A podcast about the other side of Watergate. Listen along as we explore the lingering, unresolved mysteries of the most infamous burglary in American history. Episodes released periodically. Original music by Austin Miller.
E07: Larry O'Brien at the Watergate –– A Clear Target With No Clear Purpose
Though it's widely agreed upon that DNC chairman Larry O'Brien was the de facto target of the Watergate burglary, it is not agreed upon why he was targeted or by whom. CRP deputy director Jeb Magruder and White House counsel John Dean both, at different times, have alleged that he was targeted because of his role in pushing the ITT scandal early in the spring of 1972, but as we shall see, their own timeline of events does not support this claim. And beyond that, though we are able to narrow d...
30 Dec 2025
E06: Gemstone, Part II –– A Disorganized Effort and a Disputed Approval
After John Mitchell turned down G Gordon Liddy's bonkers Gemstone proposal on January 27, 1972, John Dean passed the burden of getting the campaign intelligence program approved to Jeb Magruder. A second, more conservative proposal was then presented to Mitchell on February 4 but was once more deferred. Following these back-to-back failures to get Gemstone approved, Magruder found himself under intense pressure from both Liddy and multiple figures in the White House to get a decision on Gemst...
18 Dec 2025
E05: Gemstone, Part I –– Bugging, Mugging, and Prostitutes
The Committee to Re-elect the President got off to a disorganized start as Attorney General John Mitchell dragged his feet on his slow march over from the Justice Department to once more manage Nixon's presidential campaign. Running the committee in his boss's absence, deputy director Jeb Magruder quickly found himself overwhelmed by his newfound role atop the CRP as he faced unrelenting pressure from the White House to get the ambivalent Mitchell's approval for a campaign intelligence progra...
1 Apr 2025
E04: "We're up against an enemy, a conspiracy!" –– Nixon Goes on Offense
Nixon really flipped his lid in the summer of 1971. In response to the leak of the Pentagon Papers by Daniel Ellsberg, the increasingly paranoid president ranted about conspiracies and pushed for the development of an internal White House intelligence capability to deal with the leak problem. The first apparent development to result from this escalation was the proposed firebombing and burglary of the Brookings Institution by special counsel Chuck Colson that was called off once word of it re...
18 Jan 2025
E03: Division and Dysfunction –– Nixon Confronts the Intelligence Community
Refusal by the FBI and CIA to accommodate Nixon’s many demands for intel –– on both domestic terrorists and his political enemies –– prompted the initial development of White House intelligence capabilities, as well as an attempted overhaul of the intelligence community as a whole. But a conflict with J Edgar Hoover sunk the president’s plans and insured that the intelligence community would remain divided at a time when both the FBI and CIA were grappling with social unrest and a new round o...
19 Aug 2024
E02: Leaks and Limitations –– Nixon's Early Frustrations
In response to foreign policy leaks and other concerns early in his presidency, Nixon pushed his intelligence agencies, much like his predecessor once did, to produce intel through warrantless surveillance. This episode, we meet the president's inner circle –– Henry Kissinger, John Mitchell, Bob Haldeman, and John Ehrlichman –– and we examine how then recent scandals involving the FBI and CIA had given rise to new laws on domestic surveillance that caused both agencies to impose limitations o...
2 Aug 2024
E01: All the President's Spies –– A Prehistory of Watergate
Richard Nixon was not the first president to make questionable demands for political intelligence. Rather than a bug of his administration, espionage was a feature of the postwar presidency. In this episode, we explore how past presidents –– particularly LBJ –– made personal use of the FBI and CIA, we examine how escalating social unrest prompted a push to expand domestic surveillance, and we consider the expectations that Nixon held of his intelligence agencies as he entered office.
2 Aug 2024
E00: Series Overview –– The Mystery of Watergate
Watergate is the most infamous scandal in American history; yet in spite of its high name recognition, there is still an awful lot that we don't know about the bungled burglary that started it all –– namely, why was the Democratic National Committee even targeted in the first place? It's a simple question with no easy answers. In this series overview, I lay out what's missing from the 'official story,' make my case for why it matters, and give a preview of what you can expect from future epis...
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