America-civil Rights Flashcards
(5 cards)
When was the watergate break-in?
17th of June 1972 five burglars were arrested at the watergate office building trying to repair bugging devices
What was the reaction to the break in at the time?
To begin with there was no major scandal
Reported as a burglary
There was no immediate link to the White House/Nixon/CREEP
How did it turn into a scandal?
Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein journalists at the Washington post
Investigated and found links between burglars & creep then the White House
Published consistent articles, keeping break in public eye and convincing democrats to investigate
FBI investigated separately
Found more ties between burglars & White House plumbers
Specifically that E Howard and G Gordon Liddy had planned the burglary; both were White House plumbers AND members of CREEP
How did Nixon respond to this?
Nixon stated that he had the White House lawyer, John Dean, investigate and found no links to the White House
How did this turn into a scandal ?
Burglars put on trial in January 1973-all plead guilty
McCord sent a letter to judge of case in march explaining how the White House knew about the burglary and told them to lie/keep their mouth shut during trial
This explodes into a nationwide scandal, as this was evidence of a cover up
