which attorney general approved of the watergate break-in

by Mr. Rafael Parisian II 4 min read

John N. Mitchell
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Martha Beall
EducationFordham University (BA, LLB)
Known forConvicted of crimes committed during his tenure as U.S. Attorney General
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Who was the Special Counsel for the Watergate investigation?

Watergate scandal: Former United States Attorney General John N. Mitchell and former White House aides H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman are sentenced to prison. February 21, 1975 The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of U.S. President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation.

Who was involved in the Watergate break-in?

Aug 08, 2021 · During the Senate hearings, former White House legal counsel John Dean testified that the Watergate break-in had been approved by former Attorney General John Mitchell with the knowledge of White House advisers John Ehrlichman and H.R. Haldeman, and that President Nixon had been aware of the cover-up.

What is the Watergate scandal?

Did Nixon know about the Watergate break-in in advance?

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WHO reported Watergate break?

On October 10, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein reported that the FBI had determined that the Watergate break-in was part of a massive campaign of political spying and sabotage on behalf of the Nixon re-election committee.

Who was the lawyer in Watergate?

John Wesley Dean III (born October 14, 1938) is a former attorney who served as White House Counsel for United States President Richard Nixon from July 1970 until April 1973. Dean is known for his role in the cover-up of the Watergate scandal and his subsequent testimony to Congress as a witness.

Who was attorney general before John Mitchell?

Richard KleindienstPreceded byJohn MitchellSucceeded byElliot Richardson10th United States Deputy Attorney GeneralIn office January 20, 1969 – June 12, 197221 more rows

Who is John Deans wife?

Maureen Deanm. 1972Karla Henningsm. 1962–1970John Dean/Wife

Who is Jill's husband?

Michael BanksJill Wine-Banks / Husband (m. 1980)

Who is current AG?

Merrick GarlandUnited States / Attorney generalMerrick Brian Garland is an American lawyer and jurist serving as the 86th United States attorney general since March 2021. He served as a circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 1997 to 2021. Wikipedia

Who was trumps Attorney General?

Jeff SessionsOfficial portrait, 201784th United States Attorney GeneralIn office February 9, 2017 – November 7, 2018PresidentDonald Trump33 more rows

Why did Elliot Richardson resign?

As U.S. Attorney General, he was a prominent figure in the Watergate Scandal, and resigned rather than obey President Nixon's order to fire special prosecutor Archibald Cox.

Who was Richard Nixon's attorney general?

Nixon. John Newton Mitchell (September 5, 1913 – November 9, 1988) was an American lawyer, the 67th Attorney General of the United States under President Richard Nixon, chairman of Nixon's 1968 and 1972 presidential campaigns, and a convicted criminal. Prior to that, he had been a municipal bond lawyer and one of Nixon's closest personal friends.

Who was the Attorney General of the United States during Nixon's presidency?

John Newton Mitchell (September 5, 1913 – November 9, 1988) was an American lawyer, the 67th Attorney General of the United States under President Richard Nixon, chairman of Nixon's 1968 and 1972 presidential campaigns, and a convicted criminal. Prior to that, he had been a municipal bond lawyer and one of Nixon's closest personal friends.

Why was Mitchell in prison?

Due to multiple crimes he committed in the Watergate affair, Mitchell was sentenced to prison in 1977 and served 19 months. As Attorney General, he was noted for personifying the "law-and-order" positions of the Nixon Administration, amid several high-profile anti-war demonstrations.

What did Mitchell believe?

He advocated the use of wiretaps in national security cases without obtaining a court order ( United States v. U.S. District Court) and the right of police to employ the preventive detention of criminal suspects. He brought conspiracy charges against critics of the Vietnam War, likening them to brown shirts of the Nazi era in Germany.

How long was Mitchell in jail?

The sentence was later reduced to one to four years by United States district court Judge John J. Sirica. Mitchell served only 19 months of his sentence at Federal Prison Camp, Montgomery (in Maxwell Air Force Base) in Montgomery, Alabama, a minimum-security prison, before being released on parole for medical reasons.

What did Nixon order Mitchell to do?

Near the beginning of his administration, Nixon had ordered Mitchell to go slow on desegregation of schools in the South as part of Nixon's " Southern Strategy ," which focused on gaining support from Southern voters. After being instructed by the federal courts that segregation was unconstitutional and that the executive branch was required to enforce the rulings of the courts, Mitchell began to comply, threatening to withhold federal funds from those school systems that were still segregated and threatening legal action against them.

Who was Nixon's campaign manager?

Nixon campaign manager. In 1968, with considerable trepidation, John Mitchell agreed to become Nixon's presidential campaign manager. During his successful 1968 campaign, Nixon turned over the details of the day-to-day operations to Mitchell.

What was the first break in at Watergate?

THE EARLIEST BREAK-IN. Watergate actually was the culmination of a chain of events that began months before the failed break-in at the Democratic Party offices. In March 1971, presidential assistant Charles Colson helped create a $250,000 fund for “intelligence gathering” of Democratic Party leaders.

What changed after Watergate?

Legal ethics and professionalism played almost no role in any lawyer’s mind, including mine. Watergate changed that—for me and every other lawyer.”. After Watergate, schools began to make legal ethics a required class. Bar examinations added an extra section on ethics.

When did the ABA adopt the Model Rules of Professional Conduct?

In 1977, the ABA created the Commission on Evaluation of Professional Standards, whose work led to the adoption of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct by the association’s policymaking House of Delegates in August 1983 .

How many programs did Krogh and Dean do in 2012?

Today, Krogh and Dean travel around the country speaking to bar associations, law firms and law schools about legal ethics. Each has been booked for about 20 programs in 2012.

Who was the head of the Plumbers?

Heading up the Plumbers was Egil “Bud” Krogh Jr. , a deputy assistant to the president. Among his recruits were G. Gordon Liddy and E. Howard Hunt, who organized the Watergate break-in while working for the Committee for the Re-election of the President, aka CREEP.

Who created the enemy list?

By the summer of 1971, John Ehrlichman had authorized the creation of a special investigations unit, known simply as the Plumbers.

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Overview

Watergate scandal

In the days immediately after the Watergate break-in of June 17, 1972, Mitchell enlisted former FBI agent Steve King to prevent his wife Martha from learning about the break-in or contacting reporters. While she was on a phone call with journalist Helen Thomasabout the break-in, King pulled the phone cord from the wall. Mrs. Mitchell was held against her will in a California hotel room and forci…

Early life

Mitchell was born in Detroit, Michigan, to Margaret (McMahon) and Joseph C. Mitchell. He grew up in the New York City borough of Queens. He earned his law degree from Fordham University School of Law and was admitted to the New York bar in 1938. He served for three years as a naval officer (Lieutenant, Junior Grade) during World War II where he was a PT boat commander.
Except for his period of military service, Mitchell practiced law in New York Cityfrom 1938 until 1…

New York government

Mitchell devised a type of revenue bond called a "moral obligation bond" while serving as bond counsel to New York's governor Nelson Rockefellerin the 1960s. In an effort to get around the voter approval process for increasing state and municipal borrower limits, Mitchell attached language to the offerings that was able to communicate the state's intent to meet the bond payments while not placing it under a legal obligation to do so. Mitchell did not dispute when as…

Political career

In 1967, the firm of Caldwell, Trimble & Mitchell, where Mitchell was lead partner, merged with Richard Nixon's firm, Nixon, Mudge, Rose, Guthrie, & Alexander. Nixon was then officially in "politically retirement" but was quietly organizing a return to politics in the 1968 Presidential Election. Mitchell, with his many contacts in local government, became an important strategic confident t…

In 1967, the firm of Caldwell, Trimble & Mitchell, where Mitchell was lead partner, merged with Richard Nixon's firm, Nixon, Mudge, Rose, Guthrie, & Alexander. Nixon was then officially in "politically retirement" but was quietly organizing a return to politics in the 1968 Presidential Election. Mitchell, with his many contacts in local government, became an important strategic confident t…

Committee to Re-elect the President scandal

John Mitchell's name was mentioned in a deposition concerning Robert L. Vesco, an international financier who was a fugitive from a federal indictment. Mitchell and Nixon Finance Committee Chairman Maurice H. Stans were indicted in May 1973 on federal charges of obstructing an investigation of Vesco after he made a $200,000 contribution to the Nixon campaign. In April 1974, both men were a…

Death

Around 5:00 pm on November 9, 1988, Mitchell collapsed from a heart attack on the sidewalk in front of 2812 N Street NW in the Georgetown area of Washington, D.C., and died that evening at George Washington University Hospital. He was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery, based on his World War II Naval service and his cabinet post of Attorney General.

In popular culture

• John Randolph had an uncredited role in the 1976 film All the President's Men as the voice of John Mitchell.
• Mitchell's archival footages are shown in Slow Burn.
• He was portrayed by E. G. Marshall in Oliver Stone's 1995 film Nixon.

The Earliest Break-In

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Watergate actually was the culmination of a chain of events that began months before the failed break-in at the Democratic Party offices. In March 1971, presidential assistant Charles Colson helped create a $250,000 fund for “intelligence gathering” of Democratic Party leaders. A few months later, Colson d…
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Epiphany and Confession

  • Unbeknownst to each other, Dean and Krogh had epiphanies that changed their lives and the course of American history. For Dean, the realization came two days after the Watergate break-in, when Ehrlichman told him to meet with Liddy. “Gordon not only confessed the Watergate break-in was his operation at the request of the president’s re-election committee, but that he, Howard H…
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Impact on Ethics

  • Within weeks, Krogh was sentenced to two to six years in federal prison, though he served less than five months. “I quickly discovered that I was one of the few guilty people in prison,” he says wryly. An overarching question about Watergate is why at least one of the lawyers working for the president didn’t try to stop it. But it never seemed to occur to them, or they felt their loyalties wer…
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Teaching by Example

  • Today, Krogh and Dean travel around the country speaking to bar associations, law firms and law schools about legal ethics. Each has been booked for about 20 programs in 2012. “Today’s rules would have had a dramatic impact on my decision-making back in 1972,” says Dean, who started presenting ethics programs when the Chicago office of global law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Me…
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