U.S. District Judge John Joseph Sirica, known as “Maximum John” for giving defendants the stiffest sentences guidelines allowed, presided over the trial of the Watergate burglars with deep skepticism about their claims of acting alone. Sirica employed an innovative strategy of …
John SiricaJames W. McCord Jr.G. Gordon LiddyJohn DeanJohn N. Mitchellwatergateobstruction-of-justicejudicial-oversightinstitutional-corruptionabuse-of-power
On January 30, 1973, after a trial before Judge John Sirica, G. Gordon Liddy and James W. McCord Jr. were convicted on charges of conspiracy, burglary, and wiretapping in connection with the June 17, 1972 break-in at Democratic National Committee headquarters. Five other defendants—E. Howard Hunt, …
G. Gordon LiddyJames W. McCord Jr.Bernard BarkerVirgilio GonzalezEugenio Martinez+3 morewatergateobstruction-of-justiceinstitutional-corruptionintelligence-agencies
In the early morning hours of June 17, 1972, Washington D.C. police arrested five men inside the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex. Security guard Frank Wills had discovered tape over door locks and called police, who caught the burglars preparing to install …
James W. McCord Jr.E. Howard HuntG. Gordon LiddyBernard BarkerEugenio Martinez+2 morewatergateabuse-of-powerobstruction-of-justiceinstitutional-corruptionintelligence-agencies
In September 1971, the White House Special Investigations Unit—mockingly known as the “Plumbers” because their mission was to stop leaks—broke into the Los Angeles office of Dr. Lewis Fielding, psychiatrist to Daniel Ellsberg, who had leaked the Pentagon Papers exposing government lies …
E. Howard HuntG. Gordon LiddyChuck ColsonJohn EhrlichmanEgil Krogh+2 morewatergateabuse-of-powerintelligence-agenciesinstitutional-corruptionwhistleblower-retaliation