All the President's Men

Several days after the break-in, Woodward and Bernstein go about trying to answer some of these questions. Richard Nixon’s public comment on the break-in, that the White House has no involvement in “this particular incident,” is a tantalizing hint at what might lie buried. Both make repeated calls to contacts they established through previous reporting, calls that provide an interesting detail of McCord’s biography. He was recently employed as a security consultant focusing on “ballot security” for the Committee to Reelect the President (CRP, also known as CREEP) (17). It is believed, though, that the phrase ballot security is a cover for other covert operations. Yet a CRP spokesman confidentially denies that McCord was an employee of the committee. Despite these promising leads, Washington Post editor Barry Sussman almost kills the story and reassigns the reporters to their original beats, the first of many times the coverage is almost cut. Even within the newspaper, Woodward and Bernstein have to constantly defend their work, prove that what they are printing is true, and follow the orders passed down to them from the editorial team. The alternative would be to lose the story completely.

On July 22 Newsweek reports that lawyer G. Gordon Liddy was fired from CRP in June for refusing to answer FBI questions about Watergate. It is also revealed that White House counsel John Dean sat in on many of the FBI’s interviews with CRP personnel. Just three days later, The New York Times reports that Watergate burglar Bernard Barker called Liddy’s phone at CRP headquarters in the two months preceding the break-in. Bernstein double-checks the Times story by placing calls all over Miami. He is able to obtain a general confirmation of the phone calls but cannot himself get a copy of the records as they are caught up in legal proceedings. Curiously, it is not the FBI or the United State attorney prosecuting the burglary who want the records, but rather the local district attorney who requested the files. Bernstein travels to Miami to review the documents as well as probe the state’s attorney for more information. While the state’s attorney seems more interested in playing games with the reporter than providing him with information, Bernstein ultimately finds the trip to be worth it. On the condition of anonymity, the state’s attorney’s office provides Bernstein with limited access to the records of its investigation on the burglars, which include five checks worth various amounts, the largest being $25,000 (approximately $160,000 today). The checks were issued from a bank in Mexico City and are made out to various officials in a number of domestic US banks, including one in Boca Raton, Florida. Bernard Barker’s bank statements include a deposit for the amount of $25,000 that same day. Bernstein follows up by calling the Boca Raton bank manager, who turns out to be CRP’s Midwest finance chairman, that night. He reveals that the check was issued from an account in his bank that he manages for CRP (26). Editor Barry Sussman says of the revelations, “We’ve never had a story like this […] Just never” (27).

Recent changes in federal election laws empower the General Accounting Office (GAO) to audit campaign finance issues. Spurred on by accounts of the mysterious CRP checks, the GAO begins to audit CRP’s finances. While investigators are initially reluctant to deal with Woodward and Bernstein, they soon reveal that CRP has “[h]undreds of thousands of dollars in unaccounted cash […] A slush fund of cash […] A rat’s nest behind the surface efficiency of computerized financial reporting” (29). This slush fund has at times been called “security money” to disguise its uses, and it is suspected that the recently dismissed G. Gordon Liddy controls the fund. Liddy, anonymous administration officials claim, is being set up as the fall guy for the fund and the break-ins. Further discussions with investigators, including the Miami state’s attorney, establish that much of the slush fund cash came from campaign contributions raised by Maurice Stans. Stans, who was the secretary of commerce until February 1972, is one of CRP’s chairmen. In the last weeks before the new election law changed the rules, Stans traveled across the country raising money for CRP. He allegedly traded the promise of access to the President for cash. The money was deposited in a bank in Mexico City, then disbursed to various persons via transfers to American banks in a textbook case of money laundering.

In investigating Stans and the slush fund, Woodward and Bernstein are directed to a woman whom they refer to as “The Bookkeeper.” The Bookkeeper has deep access to CRP’s accounting documents and reluctantly tells the pair about inner workings of the slush fund. Between 13 and 14 people were paid out of the fund for various purposes, though the majority went to less than six people, including G. Gordon Liddy.

Chapter 3 also details the method in which much of the Watergate reporting and writing was done. Before the break-in, Bernstein and Woodward never worked together on a story. In fact, each held a negative view of the other. However, by the time both begin to investigate CRP’s finances, they have developed a strong collaborative work process. They maintain two lists, each consisting of hundreds of contacts who are always worked by the same reporter (31). Every day each reporter comes into the office and goes through his list, selecting contacts based on the nature of the next story. Sometimes an unexpected source provides useful confirmation or elaboration on a story; most of the time the calls are unproductive. Once a story has developed to the point where it is worth writing, Woodward writes the first draft. As each sheet falls out of the typewriter, either Bernstein or one of the Post’s editors snatches it up and begins to make revisions. Once Bernstein has had his chance to revise the story, they take it up to editors Ben Bradlee and Barry Sussman, who have final say on the content of each story. The group goes over every fact in detail, discusses sources, and balances the needs of the newspaper with the desire to publish the truth first (32). Through this all, Woodward and Bernstein develop a single ground rule: If either feels unsure about a story after it is written, neither will go ahead with publishing it.

As Woodward and Bernstein push into the inner workings of CRP, the costs of their investigation begin to show. Many sources, including the Bookkeeper, will only meet with the reporters in their own home and at night. Others sneak away during their lunchbreaks. All employees of CRP are sworn to secrecy, and in several cases employees are disciplined after having talked to the reporters. Many believe they are being followed or have had their phones tapped, and a general air of secrecy, fear, and suspicion pervade the reporters’ investigation. Moving forward, Woodward and Bernstein work in an atmosphere more fitting to the cloak-and-dagger world of international spies than reporters investigating a story.

Chapter 4 begins with Woodward’s first conversation with Deep Throat, the most famous of the Post’s Watergate sources. Named after a pornographic movie that recently premiered in Washington theaters, Deep Throat, whose identity is known only to Woodward himself, is well connected and seems to have first-hand knowledge of the Watergate. However, there is a cost to Deep Throat’s access and cooperation: If his identity is revealed either in print or by White House spies, Deep Throat’s access could be cut off. Deep Throat selectively chooses the information he reveals, enough to keep the investigation on track and to confirm the basic structure of the conspiracy without revealing too much that could lead back to him. Woodward’s method of contacting Deep Throat is just as convoluted. If Woodward wants a meeting, he leaves a flowerpot on his apartment balcony. That night, he and Deep Throat meet at one of DC’s many parking garages. If Deep Throat wants to meet, he leaves a note written in Woodward’s morning paper. While innocuous, Deep Throat’s rapid response suggests that Woodward’s apartment was surveilled daily for years by administration officials, even if Deep Throat and his friends were technically allies. In this early conversation with Woodward, Deep Throat confirms much of what the Bookkeeper said. He further encourages Woodward to draw bigger conclusions from the partial pieces of information he has so far uncovered, saying that CRP’s Jeb Magruder and his assistant are “deeply involved in Watergate […] The whole thing” (47).

After writing up the Bookkeeper’s story and Deep Throat’s veiled confirmations, Woodward and Bernstein contacted CRP’s press director for routine comment. Reacting negatively to the accusations leveled at Jeb Stuart Magruder, the press director demands that the reporters talk to Magruder and hear out his side of the story before they publish anything. This is the first time that a member of CRP has agreed to talk to reporters about CRP’s financial situation. The phone conversation does not reveal much; Magruder spends most of it begging Woodward not to publish the story because it will hurt his career. The conversation repeatedly turns to CRP treasurer Hugh Sloan, who recently quit. The Bookkeeper and Deep Throat both pointed out that Sloan was not connected to the laundering scheme and had no idea about where the funds were going, and now Magruder himself also tries to defend Sloan (48).

The reporters make it a priority to visit Sloan and hear his story. In their initial meeting, Sloan refuses the offer for an interview but nevertheless feels the need to unburden himself about what he has seen and heard at CRP. Sloan and his wife are both Republicans and true believers in the President. They are idealistic and hope that they can contribute to the reelection of the candidate who they believe will deliver the best future for America and their new child. However, the inner workings of CRP have been a shock. Sloan refuses at this meeting to discuss many specific details but generally confirms that CRP maintains parallel books, multiple accounts, and a slush fund of cash used for clandestine purposes. While much of what is discussed at this meeting is confirmation of previous reporting, Sloan will quickly become one of the reporters’ most important official sources.