by James Rosen
3. Levine (decisive); Thompson, The Nixon Presidency, p. 144 (ticket); letter to the author from Spiro T. Agnew, March 20, 1993 (business); CI, July 10 and August 13, 1986 (decent). As his troubles grew, Agnew offered an olive branch to the news media, against which he was the first national figure, in November 1969, to raise the cry of liberal bias. “I do not apologize for the content of my early criticism,” he said, “but I freely admit that it could have been stated less abrasively” see CBS Morning News, May 3, 1973.
4. Richard Ben-Veniste and George Frampton Jr., Stonewall: The Real Story of the Watergate Prosecution (Simon & Schuster, 1977), p. 357; Ostrow, “Mitchell Offered to Take Cover-up Blame” Emery, Watergate, pp. 487–92; James Neal, interview with author, May 20, 1992. Daniel Schorr reported that the government offered Mitchell a one-count plea, which he refused, and that he made an unspecified counteroffer, which the prosecutors refused; see CBS Evening News, February 27, 1974. John Dean claimed Mitchell was still plea-bargaining after Nixon resigned; see Dean, Blind Ambition, p. 363.
5. “The Watergate Indictments,” CBS Evening News, [aired] March 1, 1974; Anthony Ripley, “Federal Grand Jury Indicts 7 Nixon Aides on Charges of Conspiracy on Watergate; Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Mitchell on List” Bill Kovach, “Ruling by Sirica Imposes Silence on All Concerned” and Linda Charlton, “The Scene in Sirica’s Court: A Historic 13 Minutes,” all in New York Times, March 2, 1974; “The Indictments,” New York Times, March 3, 1974; CBS Evening News, March 9, 1974 (Sieg Heil! ); Anthony Ripley, “7 Ex-Nixon Aides Plead Not Guilty to Cover-up Plot,” New York Times, March 10, 1974; “The Trials of the Grand Jury,” Time, March 11, 1974; Emery, Watergate, p. 489 (strategy); Leon Jaworski, The Right and the Power: The Prosecution of Watergate (Reader’s Digest Press, 1976), p. 109; Ben-Veniste and Frampton, Stonewall, pp. 249–50; and Seymour M. Hersh, “Nixon’s Last Cover-up: The Tapes He Wants the Archives to Suppress,” New Yorker, December 14, 1992, which featured the first publication of Mitchell’s arraignment photos, commonly known as “mug shots.”
6. Letters to Susie Morrison from John Mitchell, [undated; 1973–74], provided to the author by Morrison.
7. William M. Blair, “Panel’s Lawyers Query Mitchell,” New York Times, July 6, 1974; HJCW, II: 113–217; CBS Evening News, July 10, 1974; Edward Mezvinsky, A Term to Remember (Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, 1977), pp. 164–65. Robert Novak later decried the “false conception…that the impeachment of Nixon was unbiased and nonpartisan…. The efforts by Chairman Rodino to get Nixon were very strong. Nixon made enough mistakes that he couldn’t garner enough Republican support, but you can’t imagine how much the Democrats hated Nixon—I think even more than Republicans hate Clinton” see “Novak: You Say You Want a Revolution,” Hotline, March 27, 2000.
8. UVM, Mitchell Motion for Leave to Depose Richard M. Nixon, and If Necessary, for a Continuance and Unsequestration of Jury, December 4, 1974 (emphases added); Cacheris interview; Hundley interview. Hundley said he “probably” cleared the December 4 motion with Mitchell, who “gave me a pretty free hand” to criticize Nixon but recoiled from doing so himself. Hundley also subpoenaed the White House for documents and tapes; see CBS Evening News, September 13, 1973.
9. CBS Evening News, August 19 and 22, 1974; Knappman and Drossman, Watergate, p. 154 (Colson); Ben-Veniste and Frampton, Stonewall, p. 316; Silbert interview; WSPF memo to Mr. Cox from G. Goldman, Subject: Gordon Strachan, September 25, 1972 [sic; 1973]; WSPF memo to R. Ben-Veniste from G. Goldman, Subject: Status of Gordon Strachan, January 15, 1974; and WSPF memo to Henry S. Ruth Jr. from Peter M. Kreindler, Subject: Gordon Strachan, February 11, 1975, all in RG 460 WSPF—WGTF, Investigative Files, Defendants’ Files, Gordon Strachan, Box 124, NARA.
10. UVM, 1–2610a; Dean, Blind Ambition, pp. 380–81.
11. UVM, 3206 (discern), 3579 (dates), 4063 (perfect), 3716–31 (throw, an objection), 3984–4007 (what he knows), 4100 (barred), 4401 (latitude), 5922 (forgot), 6028 (keep track), 6561 (maybe), 8101 (mocked); CBS Evening News, October 23, 1974; Higgins, The Friends of Richard Nixon; Philip B. Kurland, Watergate and the Constitution (University of Chicago Press, 1978), pp. 73–74; Renata Adler, Canaries in the Mineshaft: Essays on Politics and Media (St. Martin’s Press, 2001), pp. 345–77. Examining Sirica’s life and career more closely than any previous researcher, Adler uncovered the startling fact that the famous Watergate judge, a former boxer, was himself indicted in 1927 on charges of tax evasion and conspiring to fix the famous Dempsey-Tunney “long count” prizefight; for unknown reasons, the case never went to trial.
12. UVM, 8092–110 (enlighten, cheap), 8141–44 (Mexico), 8177 (presume), 8216–48 (urge), 11, 555–714 (Neal’s closing argument); CBS Morning News, October 22, 1974; CBS Evening News, November 25–26, 1974; CBS Morning News, November 27–28, 1974; Lesley Oelsner, “Prosecution Ends Case in Cover-up; Defense Starts,” New York Times, November 26, 1974; Lesley Oelsner, “Prosecutor Says Mitchell ‘Stonewalled’ on Cover-up,” New York Times, November 28, 1974; Lesley Oelsner, “Jurors Hear Dean Termed Perjurer,” New York Times, December 21, 1974; Lesley Oelsner, “Jury Hears Nixon Termed ‘Maestro,’” New York Times, December 24, 1974; Lesley Oelsner, “Watergate Jury Receives Charge; Weighs Fate of 5,” New York Times, December 31, 1974; “Excerpts from Sirica’s Charge to Cover-up Jurors,” New York Times, December 31, 1974; CBS Morning News, January 2, 1975 (first real); Ehrlichman, Witness to Power, pp. 313–14; Hundley interview; Neal interview; “Legends in the Law,” Washington Lawyer; Tony Parkinson, interview with author, August 2002.
13. Lesley Oelsner, “Haldeman Tapes Played by Jury,” New York Times, January 1, 1975; CBS Evening News, January 1–2, 1975; “The Watergate Verdicts,” CBS Evening News, [aired] January 1, 1975; CBS Morning News, January 2, 1975; Lesley Oelsner, “Watergate Jury Convicts Mitchell, Haldeman, Ehrlichman and Mardian in Cover-up Case; Acquits Parkinson” Marjorie Hunter, “Few Tears, a Bit of Anger as the Verdicts Are Read” Ernest Holsendolph, “Aloof Jury Foreman: John A. Hoffar” “Guilty” [editorial], all in New York Times, January 2, 1975; Muriel Dobbin, “Mitchell, Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Mardian All Guilty of Obstruction of Justice; Parkinson Is Acquitted,” Baltimore Sun, January 2, 1975; UPI, “4 Nixon Aides Guilty, 1 Acquitted” “Nixon Silence Seen Basis for Appeals” “‘Watergate 4’ React to Verdict” “Jurors Did Not Smile” and “Watergate Jury: Mostly Black and Female,” all in Philadelphia Daily News, January 2, 1975; “A Fateful Trial Closes a Sorry Chapter,” Time, January 13, 1975; “Sirica, 88, Dies; Persistent Judge in Fall of Nixon,” New York Times, August 15, 1992.
MAXWELL
1. Franz Kafka, Selected Short Stories of Franz Kafka (Random House, 1952), pp. x–xi.
2. Linda Charlton, “Dean, Kalmbach, Magruder Freed from Prison by Sirica,” New York Times, January 9, 1975; “Magruder Says Prisoners Might Try to Kill Mitchell,” New York Times, January 15, 1975; Lesley Oelsner, “4 Ex-Nixon Aides Lose Bid to Void Cover-up Verdict,” New York Times, February 15, 1975; Lesley Oelsner, “Mitchell, Haldeman, Ehrlichman Are Sentenced to 21/2 to 8 Years, Mardian to 10 Months to 3 Years,” New York Times, February 22, 1975; Robert E. Cuthriell, ed., Historic Documents of 1975 (Congressional Quarterly, 1976), pp. 141–51; Federal Document Clearing House transcript of remarks by Pat Buchanan at American Conservative Union Dinner, October 24, 1995 (turn ’em down).
3. “19 on Airliner Killed in Crash at Nantucket” and “Gordon E. Dean Led A.E.C. 3 Years,” both in New York Times, August 16, 1958; Maxine Cheshire, “John Mitchell: Renewing a 20-Year Friendship,” Washington Post, March 22, 1975; Nick Thimmesch, “The Final Days of John Mitchell,” New York, June 27, 1977; Mary Gore Dean interview; Hundley interview; Annie Groer, “Style with a Few Tales to Tell,” Washington Post, January 27, 2005. One newspaper erroneously reported that Mitchell “quietly” married Mrs. Dean in a ceremony at Marwood on October 15, 1981: a complete fabrication. “I did not marry Mr. Mitchell,” she said flatly. “Marriage never came up” see Rosemarie Wittman Lamb, “Watergat
e 10 Years Later: Where Are They Now?” New York Daily News, June 13, 1982.
4. Lesley Oelsner, “Nixon Questioned About Watergate for a Grand Jury,” New York Times, June 28, 1975; EN, July 8, 1972; notes of Robert Mardian on his conversation with Richard Nixon, October 14, 1976, provided to the author by Mardian.
5. Rita Delfiner, “Mitchell: ‘Automatic’ Disbarment Now,” New York Post, January 8, 1975; “Mitchell Asks Hearing on Disbarment,” Washington Post, June 10, 1975; Morris Kaplan, “Mitchell Is Disbarred in State for His Watergate Conviction,” New York Times, July 4, 1975; “Mitchell Brief Says Trial Was Tainted,” New York Times, August 2, 1975; “Prosecutors Allege Testimony by Nixon Was Not Necessary,” New York Times, October 16, 1975; Lesley Oelsner, “4 in Watergate Appeal Say Sirica Barred a Fair Trial,” New York Times, January 7, 1976; “John Mitchell Asks N.Y. to Practice Law,” Washington Post, May 5, 1976; “Mitchell Loses Plea; He’s Still Disbarred,” New York Post, July 17, 1976; letter to John Mitchell from Ronald Reagan, August 27, 1976, JMRC; John M. Crewdson, “Mardian Conviction on Watergate Upset,” New York Times, October 13, 1976; notes of Robert Mardian on his conversations with John Mitchell, January 27 and May 25, 1977, provided to the author by Mardian; “High Court Reported to Oppose a Review of Nixon Aides’ Case,” New York Times, April 22, 1977; “Court Rebuffs Watergate Group’s Bid to File Memo,” New York Times, May 3, 1977; Lesley Oelsner, “Supreme Court Bars Plea by Ehrlichman, Haldeman, Mitchell,” New York Times, May 24, 1977; “Mitchell and Haldeman Lose Plea on Sentences,” New York Times, June 1, 1977; “Sirica Says Haldeman and Mitchell Will Probably Go to Jail June 22,” New York Times, June 3, 1977; “Haldeman Joins Mitchell as Court Sets Prison Date,” New York Times, June 7, 1977; Haynes Johnson, “One Last Flash for Mitchell, Haldeman,” Washington Post, June 7, 1977; Thimmesch, “The Final Days” “Supreme Court Disbars Mitchell and Ehrlichman,” Wall Street Journal, November 1, 1977; Bill Gulley with Mary Ellen Reese, Breaking Cover (Simon & Schuster, 1980), pp. 240, 264–65 (compassion, covert); Mary Gore Dean interview; Baruch Korff, The President and I (Baruch Korff Foundation, 1995), pp. 119–22. Mardian’s notes also contained some rare remarks by the ex-president on the “smoking gun” tape of June 23, 1972: “[Nixon] said it never was brought out that he and Haldeman were talking of 2 different things—He about the possible CIA involvement and Haldeman about hush money—Said ‘You know that money was never paid.’”
6. Mardian notes; “John Mitchell to Serve Term at Ala. Prison,” Washington Post, June 9, 1977 (LaRue); Fred Bruning, “Stone Walls Do Not Make Mitchell’s Prison,” Newsday, June 9, 1977 (despair, Maxwell Country Club); Joseph M. Treen, “The Attorney General Goes to Jail,” Newsday, June 22, 1977 (when to eat, arrangements, elevator); Thimmesch, “The Final Days” (face jail, worries, flowers); Jon Bixby, “John Mitchell, Inmate,” Newsday, July 28, 1977 (The Godfather, brief visit); Ronald James, “Sharing the ‘Joint’ with John Mitchell: From Top Cop to Top Con,” Miami Magazine, March 1979 (anxiety, rumors, king, cop, shiv); “Legends in the Law,” Washington Lawyer (concerned, no-nonsense); Mary Gore Dean interview; Sandy Hobbs Perk, interview with author, May 1, 1992; Ken Ebbitt interview; Norman Carlson, interview with author, September 13, 1993; Korff, The President and I, p. 122; Martin Schram, interview with author, February 26, 1999 (slammer). Even in prison, Mitchell was not safe from death threats. Twenty days after his surrender, previously unpublished documents show, the FBI began investigating a phone call threatening to “assassinate John N. Mitchell if Mitchell does not commit suicide this week” see FBI teletype from Mobile (62-0) to Director Routine, [Subject:] Unknown Subject, Anonymous Call from Individual Claiming to/Be President of the Impeachment and Assassination of Nixon/Federal Prison Camp, Maxwell Air Force Base, Montgomery/ Alabama, July 12, 1977, FBIM.
7. CBS Morning News and CBS Evening News, June 22, 1977; “Haldeman Enters Jail in California; Mitchell to Begin His Term Today,” New York Times, June 22, 1977; “Mitchell Enters Alabama Camp to Serve Term,” New York Times, June 23, 1977; “John Mitchell Is Jeered as He Enters Prison,” Washington Post; Dunne, “John Mitchell Jets to Ala.” “Nos. 24171–157 and 01489–163 (B),” Time, July 4, 1977; Harry F. Rosenthal, “Mitchell Leaves Prison Friday: Is It Final Watergate Chapter?” Staten Island Advance, January 14, 1979 (personified); James, “Sharing the ‘Joint’” D. B. Green, “How Tough a Jew?” The Jerusalem Report, April 12, 1999 (Lansky); letter to Susie Morrison from John Mitchell, September 24, 1977, provided to the author by Morrison; “Legends in the Law,” Washington Lawyer; Julia Wilkinson, “First Person Singular: Plato Cacheris,” Washington Post Magazine, January 12, 2003; Hundley interview; Harries interview; Anson, Exile, p. 214; Robert Lowell, Little Man: The Life and Times of Meyer Lansky (Little, Brown, 1992), p. 385. “I’m free, but look who’s in jail now. Mitchell!” rejoiced Lansky, who playfully sent his bête noire a crate of Southern Comfort “with my best wishes.”
8. “Mitchell, Haldeman Seek Shorter Terms,” New York Times, September 17, 1977 (traumatic, sensitive); Ronald J. Ostrow, “Irked Haldeman, Ailing Mitchell Request Leniency,” Los Angeles Times, September 17, 1977 (severest, mental, authorized by Mr. Mitchell, pockets); Anthony Marro, “Mitchell, Haldeman, Ehrlichman Win Reductions in Prison Terms” and “Excerpts of Statements to Judge Sirica by Haldeman, Ehrlichman, and Mitchell,” New York Times, October 5, 1977 (tour, crippled, unfairness, penalty); “Mitchell Petitions Carter for Immediate Release,” New York Times, October 20, 1977 (drugs, constant); Anthony Marro, “Mitchell to Get Furlough for Tests on Arthritic Hip,” New York Times, December 21, 1977; “Mitchell Freed to Receive Hospital Cure for Arthritis,” Washington Post, December 21, 1977 (painful, impaired); “Mitchell Must Undergo Surgery,” Washington Post, January 14, 1978; “Mitchell ‘Doing Well’ in Hospital,” New York Times, January 26, 1978; Jimmy Breslin, “Bell Rang ‘Out’ & Mitchell Got 4 Furloughs,” New York Daily News, April 23, 1978; Cynthia R. Fagen, “Another Furlough for John Mitchell,” New York Post, April 26, 1978; Richard Edmonds, “Mitchell’s Fifth Prison Furlough Is a First,” New York Daily News, April 27, 1978; Pete Hamill, “Mitchell, the Fabulous Invalid, Is Making Justice Ill,” New York Daily News, April 28, 1978; “Legends in the Law,” Washington Lawyer; Mitchell-Reed interview; Griffin Bell, interview with author, February 21, 1994. Breslin and Hamill were especially unmerciful during Mitchell’s illness and furloughs. Breslin wrote that Mitchell “appears to be demonstrating further that our laws apply only to the poor and to those too stupid to retain connections somewhere in government,” while Hamill, seemingly regretful that Mitchell “would not soon find himself sweating in a prison laundry, or stamping out license plates, or breaking brick in a quarry…humiliated by sadistic prison guards [or] gang raped,” shrilly demanded that “somebody should bring him back to the slammer, where he belongs.”
9. “Parole Examiners Hear Mitchell,” New York Times, July 6, 1978; “John’s Misery,” Staten Island Advance, July 6, 1978; “Mitchell to Be Paroled After 19 Months in Jail,” Washington Post, July 21, 1978; “Parole Panel Stonewalls Mitchell 6 More Months,” Staten Island Advance, July 21, 1978; “Judge Denies Mitchell’s Bid for Immediate Parole,” Los Angeles Times, August 26, 1978; letters to Francis X. Maloney from John Mitchell, December 13, 1978, and January 13, 1979, provided to the author by Maloney; “Mitchell Again Given a Christmas Furlough,” New York Times, December 17, 1978; CBS Morning News and CBS Evening News, January 19, 1979; “John Mitchell Leaving Jail, Last in Watergate to Exit,” Staten Island Advance, January 19, 1979; “Mitchell, Last Watergate Prisoner, Is Freed on Parole,” New York Times, January 20, 1979; Jack Bass, Taming the Storm: The Life and Times of Judge Frank M. Johnson, Jr. and the South’s Fight over Civil Rights (Doubleday, 1993), pp. 276, 390–91, 487n; Harries interview; Leonard interview.
