James Walter McCord, Jr. (born July 26, 1924 in Waurika, Oklahoma)^[1][2] was the electronics expert involved in two break-ins of the Watergate complex. Events 657 - Battle of Siffin. 811 - Battle of Pliska; Byzantine Emperor Nicephorus Year 1924 ( MCMXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Waurika is a city in Jefferson County, Oklahoma, United States. The Watergate burglaries, which took place on May 28 and June 17, 1972, have been cited in testimony media accounts and popular works on Watergate as The Watergate complex is an office-apartment-hotel complex built in 1967 in northwest Washington D McCord was also a former CIA agent. ^[3] He and four other accomplices, Frank Sturgis, Virgilio Gonzalez, Eugenio Martinez and Bernard Barker, were arrested during the second break-in, which ignited the Watergate scandal. Frank Anthony Sturgis (December 9 1924 – December 4 1993 born Frank Angelo Fiorini, was one of the Watergate burglars Virgilio R Gonzalez was a contract CIA operative and one of the five men recruited by E Eugenio Rolando Martinez (alias Musculito) was a member of the anti-Castro movement in the early 1960s and later was one of the five men recruited Bernard Leon Barker (born 17 March 1917) was a former member of the Cuban secret police under the Batista regime The Watergate scandals were a series of Political scandals during the presidency of Richard Nixon that resulted in the Indictment of several of Nixon's He attended Baylor University and was a graduate of George Washington University. Baylor University is a private, Baptist -affiliated Research University located in Waco Texas. The George Washington University ( GW or GWU) is a private coeducational university located in Washington D He was interviewed and then hired by Jack Caulfield in January 1972 "for strict, solely defensive security work at the Republican National Committee and the Committee to Re-Elect the President (CREEP)". Year 1972 ( MCMLXXII) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Republican National Committee (RNC provides national leadership for the Republican Party of the United States. The Committee to Re-elect the President, often abbreviated to CRP or CREEP (an acronym used derisively by critics of the Nixon administration was a Nixon One of the first men convicted in the Watergate criminal trial, McCord led the June 17, 1972 early-morning burglary of the Democratic National Committee's headquarters at the Watergate office building in Washington, D.C.. Events 1462 - Vlad III the Impaler attempts to assassinate Mehmed II ( The Night Attack) forcing him to retreat Year 1972 ( MCMLXXII) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Democratic National Committee (DNC is the principal organization governing the United States Democratic Party on a day to day basis Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D He was convicted on eight counts of conspiracy, burglary and wiretapping. ^[1] He later wrote a letter to U. S. District Judge John Sirica stating that his plea and testimony, some of which he claimed was perjured, were compelled by pressure from White House counsel John Dean and former Attorney General John N. Mitchell. John Joseph Sirica ( March 19 1904 – August 14 1992) was the Chief Judge for the United States District Court for the District of Perjury, also known as forswearing, is the act of lying or making verifiably false statements on a material matter under Oath or Affirmation in a See also Executive Office of the President of the United States The White House, formerly known as the Executive Mansion, is the Official residence John Wesley Dean III (born October 14, 1938) was White House Counsel to U In most Common law jurisdictions the Attorney General, or Attorney-General, is the main legal advisor to the government and in some jurisdictions may in addition John Newton Mitchell (September 1913 &ndash November 9, 1988) was the first United States Attorney General ever to be convicted of illegal activities and His letter set off the Watergate scandal in earnest by implicating many higher-ups in the Richard Nixon administration for covering up the conspiracy that led to the burglary. ^[4]

Prior to his conviction, McCord served as a drive-through operator and also a security director for the Committee to Re-elect the President (CREEP), and had worked for the FBI and CIA, where he was in charge of physical security at Langley headquarters, as well as serving as a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserves. The Committee to Re-elect the President, often abbreviated to CRP or CREEP (an acronym used derisively by critics of the Nixon administration was a Nixon near as long as it used to be several months ago It has been actively summarized and split into sub-articles and there is a dynamic talk page discussion of all This article describes the unincorporated community of Langley in McLean Virginia Lieutenant Colonel ( Lieutenant-Colonel in English from the French grade 's spelling is a rank of Commissioned officer in the armies His security consulting firm, McCord Associates, provided security services to CREEP. After serving his prison sentence McCord became a University of Michigan athletics booster and funneled money from his illegal gambling operation to players, which got UM in trouble. The University of Michigan Ann Arbor ( U of M, U-M, UM or simply Michigan) is a top-ranked Coeducational public research

Letter to Judge John Sirica

The following is the full text of the letter that McCord wrote to Judge Sirica during the Watergate trial:

James W. McCord, Jr.
7 Winder Court
Rockville , Maryland 20850

TO: JUDGE SIRICA March 19, 1973

Certain questions have been posed to me from your honor through the probation officer, dealing with details of the case, motivations, intent and mitigating circumstances.

In endeavoring to respond to these questions, I am whipsawed in a variety of legalities. First, I may be called before a Senate Committee investigating this matter. Secondly, I may be involved in a civil suit, and thirdly there may be a new trial at some future date. Fourthly, the probation officer may be called before the Senate Committee to present testimony regarding what may otherwise be a privileged communication between defendant and Judge, as I understand it; if I answered certain questions to the probation officer, it is possible such answers could become a matter of record in the Senate and there-fore available for use in the other proceedings just described. My answers would, it would seem to me, to violate my fifth amendment rights, and possibly my 6 th amendment right to counsel and possibly other rights.

On the other hand, to fail to answer your questions may appear to be non-cooperation, and I can therefore expect a much more severe sentence.

There are further considerations which are not to be lightly taken. Several members of my family have expressed fear for my life if I disclose knowledge of the facts in this matter, either publicly or to any government representative. Whereas I do not share their concerns to the same degree, nevertheless, I do believe that retaliatory measures will be taken against me, my family, and my friends should I disclose such facts. Such retaliation could destroy careers, income, and reputations of persons who are innocent of any guilt whatever.

Be that as it may, in the interests of justice, and in the interests of restoring faith in the criminal justice system, which faith has been severely damaged in this case, I will state the following to you at this time which I hope may be of help to you in meting out justice in this case:

1. There was political pressure applied to the defendants to plead guilty and remain silent.

2. Perjury occurred during the trial in matters highly material to the very structure, orientation, and impact of the government's case, and to the motivation and intent of the defendants.

3. Others involved in the Watergate operation were not identified during the trial, when they could have been by those testifying.

4. The Watergate operation was not a CIA operation. The Cubans may have been misled by others into believing that it was a CIA operation. I know for a fact that it was not.

5. Some statements were unfortunately made by a witness which left the Court with the impression that he was stating untruths, or withholding facts of his knowledge, when in fact only honest errors of memory were involved.

6. My motivations were different than those of the others involved, but were not limited to, or simply those offered in my defense during the trial. This is no fault of my attorneys, but of the circumstances under which we had to prepare my defense.

Following sentence, I would appreciate the opportunity to talk with you privately in chambers. Since I cannot feel confident in talking with an FBI agent, in testifying before a Grand Jury whose U. S. Attorneys work for the Department of Justice, or in talking with other government representatives, such a discussion with you would be of assistance to me.

I have not discussed the above with my attorneys as a matter of protection for them.

I give this statement freely and voluntarily, fully realizing that I may be prosecuted for giving a false statement to a Judicial Official, if the statements herein are knowingly untrue. The statements are true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief.

[signed] James W. McCord, Jr. ^[5]

Further Reading

McCord wrote a book about his connection with the Watergate burglary:

• McCord, James T. (1974). A piece of tape; the Watergate story: fact and fiction. [Rockville, Md. ]: Washington Media Services. ISBN 0914286005. OCLC 1031449. The OCLC Online Computer Library Center is according to its website a "nonprofit membership computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purpose Retrieved on 2007-07-22. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1099 - First Crusade: Godfrey of Bouillon is elected the first Defender of the Holy Sepulchre of The Kingdom of  

For further reading from the newspaper media's perspective, see All the President's Men by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward

References