BACKGROUND GUIDE The White House Plumbers 1972 Director: Katherine Soltani Topic 1: Stopping the Leak of Classified Information Topic 2: The Saturday Night Massacre TAEMUN VI December 14-15
Hello delegates! My name is Katherine Soltani and I will be your White House Plumbers director this year! I am a senior at Woodson high school and have been doing MUN since freshman year. Outside of MUN, I am the events coordinator for Woodson's MSA and a member of National, Math, and Science Honor Societies. I absolutely love eating junk food, reading, laughing at memes, thinking about the amount of work I have to do but not actually doing it, taking pictures, and watching The Office! I am so excited to meet you all, and I wish you all the best of luck in your TAEMUN VI preparations! Feel free to contact me if you have any questions! PS: bonus points if you bring me taco bell (just kidding!) Katherine Soltani Director of White House Plumbers at TAEMUN VI katherine.soltani@gmail.com
***Delegates: I would like to remind you that in writing your position papers and creating your solutions, you are allowed to rewrite history, if you wish to do so!*** Watergate/Committee Background The White House Plumbers was a White House Special Investigation Unit created to stop the leaking of classified information to the news media. The committee was created by the Nixon administration in response to the release of the Pentagon Papers in 1971. Their goal was to discredit Daniel Ellsberg, the man who was responsible for leaking the Papers that exposed the US Government s secret operations in Vietnam. In 1972, President Nixon was running for re-election. At this time, however, the country was greatly divided because of the controversy surrounding the Vietnam War. Wanting to secure his re-election, Nixon and his campaign team (Nixon s Campaign to Re-Elect the President, or CREEP) resorted to illegal espionage. In May of 1972, CREEP and White House Plumbers members broke into the Watergate hotel, which was the headquarters for the Democratic National Convention. During this operation, they stole copies of top secret documents and bugged the headquarters phones. On June 17th, 1972, a group of CREEP members returned to re-bug the phones. The spies were caught, but were initially not linked to the President. Nixon managed to persuade the American public that he was not connected to the scandal, ensuring his re-election in 1972. A couple months after his re-election, prosecutors realized Nixon was taking advantage of his presidential power to prevent the FBI from further investigating the Watergate scandal. Regardless, investigations into the scandal continued. A feud over secret Oval Office
conversation tapes led to the Saturday Night Massacre, which was the removal of several Department of Justice members from office. Eventually, Nixon surrendered the tapes. What was recorded on those tapes led the House of Representatives to vote to impeach Nixon. Not wanting to be impeached, Nixon resigned from office on August 8, 1974. Topic 1: Stopping the Leak of Classified Information Background: The Pentagon Papers were a series of top-secret Department of Defense documents written from 1945 to 1967. These Papers included details about US involvement in Vietnam, such as the fact that the Kennedy administration helped overthrow and assassinate the South Vietnamese President in 1963. By 1969, military analyst Daniel Ellsberg realized that the war against Vietnam was unwinnable, so he went against the war effort and decided that the American public should know the truth about US military and political operations in Vietnam. Consequently, in March 1971, Ellsberg shared copies of the Pentagon Papers with the New York Times, which then published articles about the situation. US Government Actions: In response to the New York Times publishing article about the Pentagon Papers, the Department of Justice was able to obtain a temporary restraining order against further publication about the Papers. This led to the well known Supreme Court case, New York Times Co. vs United States, in which the New York Times and the Washington Post joined forces to fight for the right to freedom of the press. The court ruled in favor of the press, stating that the release of the Papers was not putting national security in jeopardy. Questions to Consider:
What security measures should be taken to prevent the leak of classified information? In the event that classified information is leaked, what should the procedure be to make sure that American public opinion of the government remains unchanged? Which issues should be categorized as those of national security, and how should the government work towards protecting information surrounding those issues? Topic 2: The Saturday Night Massacre Background: In May, 1973, Archibald Cox was appointed to be a special prosecutor in the Watergate scandal investigation. In July of 1973, Cox ordered President Nixon to hand over the taped recordings of the conversations held in the Oval Office. These tapes held evidence of whether Nixon was involved in the Watergate scandal or not. Nixon repeatedly refused and, growing fed up with Cox, ordered attorney general Elliot Richardson to fire Cox. This order, and many of Nixon s other actions, had raised debates regarding the abuse of presidential power. Richardson refused to carry out this order and resigned. Nixon then asked deputy attorney general William Ruckelshaus to fire Cox, but he also believed that Cox had done nothing wrong. Rather than obey the president, Ruckelshaus also resigned from his position. Questions to Consider: What can we do to ensure that future presidents (and other government officials) do not abuse their power? Should all private government conversations be recorded? Should government officials be allowed to prosecute another official without having clear charges?
Bibliography Dupree, Jamie. 45 Years Ago Today Nixon's Saturday Night Massacre. AJC, Cox Media Group, 20 Oct. 2018, jamiedupree.blog.ajc.com/2018/10/20/45-years-ago-today-nixonssaturday-night-massacre/. History.com Editors. Pentagon Papers. History.com, A&E Television Networks, www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/pentagon-papers. History.com Editors. Watergate Scandal. History.com, A&E Television Networks, www.history.com/topics/1970s/watergate. New York Times Company vs. United States. Oyez.org, Cornell Law School, www.oyez.org/cases/1970/1873. White House Plumbers. The Vietnam War, thevietnamwar.info/white-house-plumbers/.
WHITE HOUSE PLUMBERS 2018 DOSSIER Journalists Carl Bernstein Was a UMD dropout 1965: was a full time reporter for the Elizabeth Daily Journal 1966: became a reporter for the Washington Post June 1972: was assigned to cover the Watergate break in with Bob Woodward o Their discoveries led to further investigations about Nixon s involvement Jim Lehrer News From the PBS NewsHour show Covered Senate Watergate Hearings and the revelation of the Watergate tapes broadcast live on PBS (with Robert MacNeil) Robert MacNeil Worked with Jim Lehrer on news Rose to fame during coverage of the 1973 Senate Watergate hearings o Received an Emmy award for this Bob Woodward (investigated Watergate) Was a lieutenant Was a reporter for the Washington Post in 1971 Reported on the Watergate scandal o First work to report on political dirty tricks o Book about scandal became a number 1 bestseller, became a movie o Woodward was like a celebrity, increased interest in investigative journalism White House Plumbers E. Howard Hunt Served in the US Navy and Air force during WWII October 1949: joined the CIA, was a part of its Special Activities Division 1962-1964: was Chief of Covert Action for the Domestic Operations Division during Kennedy s presidency Charles Colson hired Hunt as a consultant to Nixon o Hunt joined the White House Special Investigations Unit 1971: first assignment from White House was to break into Ellsberg s psychiatrist s office Organized the bugging of the Democratic National Convention at the Watergate HQ G. Gordon Liddy 1957: Graduated from law school, worked for FBI Resigned from FBI in 1962, worked as a NYC lawyer until 1966 1970: worked as an aide to John Ehrlichman o 1971-1972: Served as general counsel to the finance committee of CREEP 1971: was moved to CREEP, part of the White House Plumbers Was the Nixon administration liaison and leader of the five burglars at the Watergate hotel o Supervised the two break-ins
Charles Colson 1953-1955: served in marine corps 1961: opened a law firm 1968: served as counsel to Nixon 1969: joined the Nixon administration, was appointed to Special Counsel Attended some CREEP meetings, did not like the committee Colson and Ehrlichman recruited Howard Hunt to help with intelligence gathering Leaked information from Ellsberg s FBI file to the press Had a large part in trying to cover up the Watergate burglaries Donald Segretti Attorney Was a part of CREEP, came up with a lot of CREEP s operations o Headed political sabotage against Democrats Egil Krogh Lawyer Was an advisor on the District of Columbia at the beginning of Nixon s presidency o Later, he served as a liaison to the FBI Was head of the White House Special Investigation Unit Approved the burglary of Ellsberg s psychiatrist s office Refused to authorize a wiretap, so he was fired from the SIU White House Insiders Alexander Butterfield Served as deputy assistant to President Nixon from 1969 to 1973 Oversaw installation of the Taping System that Nixon ordered o Revealed existence of the White House taping system on July 13, 1973 o Was not involved in the scandal In 1973 he left the White House to serve as as an administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration until 19975 John Dean Joined a law firm, was fired Served as chief minority counsel to the Republican members of the United States House Committee on the Judiciary from 1966 to 1967 Served as associate director of the National Commission on Reform of Federal Criminal Laws for approximately two years Wrote papers on crime for Nixon s presidential campaign in 1968 1969: became associate deputy in office of the attorney general of the united states 1970: became counsel to the president 1972: met with CREEP people while they planned the watergate scandal After the burglars were arrested, Dean took custody of evidence and money, destroyed some evidence before investigators found it 1973: Nixon asked Dean to compile everything he knew about watergate o Difficult situation because it would expose him realized he was scapegoat April 1973: hired attorney to advise him Continued to provide info to prosecutors April 30, 1973: Nixon fired Dean Gave testimony (under immunity) that accused Nixon of involvement in watergate
Dean was sentenced to time in prison, could not practice law anymore John Ehrlichman Counsel and Assistant to the president for Domestic Affairs during Nixon s presidency Had strong influence on Nixon s Domestic policy o Enlisted Nixon s support for environmental initiatives Was a major figure in the Watergate Scandal o Convicted of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and perjury. Served 1.5 years in prison and was disbarred from the practice of law. He created The Plumbers and assigned his assistant Egil Krogh to oversee the operations to prevent leaks after the release of the Pentagon Papers Lobbied for delay in the confirmation of L. Patrick Gray during the start of the Watergate investigations He and his close friend H.R. Haldeman were referred to as the Berlin Wall. Was defended by Andrew C. Hall during the Watergate Trials H R Haldeman Was in naval reserve, did not see active combat Went to UCLA and met John Ehrlichman Managed Nixon s 1962 run for Governor of California Was Nixon s Chief of Staff during presidency One of Nixon s most trusted and loyal aides, very close to Nixon Smoking Gun Tape : Nixon instructed Haldeman to tell the CIA to force the FBI to drop the Watergate Investigation 18.5 minute gap was during convo between Nixon and Haldeman Nixon requested his resignation, was fired April 30, 1973 1975: was convicted of conspiracy and obstruction of justice- sentenced time in prison Jeb Stuart Magruder Acted as a Republican businessman, entrepreneur, and political operative when he joined President Reagan s Administration Helped manage Nixon s re-election campaign Became involved in the Watergate Scandal, and pleaded guilty to conspiracy. o Served time in a federal jail After his time in jail, he reconnected with his faith and became a Presbyterian Minister Wrote 2 books on his political career and journey to faith Gave many interviews during the 1990 s and early 2000s that changed the accounts of actions by different participants within the Watergate Scandal. o Some of his statements were challenged. Investigators Archibald Cox Was a lawyer Taught at Harvard in the 1950s Was and advisor to JFK and Solicitor General during Kennedy s presidency 1973: Elliot Richardson asked Cox to be the Special Prosecutor in the Watergate investigation Was the one who ordered Nixon to hand over the oval office tapes Mark Felt Was an FBI special Agent who worked in many different departments to develop wide experience
2nd Associate Director of the FBI from 1972 to 1973, when he retired Nicknamed Deep Throat since he was a major anonymous informant to reporters in the Washington Post o Gave them info on the Watergate Scandal In 1980, he was convicted with violating the civil rights of members of the Weather Underground because he ordered FBI agents to break into homes and search to prevent bombings o Was pardoned by Ronald Reagan Published two memoirs: The FBI Pyramid (1979) and A G-Man s Life (2006) John Paisley CIA officer from 1963 to 1974 Was heavily involved in Soviet Operations during his CIA career Retired as deputy director in the Office of Strategic Research o This branch deeply monitored Soviet military movements and nuclear capabilities His death led to the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence to open an investigation to see if his death was related to CIA activities o No information was found to connect his death to any CIA matters. Senators Senator Howard H Baker Jr Served in navy from 1943 to 1946 1949: began law practice Got elected to TN senate in 1966, served from 1967 to 1985 Nixon asked him to fill a Supreme Court seat in 1971, but Baker did not respond in time 1973-1974: was a ranking minority member of the Watergate Committee o It is thought that he had secret dealings with the White House, wanted to protect Nixon s interests Senator Sam Ervin Aka Sam Ervin Was a lawyer Served as state judge in late 1930s, early 1940s Was on the committee that investigation Joe McCarthy Was on the committee that investigated the Watergate Scandal o The Senate Select Committee to Investigate Campaign Practices or Ervin Committee Resigned in 1974 Senator Fred Thompson Was assistant attorney from 1969 to 1972 Was minority counsel to the senate watergate committee in the investigation of the watergate scandal o Assisted republican senators on this o Revealed the existence of the oval office tapes Miscellaneous Richard Nixon 37th president of the United States Was elected to be a representative for California s 12th congressional district in 1946 Was elected to be a senator for California in 1950
Was Eisenhower s Vice President from 1953-1961 Ran for presidency in 1960 (versus Kennedy), lost Ran for presidency in 1968 (versus Hubert Humphrey), won o Was president from 1969-1974 o The watergate scandal surrounds his re-election in 1972 Judge John J Sirica Senior Judge of the U.S. District Court for D.C. in 1977-1992 Judge of the U.S. District Court for D.C. in 1957-1977 o Appointed by Dwight D. Eisenhower Chief judge of U.S. District Court for D.C. in 1971-1974 Became a prominent figure when ordering President Nixon to provide recordings of his White House Conversations Named Time Magazine s Man of the Year in 1974 Nicknamed Maximum John for giving defendants maximum sentences that guidelines allowed His career began as a boxer