Say hello to James W. McCord Jr.

They say the devil is in the details and nobody knows that better than old Jim.

Frank Wills was a security guard for the Watergate Hotel. In the early morning hours of June 17, 1972, Wills was making his rounds when he noticed that a piece of duct tape had been placed over the locking mechanism of one of the building's entry doors. Wills figured some maintenance men had forgotten to remove the tape and tore it off. He came back later and saw the door lock was covered with a fresh piece of tape. Frank Wills called the cops.

When the Washington DC Poilice arrived, they soon found some men messing with survelliance equipment in the offices of one of the Watergate's tenants: The Democratic National Headquarters.

The men (Bernard L. Barker, Eugenio Martinez, Frank A. Sturgis, Virgilio R. Gonzales and James McCord) were arrested on site. E. Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy had fled the scene but were arrested later. While all of DC giggled at the ineptitude of the Watergate break-in team, Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein couldn't get past one, nagging detail. James McCord was the security director for the Committee for the Reelection of the President (CREEP).

McCord and the other Watergate burglers went to trial in the court of Judge "Maximum John" Sirica. Sirica got his nickname because he was known for giving out harsh sentences. On January 30, 1973, McCord and friends were found guilty and convicted of conspiracy, burglary and wiretapping. Judge Sirica was angered because the men would not name names and told them he would lessen their sentences (30 years) if they came forth with information about who had hired them and why.

On March 23, 1973, Sirica entered his office only to find McCord sitting there with a letter in hand. Thinking the letter might contain payola, Sirica ordered a probation officer to take the missive to his courtroom. There, Sirica read the letter aloud from the bench.

McCord's letter stated that the Watergate burglary was an operation ordered by former Secretary of State John Mitchell and White House counsel John Dean. McCord also stated that he was ordered to plead guilty and clam up by Dean and Mitchell and was promised compensation for his act via payments from a slush fund managed by Mitchell.

After Watergate, McCord went on to be an athletic booster, run an illegal gambling ring and become owner of a private security consulting firm. He wrote a book published in 1974, titled: "A Piece of Tape: The Watergate Story: Fact and Fiction".

McCord's Present Day Counterpart:

Jeff Gannon A.K.A. James Guckert