [[Ron Ziegler]] preferred using an edited version where "[[expletive deleted]]" would replace the raw material. After several weeks of debate, they decided to release an edited version. Nixon announced the release of the transcripts in a speech to the nation on April 29, 1974. Nixon noted that any audio pertinent to national security information could be [[redaction|redacted]] from the released tapes.<ref>Theodore White. ''[http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1370091&referer=brief_results Breach of Faith: The Fall of Richard Nixon] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090427094543/http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1370091%26referer%3Dbrief_results |date=April 27, 2009 }}''. Reader's Digest Press, Athineum Publishers, 1975, pp. 296–298</ref>

Initially, Nixon gained a positive reaction for his speech. As people read the transcripts over the next couple of weeks, however, former supporters among the public, media and political community called for Nixon's resignation or impeachment. Vice President [[Gerald Ford]] said, "While it may be easy to delete characterization from the printed page, we cannot delete characterization from people's minds with a wave of the hand."<ref name=woodward/> The Senate Republican Leader [[Hugh Scott]] said the transcripts revealed a "deplorable, disgusting, shabby, and immoral" performance on the part of the President and his former aides.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://articles.mcall.com/1994-07-26/news/2994945_1_mr-scott-white-house-hugh-scott |title=Obituary: Hugh Scott, A Dedicated Public Servant |date=July 26, 1994 |work=The Morning Call |access-date=December 8, 2015 |archive-date=December 11, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151211142914/http://articles.mcall.com/1994-07-26/news/2994945_1_mr-scott-white-house-hugh-scott |url-status=live }}</ref> The House Republican Leader [[John Jacob Rhodes]] agreed with Scott, and Rhodes recommended that if Nixon's position continued to deteriorate, he "ought to consider resigning as a possible option".<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://stanforddailyarchive.com/cgi-bin/stanford?a=d&d=stanford19740510-01.2.43 |title=GOP Leaders Favour Stepdown |date=May 10, 1974 |work=The Stanford Daily |access-date=December 8, 2015 |agency=Associated Press |archive-date=February 3, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170203125010/http://stanforddailyarchive.com/cgi-bin/stanford?a=d&d=stanford19740510-01.2.43 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The editors of ''[[The Chicago Tribune]]'', a newspaper that had supported Nixon, wrote, "He is humorless to the point of being inhumane. He is devious. He is vacillating. He is profane. He is willing to be led. He displays dismaying gaps in knowledge. He is suspicious of his staff. His loyalty is minimal."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Patricia Sullivan |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1123-2004Jun23.html |title=Obituary: Clayton Kirkpatrick, 89; Chicago Tribune Editor |date=June 24, 2004 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=December 8, 2015 |archive-date=December 11, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151211002628/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1123-2004Jun23.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The ''[[Providence Journal]]'' wrote, "Reading the transcripts is an emetic experience; one comes away feeling unclean."<ref name=timemay20/><!-- COPY OF TIME EXCERPT: http://jfk.hood.edu/Collection/Weisberg-Watergate%20Files/Tapes%20Release/Tape%20Release%2039.pdf --> This newspaper continued that, while the transcripts may not have revealed an indictable offense, they showed Nixon contemptuous of the United States, its institutions, and its people. According to ''Time'' magazine, the Republican Party leaders in the [[Western United States|Western U.S.]] felt that while there remained a significant number of Nixon loyalists in the party, the majority believed that Nixon should step down as quickly as possible. They were disturbed by the bad language and the coarse, vindictive tone of the conversations in the transcripts.<ref name="timemay20">{{Cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/0,9263,7601740520,00.html |title=Time |date=May 20, 1974 |magazine=Time |access-date=July 24, 2011 |issue=20 |volume=103 |archive-date=January 4, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100104130807/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/0,9263,7601740520,00.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/0,9263,7601740513,00.html |title=Time |date=May 13, 1974 |magazine=Time |access-date=July 24, 2011 |issue=19 |volume=103 |archive-date=January 17, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100117202738/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/0,9263,7601740513,00.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== Supreme Court ===
The issue of access to the tapes went to the United States Supreme Court. On July 24, 1974, in ''[[United States v. Nixon]]'', the Court ruled unanimously (8–0) that claims of executive privilege over the tapes were void. (Then-Justice [[William Rehnquist]]—who had recently been appointed to the Court by Nixon and most recently served in the Nixon Justice Department as Assistant Attorney General of the Office of Legal Counsel—recused himself from the case.) The Court ordered the President to release the tapes to the special prosecutor. On July 30, 1974, Nixon complied with the order and released the subpoenaed tapes to the public.

=== Release of the tapes ===
The tapes revealed several crucial conversations<ref>Kutler, S. (1997). ''Abuse of Power'', p. 247. Simon & Schuster.</ref> that took place between the president and his counsel, John Dean, on March&nbsp;21, 1973. In this conversation, Dean summarized many aspects of the Watergate case, and focused on the subsequent cover-up, describing it as a "cancer on the presidency". The burglary team was being paid [[hush money]] for their silence and Dean stated: "That's the most troublesome post-thing, because Bob [Haldeman] is involved in that; John [Ehrlichman] is involved in that; I am involved in that; Mitchell is involved in that. And that's an obstruction of justice." Dean continued, saying that Howard Hunt was blackmailing the White House demanding money immediately. Nixon replied that the money should be paid: "...&nbsp; just looking at the immediate problem, don't you have to have—handle Hunt's financial situation damn soon?&nbsp;... you've got to keep the cap on the bottle that much, in order to have any options".<ref name="nixonlibrary.gov">{{Cite web |url=http://www.nixonlibrary.gov/forresearchers/find/tapes/watergate/wspf/886-008.pdf |title=Transcript Prepared by the Impeachment Inquiry Staff for the House Judiciary Committee of a Recording of a Meeting Among the President, John Dean and H.R. Haldeman on March 21, 1973 from 10:12 to 11:55&nbsp;am |access-date=July 24, 2011 |archive-date=July 21, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721060530/http://www.nixonlibrary.gov/forresearchers/find/tapes/watergate/wspf/886-008.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

At the time of the initial congressional proceedings, it was not known if Nixon had known and approved of the payments to the Watergate defendants earlier than this conversation. Nixon's conversation with Haldeman on August&nbsp;1, is one of several that establishes he did. Nixon said: "Well&nbsp;... they have to be paid. That's all there is to that. They have to be paid."<ref>Kutler, S. (1997). ''Abuse of Power'', p. 111. Simon & Schuster, Transcribed conversation between President Nixon and Haldeman.</ref> During the congressional debate on impeachment, some believed that impeachment required a criminally indictable offense. Nixon's agreement to make the blackmail payments was regarded as an affirmative act to obstruct justice.<ref name="woodward">Bernstein, C. and Woodward, B. (1976).''The Final Days'', p. 252. New York: Simon & Schuster.</ref>

On December 7, investigators found that an [[18½ minute gap|18½-minute portion]] of one recorded tape had been erased. [[Rose Mary Woods]], Nixon's longtime personal secretary, said she had accidentally erased the tape by pushing the wrong pedal on her tape player when answering the phone. The press ran photos of the set-up, showing that it was unlikely for Woods to answer the phone while keeping her foot on the pedal. Later [[forensic]] analysis in 2003 determined that the tape had been erased in several segments—at least five, and perhaps as many as nine.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Clymer |first=Adam |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/09/us/national-archives-has-given-up-on-filling-the-nixon-tape-gap.html |title=National Archives Has Given Up on Filling the Nixon Tape Gap |date=May 9, 2003 |work=The New York Times |access-date=January 17, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150527231832/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/09/us/national-archives-has-given-up-on-filling-the-nixon-tape-gap.html |archive-date=May 27, 2015}}</ref>