Watergate is a general term for a series of political scandals, which began with the arrest of five men who broke into the
Democratic National Committee headquarters at the
Washington, D.C., office/apartment complex and hotel called
the Watergate on
June 17,
1972. The attempted cover-up of the break-in ultimately led to the resignation of
President Richard Nixon. Investigations conducted by the
FBI,
Senate Watergate Committee,
House Judiciary Committee and the press revealed that this burglary was just one of many illegal activities authorized and carried out by Nixon's staff. They also revealed the immense scope of crimes and abuses, which included campaign fraud, political
espionage and
sabotage, illegal break-ins,
wiretapping on a massive scale, including the wiretapping of the press and American citizens, and a secret
slush fund laundered in
Mexico to pay those who conducted these operations. This secret fund was also used as
hush money to buy silence of the seven men who were indicted for the
June 17 break-in. President Nixon and his staff conspired to cover up the break-in as early as six days after it occurred. After enduring two years of mounting evidence against the President and his staff, which included former staff members testifying against them in a Senate investigation, it was revealed that Nixon had a tape recording system in his offices and that he had
recorded many conversations. Undeniable evidence, spoken by Nixon and recorded on tape, revealed that he had obstructed justice and attempted to cover up the break-in. This recorded conversation later became known as the Smoking Gun. After a series of court battles, the
United States Supreme Court unanimously
ruled that the President must hand over the tapes; he ultimately complied. With certainty of an
impeachment in the
House of Representatives and of a conviction in the
Senate, Nixon resigned ten days later, becoming the only U.S. President to have resigned from office.
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