Watergate Burglars Trial: U.S. v. Liddy et al Court Documents

Watergate Burglars Trial: U.S. v. Liddy et al Court Documents

1,273 pages of records of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in the case of United States versus G. Gordon Liddy, Eugenio Martinez, Frank Sturgis, E. Howard Hunt, James McCord, Bernard Barker, and Virgilio Gonzalez, also known as the Trial of the Watergate Burglars. On June 17, 1972, police arrested burglars in the Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. 

This collection includes court documents, previously sealed trial proceedings, evidentiary discussions held outside the jury's presence, pretrial discussions between defendants' lawyers and the Court, and post-trial sentencing information.

The exact purpose of the break-in of the Democratic National Committee has been debated and not conclusively determined. This collection includes records from the United States v. Liddy case, that were kept under seal and not made available to the public until 2013, showing that four of the five burglars stated that they were told the operation was to find evidence that linked Cuban funding to Democratic campaigns.

On January 27, 1972 G. Gordon Liddy presented a plan to Jeb Stuart Magruder, Attorney General John Mitchell, and John Dean calling for various illegal tactics to be performed against the Democratic Party. In his book, "The Nixon Defense: What He Knew and When He Knew It (2014)," Nixon presidential counsel John Dean described this event as the, "opening scene of the worst political scandal of the twentieth century and the beginning of the end of the Nixon presidency."  

Attorney General Mitchell found most of the plans to be impractical but did approve breaking into Democratic National Committee's (DNC) headquarters at the Watergate.

The first break-in occurred on May 11, 1972, when a plan hatched by former CIA officer James McCord, the security coordinator of Nixon's re-election campaign, at the order of Liddy and Hunt, in which the burglars entered the Democratic offices and photographed documents and wiretapped phones. However, the wiretapping devices failed to function properly, so a second surreptitious entry was planned.

On June 12, 1972, twenty-four-year-old Frank Willis, an $80 a week security guard at the Watergate complex, noticed tape over the lock of a parking garage door to a stairwell leading to offices in the building. Willis removed the tape shortly after midnight. When at approximately 1:40 am he noticed that the door's lock had been taped open once again, a call was made to the police. An unmarked car with three plainclothes officers, who were previously looking for narcotic activity and dressed as "hippies" arrived. The police also found tape keeping the door unlocked in the stairwell at the sixth floor. Where the offices of the Democratic National Committee headquarters were located, and the burglars were found and arrested.

A grand jury on September 15, 1972 indicted the five men caught inside the offices and Hunt and Liddy for conspiracy, burglary, and violation of federal wiretapping laws. McCord and the four Cuban burglars pleaded guilty, and Liddy and Hunt were put on trial. 

G. Gordon Liddy was convicted of planning the burglary and sentenced to a maximum of 20 years in prison. He served ​4 1⁄2 years before President Carter commuted his sentence in 1977.

E. Howard Hunt was convicted of planning and overseeing the burglary, he was sentenced to a maximum of 35 years in prison and served 33 months.

Four of the five who pleaded guilty were sentenced to maximum terms with the condition that Judge Sirica would later review and revise the sentences.

James W. McCord Jr. was convicted of six counts of burglary, conspiracy, and wiretapping. The sentencing of McCord was delayed until 1975 due to his cooperation with Watergate investigators. McCord on March 21, 1973, 3 days before his original scheduled sentencing, wrote a letter to Judge Sirica. McCord claimed that high members of Nixon's White House had pressured the defendants to plead guilty. McCord claimed that the White House had conducted an extensive “cover-up” to conceal its connection with the break-ins.

McCord was sentenced to from 1 to 5 years and served two months. 

Virgilio Gonzalez was convicted of burglary, he was sentenced to a maximum of 40 years in prison and served 13 months.

Bernard Barker was convicted of burglary, he was sentenced to a maximum of 40 years in prison and served 18 months.

Eugenio Martínez was convicted of burglary, he was sentenced to a maximum of 40 years in prison and served 15 months.

Frank Sturgis, convicted of burglary, was sentenced to a maximum of 40 years in prison and served 10 months.

After the conclusion of the trial, the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities was created with Senator Sam Ervin (D-NC) as its chairmen.