I used to be a big wallower in Watergate, devouring every book ever written on the scandal that brought down the Nixon presidency and eagerly pouncing on each new revelation. It's been a while since we had many in which to wallow…but we do seem to get one new Watergate revelation every decade or so.
For some time now, we've been teased about the biggie. Technicians keep popping up to say that "new technology" might make it possible to restore the audio in the infamous 18.5 minute gap in the Nixon tape where he and Bob Haldeman first discussed the break-in at the Watergate Hotel. I'm not holding my breath. But we may have a new breakthrough on the second biggest mystery: What exactly were the Watergate burglars seeking that night?
Conventional wisdom has generally been that they either had no specific goal — just trying to see if they could find any dirt to use against Democrats — or were trying to see if Democratic Chairman Larry O'Brien had info on financial improprieties between Richard Nixon and Howard Hughes. There were some shenanigans there and Nixon was known to be concerned that O'Brien, who'd worked for Hughes, had certain information about their dealings.
Those theories were just that — theories based on speculation. Now, John Dean is claiming to have uncovered documentary evidence of the specific mission. It had to do with the fact that Nixon's Justice Department was being accused of having settled a high-profile anti-trust case against the I.T.T. Corporation in exchange for a bribe. Says Dean, Nixon had received a tip about a supposed kickback scheme involving the Democratic Convention. He wanted to ferret out dirt about that so he could use it to counter accusations about the I.T.T. case.
That's what Mr. Dean says and he claims to have solid documentation to prove it. He discussed it last night on Countdown with Keith Olbermann. Here's that segment…
