Watergate

            Watergate was the largest political scandal ever to be inside of the nation's capitol. It led to the resignation of the president and the removal of many of his cabinet members. On the surface, Watergate was the break in and bugging of the DNC (Democratic National Committee) headquarters that was located in the Watergate Hotel and office building complex which resides in Washington D.C. A deeper investigation revealed a tangle of intricate lies and cover-ups. .
             Five burglars were arrested at 2:30 a.m. on June 17, 1972 at the Watergate offices of the DNC. Bernard L. Barker, Virgilio R. Gonzales, James W. McCord, Eugenio R. Martinez, and Frank A. Sturgis were the five men charged with attempted burglary and attempted interception of telephone and other communications. Barker was a realtor from Miami, FL. He was a former Central Intelligence Agency operative who was said to have been in the Bay of Pigs incident. Gonzalez, also a Miami native, was a locksmith and a refugee from Cuba after Castro's takeover. McCord was one of the security co-ordinator for the Republican National Committee (RNC), and the Committee for the Re-election of the President (CREEP). Before that McCord was also a former FBI and CIA agent. The day after the break in he was dismissed from his RNC and CREEP position. Martinez was one of Barker's Miami real estate firm workers. He also had CIA connects and an anti-Castro Cuban exile. Sturgis was another associate of Barker's from Miami who also had CIA connects and involvement in anti-Castro activities. On September 15, the Grand Jury indicted the five burglars along with two other men: G. Gordon Liddy and E. Howard Hunt Jr. Liddy being from Washington was a former FBI agent, former treasury official, counsel to the Finance Committee to Re-elect the President, and was also a former member of the White House staff. Throughout out the investigation, Liddy refused to answer question and consequently was fired from his job.