Editing G. Gordon Liddy (section)

===Watergate burglaries===
{{Watergate|White House}}
{{Main|Watergate scandal}}
Liddy was the Nixon administration liaison and leader of the group of five men who broke into the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate Complex. At least two separate entries were made in May and June 1972; the burglars were apprehended on June 17.<ref>{{cite book|author=White, Theodore Harold|title=Breach of faith: the fall of Richard Nixon|publisher=Atheneum Publishers|location=New York City|year=1975|page=155|isbn=0-689-10658-0|url=https://archive.org/details/breachoffaithfal00whit}}</ref> The purposes of the break-in were never conclusively established. The burglars sought to place wiretaps and planned to photograph documents. Their first attempt had led to improperly-functioning recording devices being installed. Liddy and Hunt masterminded the break-in from the Watergate Hotel Room 214, where they could look right into the DNC office,<ref>{{cite news|author=Mark Gollom|title=Watergate 50 years later: Last guy to turn out the lights before burglars arrived recalls infamous break-in|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/watergate-break-in-50-years-1.6489977|access-date=October 3, 2023|archive-date=November 18, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221118221939/https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/watergate-break-in-50-years-1.6489977|url-status=live}}</ref> but Liddy claimed he did not actually enter the Watergate Complex at the time of the burglaries; rather, he admitted to supervising the second break-in which he coordinated with [[E. Howard Hunt]], from room 723 in the adjacent [[Howard Johnson Hotel]]. Liddy was convicted of [[conspiracy (crime)|conspiracy]], burglary, and illegal wiretapping.<ref>{{cite book|title=Watergate and the White House: July–December 1973|volume=2|publisher=University of Michigan|author=Facts on File, Inc.|editor=Edward W. Knappman|year=1974|page=[https://archive.org/details/watergatewhiteho0002unse/page/71 71]|isbn=978-0-87196-353-6|url=https://archive.org/details/watergatewhiteho0002unse/page/71}} </ref>

Liddy was sentenced to a 20-year prison term and was ordered to pay $40,000 in fines. He began serving the sentence on January 30, 1973. He claimed that on arrival he sang the [[Horst Wessel Song]], the Nazi Party anthem.<ref name="WP obit" /> On April 12, 1977, President [[Jimmy Carter]] commuted Liddy's sentence to eight years, "in the interest of equity and fairness based on a comparison of Mr. Liddy's sentence with those of all others convicted in Watergate related prosecutions", leaving the fine in effect.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=7345|title=Jimmy Carter: Commutation of G. Gordon Liddy's Prison Sentence Announcement of the Commutation, With the Text of the Order|publisher=Presidency.ucsb.edu|access-date=February 15, 2010|archive-date=August 16, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180816024728/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=7345|url-status=live}}</ref> Carter's commutation made Liddy eligible for parole as of July 9, 1977. Liddy was released on September 7, 1977, after serving a total of four and a half years of incarceration.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Richards |first1=Bill |title=Liddy Almost Lost Parole Set for Today |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1977/09/07/liddy-almost-lost-parole-set-for-today/7ed55bd6-e54f-4814-b2ed-cc1dba3bebd5/ |newspaper=Washington Post |date=September 7, 1977 |access-date=March 31, 2021 |archive-date=June 14, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240614203310/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1977/09/07/liddy-almost-lost-parole-set-for-today/7ed55bd6-e54f-4814-b2ed-cc1dba3bebd5/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Liddy was charged with two counts of [[contempt of Congress]] in March 1974, on the same day that he and the three Cuban burglars were charged with the Watergate-related crimes.<ref name=Trickey>Erick Trickey, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2022/07/12/gordon-liddy-contempt-congress-bannon/ Bannon contempt of Congress trial echoes Nixon burglar Liddy’s] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240614203325/https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2022/07/12/gordon-liddy-contempt-congress-bannon/ |date=June 14, 2024 }}, ''Washington Post'' (July 12, 2022).</ref> Following a [[bench trial]] on May 10, 1974, Liddy was convicted of contempt for his refusal to answer questions of the Special Subcommittee of Intelligence of the House Armed Services Committee, which was investigating the CIA's links to the break-in of the offices of Dr. Lewis Fielding, the psychiatrist to Daniel Ellsberg.<ref name=Trickey/> Liddy was found guilty and was handed a suspended jail sentence and probation; the judge stated that the sentence was lenient because Liddy was already sentenced to prison on the Watergate charges. Liddy became one of very few people in American history to be convicted of criminal contempt of Congress.{{cn|date=September 2024}}