G. Gordon Liddy proposes a series of criminal acts to disrupt political opposition to President Richard Nixon’s re-election 50 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jan 27 1972)

1970s, U.S. Presidents, Watergate


Video: 'WATERGATE AFFAIR BBC DOKUMENTATION 1994' (Operation Gemstone at 29:16)

(Thursday, January 27, 1972, 11:00 a.m. EST; during the Watergate Scandal) — G. Gordon Liddy, Finance Counsel for the Committee for the Re-Election of the President (CRP, but often mocked by the acronym CREEP), presented Operation Gemstone, a $1 million campaign intelligence plan that involved a series of clandestine or illegal acts against political opponents of President Richard Nixon’s re-election.

Today’s meeting was held at the U.S. Justice Department in the office of Attorney General John N. Mitchell, who was present. Jeb Magruder, temporary head of CRP pending Mitchell’s resignation as Attorney General, and White House Counsel John Dean were also present.

Using a half-dozen large, professionally created charts, Liddy described in great detail both his plan to disrupt the upcoming Democratic National Convention in Miami Beach, Florida, and his plan to prevent any disruption of the upcoming Republican National Convention, then scheduled to take place in San Diego, California.


Video: 'G. Gordon Liddy Describes GEMSTONE, the Plan He Presents to John Mitchell in 1972'

Among the various elements of Gemstone were plans to kidnap specific “radical” leaders, and others who might cause trouble at the Republican Convention, and hold them in Mexico until after the Convention was over. According to all four participants of the today’s meeting, Mitchell declared, with some evident sarcasm, “Gordon, that’s not quite what I had in mind.”

Dean would describe his recollections of this meeting to Nixon on March 21, 1973, during the “Cancer on the Presidency” conversation: “So I came over and Liddy laid out a million dollar plan that was the most incredible thing I have ever laid my eyes on: all in codes, and involved black bag operations, kidnapping, providing prostitutes, uh, to weaken the opposition, bugging, uh, mugging teams. It was just an incredible thing.”

The plan was not approved but Liddy was asked to revise his proposal.

Two months later, Mitchell would approve a reduced version of the plan, including burglarizing the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) headquarters at the Watergate Complex in Washington, D.C., ostensibly to photograph campaign documents and install listening devices in telephones.