Chapter #10
Chapter Summary
PARNIKA KAPUR
The most frustrating time that Bernstein and Woodward faced since June 17 was the final
stretch of the campaign.The Washington Post had arranged a huge investigation under
Sussman’s order. Reporters were involved in investigating, analyzing the political fallout,
writing profiles of the central figures, explaining what happened in court and the White
House. The Reporters wanted the election information in their hands as with Nixon’s reelection; the White House would be forced to leave contact that the Post was working for
the election of McGovern. Bernstein had predicted that Nixon would win with 54% of
votes and Nixon won the election with 61% of votes. After the election, Bradlee and
Simons asked Sussman for a memo advising how Bernstein and Woodward intended to
continue their investigation and listing areas on which they wanted to concentrate on.
Sussman wrote a memo that stated they Bernstein and Woodward were going to talk to
every old source and new people for any necessary information. Sussman wanted
Bernstein to go to Los Angeles and talk to Segretti because he disappeared after the
October 10 story. Bernstein and Meyers went to Segritti’s house and tried to get as much
facts as possible from him. Segretti was afraid of the Senator and that his privacy was
invaded. He was followed by people and they asked his friends if Segretti knew Arthur
Bremer, the man who attempted to assassinate Governor George Wallace of Alabama.
Segretti admitted he had been hired by Chapin; he had approached Segretti and offered
him a job position and it is believed that Chapin followed the orders of Haldeman.
Howard Hunt organized an anti-Nixon demonstration to embarrass McGovern. Bradlee
wanted the information that Segretti offered to go on the record in order to challenge the
White House as it claims of innocence and truth. The post-election offensive was led by
Charles Colson; he called Bradlee “the self appointed leader of what Boston’s Teddy
White” and offended Bradlee. Bernstein and Woodward were learning facts, but were not
able to construct a story. John Dean had been interviewed by the FBI and Dean received
copies of the FBI reports for the Watergate investigation. A Washington lawyer told
Woodward that someone from the White House got to Richey and got him to help the
administration. An assistant Attorney General was convinced that the Dean investigation
was a fraud pipeline to Haldeman. The government had failed to execute search warrants
for the homes of the five arrested burglars. Hunt and Liddy had been members of the
Plumbers, a secret White House team investigating leaks to the news media. A Post editor
told Woodward that one of his neighbors had told him his aunt was on the grand jury.
The reporters went to the aunt’s house and they learned that she was indeed on a grand
jury at the courthouse, but not the Watergate one. Bernstein asked for a list of the 23
grand jurors however Silbert, the chief prosecutor refused. The next day Woodward went
to the clerk’s office and found someone willing to direct him to the main file area where
lists of trial and grand juries were kept. The clerk told Woodward that he can’t copy
anything or take any notes from the files. Woodward memorized the names and personal
info of the grand jurors and secretly wrote them down, despite the warning given by the
clerk. Sussman was afraid that Bernstein would push too hard and find a way to violate
the law in order to get facts. Mr. Bradlee tells Woodward and Bernstein that the
prosecutors know that a Washington Post employee had visited at least one of the grand
jurors. The prosecutors had relayed the complaint to Judge Sirica. Williams, the Post’s
principal attorney, said there was no more Post contact with the grand-jury members.
Bernstein got information from a woman, who had decent knowledge of the secret
activities of the White House and CRP. She told Bernstein that the truth had not been
told. She refused to be interrogated and laid down rules that she would point the reporters
to the right direction and give them general facts. Magruder and Mitchell are involved
and advised him to consider Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Colson and Mardian as a group.
There was evidence that Gordon Liddy and Howard Hunt had traveled to Los Angeles
together under false names during the time they were working at the White House,
months after the Watergate break in. A note was found that a telephone had been installed
in Executive Office Building and listed in the name and home address of Kathleen
Chenow of Alexandria Virginia. Bernstein called her about who and what the Plumbers
were. She responded that the Plumbers were Howard Hunt, Gordon Liddy, David Young,
and Egil Krogh. They investigated leaks to the news media and reported to John
Ehrlichman; they had wanted a study of how close the New York Times version of the
Pentagon Papers was to the actual documents. The business of looking for leaks started
like this and the telephone in the White House complex was written under her name as
the administration didn't want any ties with the White House. Bernstein created a 2000
word story on the secret phone installation, Chenow’s report about the Plumbers and oh
her interview with John Dean. Bernstein and Woodward left for LA, they drove to the
Beverly Wilshire Hotel where Hunt and Liddy had stayed in September 1971; as they
wanted to check the hotel telephone records. The reporters talked to the secretary and
said Mr. Kalmbach was honest. They returned to Washington and the White House press
talked about Howard Hunt’s secret telephone and the Plumbers had been in the business
of investigating leaks to the news media.
Character Overview
MEDHA RAGHAVENDRA
SEGRETTI: He claims that the White House will throw him under the bus in Senator
Kennedy's investigation, and that Dwight Chapin hired him, Strachan discussed the job
with him, and Kalmbach paid him. Segretti suspected that Chapin was following orders
from Haldemann, though this is a general statement. Segretti also admits to meeting
Howard Hunt and who he thought was Gordon Liddy in Miami to discuss anti-Nixon
demonstrations organized to embarrass Democratic candidate George McGovern.
Segretti refused to clarify whether he spoke to John Dean before the grand-jury
appearance on answering questions truthfully.
JOHN DEAN: He conducted an investigation on the White House known as the "Dean
investigation". It was believed that either he or one of his staff members talked with
Segretti before the grand-jury appearance. Also, he had been present during FBI
interviews with White House personnel, HALDEMAN received FBI reports of the
investigation. John Dean would later go on to testify that Roemer McPhee, a Washington
lawyer, had engaged in private conversations with Judge Richey.
HOWARD HUNT AND GORDON LIDDY: Segretti stated that these two men had
met with him in Miami, specifically to discuss organizing demonstrations that would
embarrass McGovern. They were also believed to be a part of the Plumbers, a group
of White House personnel that checked for leaks in the news media. They'd also
enlisted a telephone in somebody else's name and had phone conversations with
each other in order for the calls not to be traced back to the White House.
According to Sloan, Liddy was one of the four to receive a large bulk of the slush
fund.
Chapter #11
Chapter Summary
SANJANA MANJUNATH
 Woodward and Bernstein, along with other news media representatives, are invited to
court by Judge Sirica. Sirica discusses how a member of the news media tried getting
information from a judge and how that is considered an offense.
 Once the judge left, people started making accusations on other reporters in the room.
Woodward and Bernstein were the most popular suspects. While Woodward was
leaving, another writer for the Post was interviewing them about the hearing. When
he asked Woodward whether Sirica was talking about him or Bernstein, Woodward
flipped out on him.
 Later on, Woodward felt guilty and we even hear his thoughts on how he reflects on
themselves breaking the code of ethics indirectly by “dodging, evading,
misinterpreting, suggesting and intimidating, even if they had not lied outright.”
 That afternoon, Woodward and Bernstein return to the courtroom to witness the LA
Times hearing. There were tapes that had to be turned in to court, and when Lawrence
refused, Sirica sent him straight to jail. W and B were relieved that they had gotten
off with only a lecture and their secret still remained.
 Woodward calls an LA lawyer with whom Hunt had stayed with during the week
following the Watergate break-in. He introduces himself and tells her that he knows
that she had been interviewed by the FBI. The woman bursts into tears and doesn’t
reveal anything and then hangs up the phone.
 The next day, Bradlee gets a call saying that the prosecutors went to Sirica about
Woodward’s call yesterday and W and B are not allowed to interview witnesses until
this is settled. But two days later, new rules say that they can talk to witnesses, but as
soon as they say or give a sign that they have been forbidden by court to talk to them,
they have to lay off and not pressurize them into talking.
 W and B stop by Earl Silbert’s office and find a letter with a familiar letterhead
“Johnson Company of Rockville, Maryland”. It was where McCord bought the
equipment to bug the Watergate. They called the company and later found out that the
equipment cost $35,000, which was paid in $100 bills.
 They got a call from Silbert the next day and were asked the source of the story. They
refused to tell him and that was when Silbert considered taking legal action against
them. He also said that the only source they could have gotten the story from is the
letter, and that it is “sneaky and outrageous” to get information off someone’s desk.
Woodward apologized.
 A few weeks before the Watergate Seven trial, Rosenfeld, their editor, announced that
Lawrence Meyer, the regular federal-court reporter will cover the trial.
 Day of the trial: Silbert presented a two hour opening statement, basing his theory
primarily on quotes from Magruder and Porter. Woodward found that the CRP paying
$235,000 for inconsequential intelligence, when it was readily available from the FBI
and the police. The CRP managers would have wanted to know the exact spending
with the money. Bernstein was also told that the 4 Miami men might plead guilty if
Hunt did.
 Friday afternoon after session: Bernstein followed the Miami men and their lawyer on
a plane and talked to them. According to them, Hunt had been visiting them for a
week urging them to change their pleas to guilty. The men’s lawyer warned them to
stay away from him.
 That night W and B get a call. They find out from a NY Times article that the four
Miami men are getting paid by an unnamed source. A Watergate burglar, Sturgis, also
confirmed that John Mitchell knew about the Watergate plan and encouraged them.
Then they found out from Time magazine that each Miami burglar was promised
$1000 for each month spent in jail. The next day the men were assigned a new
attorney and pleaded guilty.
 When the men were questioned by Sirica, they said they committed the burglary to
protect USA from international conspiracy theories. The four men were off to jail.
 A few days later, Magruder insults Bernstein to Woodward about how interviewing
sources after hours is “dirty reporting.” Woodward explained why this was
necessary, but Magruder just ignored him and said, “It’s none of your business,” like
other CRP members had done.
 Silbert questioned Magruder. Magruder claimed that he did not know much about
what Gordon Liddy had been doing because “he was so busy supervising 25
campaign division heads and 250 full-time employees and spending between $30 and
$35 million.”
 Silbert then hastily questioned Sloan. The questions were described as “cold and
distant.” Sloan, who appeared nervous, answered that he had given Liddy
approximately $199,000. Sloan then told Sirica that he had checked with Stans and
Mitchell, who told him Liddy should receive the money. Sirica, however, did not
believe him.
 Silbert delivered his closing argument while Liddy relaxed, smiling, at the defendant’s
table. Although Silbert painted Liddy as the ringleader of the Watergate scandal, it
appeared that Liddy was hardly affected by what Silbert was saying.
 Liddy and McCord are found guilty of all counts against them. They are sentenced to
prison without bond. Liddy waves as he is escorted out of the courtroom.
 Bernstein and Woodward wrote an article on the trial titled “Still Secret: Who Hired
Spies and Why.” They believed that the reporters had not asked the right questions
and therefore cheated themselves out of information that could have helped them
more. Bernstein and Woodward said the prosecutors didn’t really understand the
defendants and how they thought and operated. Three days later, after Sirica set bond
for Liddy and McCord at $100,000 each, he agreed that more important facts have yet
to be uncovered.
 Finally, Sirica commented that he hoped the Senate committee that would further
investigate the case were given enough power “to get to the bottom of what happened
in this case.”
Character Overview
LAUREN MURPHY
Judge John J. Sirica - Sirica is the Chief Judge for the U.S. District Court for the District
of Columbia. He is seen as a tough man who is “not to be messed with” and demands
respect. He can also be harsh; for example, after he orders Lawrence to be jailed, he
doesn’t even let him see his wife before he is led off. His rulings affect the lives of many
men involved in the trial, making him one of the most important and influential people in
the chapter.
Earl J. Silbert - Silbert is the chief prosecutor in the case. He is tidy and meticulous; for
example, his mother had once told a story about how he used to line up the heels of his
shoes in his closet. Woodward and Bernstein also noticed how orderly his office
appeared and how his papers were arranged in perfectly neat piles. Like the other
prosecutors, he appeared clean and “well-groomed” upon entering the courtroom. His
importance also comes from his position and his ability to sway the case one way or the
other. (He claimed that G. Gordon Liddy was responsible for organizing and executing
the Watergate break-in.)
E. Howard Hunt, Jr. - People suspected that he was connected to the Watergate burglary
in some way, though when Woodward called a lawyer with whom Hunt had stayed with
at one point, she refused to speak about him. When he arrives on the first morning of the
trial, he looks sick and frightened (he is described as “gray and gaunt”) and held onto G.
Gordon Liddy. He pled guilty after the opening statement was made. Also, he claimed
that no other “higher-ups” had been involved in Watergate, as far as he knew. He also
called upon his inferiors to plead guilty. These men believed whatever Hunt said, since
they trusted him entirely.
G. Gordon Liddy - He was also suspected of being one of the chief people responsible for
the Watergate burglary. Upon his arrival on the first morning of the trial, it is noted that
he appears confident and not shaken, like Hunt. He also “bounded to his feet and waved
his right hand triumphantly, like a politician greeting a crowd” when he met the jurors.
The chief prosecutor, Silbert, angrily attacked him during the trial, claiming that he had
received much of the funds and was “the boss of the whole operation.” Liddy smiled all
throughout the accusations. He was convicted of all counts brought against him and
sentenced to prison.
James W. McCord, Jr. - There was evidence that he had purchased much of the
equipment that was used to bug the headquarters. He arrived on the first morning of the
trial looking serious and answering all the reporters’ questions with “no comment.” He
was also convicted of all counts brought against him and sentenced to prison.