Watergate C.R.E.E.Ps Sentenced On This Day In History

Today, January 30, 2020, the Q & A portion of the impeachment trial wraps up in the U.S. Senate and the final vote could come tomorrow or Saturday.

47 years ago on this date in 1973, former Nixon aides G. Gordon Liddy and James McCord were found guilty in the Watergate break-in trial.

A google search turns up a couple of interesting Liddy quotes:

"They were afraid, never having learned what I taught myself: Defeat the fear of death and welcome the death of fear." Liddy saw himself as a hard core warrior

"A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money."

James McCord Jr was a 19 year veteran of the C.I.A. and leader of the operators as part of Nixon's Committee to Re-Elect The President. (CREEP)

The Washington Post reported on how McCord's statements "were credited with helping to break open the Watergate investigation by connecting the burglary to high-ranking Nixon officials."

“I have no regrets in telling the truth,” he said when he reported to the penitentiary in March 1975. “I think in the long run it’s been extremely beneficial to the country to have become aware of what occurred. I was probably the first to tell the truth on Watergate.”

Liddy got a 20 year sentence, later reduced to 8 years by President Jimmy Carter, and was released after four years, McCord served just four months in prison.

The Watergate case broke the political trust with millions of Americans and it wasn't a one sided partisan affair like the one currently underway. It will be interesting to see the nature and degree of damage done to trust in the system and in political parties moving into the future.

Categories: History, Politics