Watergate Scandal

            On June 17, 1972 five men were arrested during an attempted burglary at the Democratic Party Headquarters. The headquarters were at the luxurious apartment and office complex called the Watergate. These five men dressed in business suits and latex gloves were caught because of the lack of planning and poor job done. They taped the locks which quickly caught security's eye. The men were carrying lock picks, tear-gas guns, cameras, and electronic listening devices, called bugs. The bugs allowed people to eavesdrop on people's conversations over the phone and in the room. The men were trying to repair the faulty equipment they had already installed over Memorial Day weekend (The American Presidency). The botched attempt had even more flaws. Police found crisp $100 bills and a notebook with the name "E. Hunt W.H." written on one of the pages. This meant that their identities could be found out. All of the men had past CIA connections. One of the burglars, James W. McCord identified himself as a security consultant formerly with the CIA (Time & Again Watergate Timeline). Three of the others, Bernard Barker, Virgilio Gonzalez, and Eugenio Martinez, were Cuban exiles. Frank Sturgis, the last burglar, was an American soldier-of-fortune (Watergate: Scandal in the White House). At first, the bungled burglary did not attract much attention landing a spot on page 30 of the New York Times. But as we all saw this would end up one of the most unique political scandals ever to take steps on United States" soil.
             As time progressed and the burglars were put on trial it was found by the testimony of James McCord that politicians had approved the plans for the burglary. About a month after this information was announced, many of Nixon's close affiliates had resigned. Then Sam J. Ervin's Watergate committee begins public hearings on Watergate (The Whole Truth: The Watergate Conspiracy). Later Archibald Cox was appointed special prosecutor.