The White House Plumbers

The Watergate scandal was one of the biggest scandals of all time, that ultimately ended in the resignation of President Nixon on August 9, 1974. The scandal started as an attempt to cover up the break-in at the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate complex. Many people were involved in the scandal and when it was all over, 43 of them were incarcerated. One such group was the White House Plumbers. Often just called "The Plumbers" this elite special investigations unit focused on keeping classified information from being leaked. While working for the Nixon administration many of there members branched out and did illegal activities, including being involved with The Watergate break-in and Watergate Scandal.

          The White House Plumbers were not plumbers at all, infact they had absolutly nothing to do with the plumbing of the White House. Instead, there main goal was to prevent the leaking of information outside the White House's walls. G. Gordon Liddy, John Paisley (a member of the CIA), John Erlichman and E. Howard Hunt, were all members of the White House Plumbers . This group of men were assigned by President Nixon to complete various tasks. One of there first jobs, was the burglary of the office of Daniel Ellsberg's Los Angeles psychiatrist, Lewis J. Fielding, in an effort to uncover evidence to discredit Ellsberg, who had leaked the Pentagon Papers. The plumbers broke into the office late at night, retrieving the documents they needed. They left pills on the ground in the office to make it appear that drugs were the reason for their visit. This mission was unsuccessful and also highly illegal. President Nixon was not allowed  to order an illegal search and sesiure, but he did so anyway. Daniel Ellsberg arrived at his office the next morning and saw the mess left behind. He reported the file the plumbers had been looking for had been gone through, but investigators were unsure of who and why, so no one was charged.

Daniel Ellsberg

 The Committee for Re-electing the President (CRP) was formed and several of the White House Plumbers joined it. Their job was to get money for the presidents re-election. They did this through manipulations and money laundering through Mexico.  They also participated in Wiretaps, burglaries, and intercepted mail. One of the CRP's biggest jobs was breaking into the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate Complex. They broke in to Watergate to investigate a claim that, "The Cuban government was supplying funds to the Democratic Party." They stole documents and broke into a locked section of the building. They were later arrested and charged for the many crimes they had committed. This was known as the Watergate Scandal.  Ultimately, these scandals ended in President Nixon's resignation from office in 1974.
Sources:
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2011/08/nixon-gold-standard-gamble-interrupting-bonanza/41278/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watergate_burglary
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House_Plumbers
http://www.maryferrell.org/wiki/index.php/Watergate
http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Fall06/Weiner/pages/People/plumbers.htm