Editing John N. Mitchell (section)

==Watergate scandal==
{{Main|Watergate scandal}}
In the days immediately after the Watergate break-in of June 17, 1972, Mitchell enlisted former FBI agent [[Steve King (ambassador)|Steve King]] to prevent his wife [[Martha Mitchell|Martha]] from learning about the break-in or contacting reporters. While she was on a phone call with journalist [[Helen Thomas]] about the break-in, King pulled the phone cord from the wall. Mrs. Mitchell was held against her will in a California hotel room and forcibly sedated by a psychiatrist after a physical struggle with five men that left her needing stitches.<ref>{{cite book|last=Reeves|first=Richard|title=President Nixon : alone in the White House|url=https://archive.org/details/presidentnixon00rich|url-access=registration|year=2002|publisher=Simon & Schuster|location=New York|isbn=0-7432-2719-0|pages=[https://archive.org/details/presidentnixon00rich/page/511 511]|edition=1st Touchstone ed. 2002.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| last=McLendon|first=Winzola|title=Martha: The Life of Martha Mitchell| url=https://archive.org/details/marthalifeofmart00mcle| url-access=registration|year=1979|publisher=Random House |isbn=9780394411248}}</ref>  Nixon aides, in an effort to discredit her, told the press that she had a "drinking problem".<ref>{{cite book|first=Keith|last=Olson|title=Watergate: The Presidential Scandal That Shook America|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780700612512|url-access=registration|year=2003}}</ref> Nixon was later to tell interviewer [[David Frost]] in 1977 that Martha was a distraction to John Mitchell, such that no one was minding the store, and "If it hadn't been for Martha Mitchell, there'd have been no Watergate."

In 1972, when asked to comment about a forthcoming article<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/watergate/articles/092972-1.htm|title=WashingtonPost.com: Mitchell Controlled Secret GOP Fund|website=www.washingtonpost.com}}</ref> that reported that he controlled a political [[slush fund]] used for gathering intelligence on the Democrats, he famously uttered an implied threat to reporter [[Carl Bernstein]]: "[[Katharine Graham|Katie Graham]]'s gonna get her tit<ref>The words "her tit" were not included in the newspaper article.</ref> caught in a big fat wringer if that's published."<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/katharinegrahamp00grah|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/katharinegrahamp00grah/page/465 465]|title=Personal History|first=Katharine|last=Graham|date=July 22, 1997|publisher=[[Alfred A. Knopf]]|access-date=July 22, 2017|via=Internet Archive|isbn=9780394585857}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/watergate/stories/graham.htm|title=The Watergate Watershed -- A Turning Point for a Nation and a Newspaper|first=Katharine|last=Graham|date=January 28, 1997|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=July 22, 2017}}</ref><ref>Woodward & Bernstein (1974) p. 105</ref>
[[File:1300 - 1302 30th Street, N.W..JPG|thumb|One of Mitchell's former residences (left) in [[Georgetown, Washington, D.C.|Georgetown]], Washington, D.C.]]

In July 1973, Mitchell testified before the [[Senate Watergate Committee]] where he claimed he had no prior knowledge of the Watergate break-in, which contradicted the testimony of others who appeared before the committee. He admitted that he was briefed on January 27, 1972, while he was the attorney general, by [[G. Gordon Liddy]] on [[Operation Gemstone]] which proposed numerous illegal activities to support the reelection of President Nixon, including the use of prostitutes, kidnapping, and assaulting antiwar protestors. Mitchell testified he should have thrown Liddy "out of the window". [[Jeb Stuart Magruder]] and [[John Dean]] testified to the committee that Mitchell later approved electronic surveillance (i.e., bugging telephones) but did not approve of the other proposed activities.

Tape recordings made by President Nixon and the testimony of others involved confirmed that Mitchell had participated in meetings to plan the break-in of the Democratic Party's national headquarters in the [[Watergate complex|Watergate Office Building]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=knJFAQAAMAAJ&q=Mitchell+Watergate+Hotel.+recordings&pg=PA646|title=Impeachment Inquiry Books I-III|last=United States Congress House Comm on the Judiciary|date=July 23, 1974|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|language=en}}</ref> In addition, he had met with the president on at least three occasions to cover up [[White House]] involvement, using illegal means such as witness tampering, after the burglars were discovered and arrested.<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Mitchell-attorney-general-of-United-States John Mitchell | Attorney General of the United States] Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved July 9, 2020.</ref>

On January 1, 1975, Mitchell, who was represented by the criminal defense attorney [[William G. Hundley]], was found guilty of [[conspiracy (crime)|conspiracy]], [[obstruction of justice]], and [[perjury]].<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/11/10/obituaries/john-n-mitchell-dies-at-75-major-figure-in-watergate.html |title=John N. Mitchell Dies at 75; Major Figure in Watergate| work=[[The New York Times]] | date=November 10, 1988 | access-date=September 4, 2021}}</ref> Mitchell was sentenced on February 21 to two-and-a-half to eight years in prison for his role in the Watergate break-in and cover-up, which he dubbed the "White House horrors".<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/02/22/archives/mitchell-haldeman-ehrlichman-are-sentenced-to-2-to-8-years-mardian.html |title=Mitchell, Haldeman, Ehrlichman are sentenced to 2½ to 8 years, Mardian to 10 months to 3 years| work=[[The New York Times]] | date=February 22, 1975 | access-date=September 4, 2021}}</ref>  As a result of the conviction, Mitchell was disbarred from the practice of law in New York.<ref>See Mitchell v. Association of the Bar, 40 N.Y.2d 153, 351 N.E.2d 743, 386 N.Y.S.2d 95 (1976)</ref> The sentence was later reduced to one-to-four years by [[United States District Court]] Judge [[John J. Sirica]]. Mitchell served 19 months of his sentence at [[Federal Prison Camp, Montgomery]] (in [[Maxwell Air Force Base]]) in Montgomery, Alabama, a minimum-security prison, before being released on parole for medical reasons.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/watergate/stories/mitchobit.htm |title=John N. Mitchell, Principal in Watergate, Dies at 75| newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] | date=December 4, 1997 | access-date=May 7, 2010}}</ref>