Silent Coup
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''Silent Coup'' is a book written by Len Colodny 938 - 2021and Robert Gettlin that proposed an alternate explanation for the
Watergate scandal The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's continual ...
that led to the 1974 resignation of US President
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
. The first edition was published in 1991, followed by an expanded second edition in January 1992. The prevailing narrative is that Nixon and his high-ranking associates covered up a 1972 break-in at the
Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the governing body of the United States Democratic Party. The committee coordinates strategy to support Democratic Party candidates throughout the country for local, state, and national office, as well a ...
(DNC) headquarters in the Watergate Hotel which had been undertaken to obtain information to be used against Nixon's political rivals. In contrast, Colodny and Gettlin contend that former
White House counsel The White House counsel is a senior staff appointee of the president of the United States whose role is to advise the president on all legal issues concerning the president and their administration. The White House counsel also oversees the Of ...
John Dean John Wesley Dean III (born October 14, 1938) is an American former attorney who served as White House Counsel for U.S. President Richard Nixon from July 1970 until April 1973. Dean is known for his role in the cover-up of the Watergate scandal ...
orchestrated the 1972 Watergate burglary. His motive was argued to have been to protect his future wife Maureen Biner by removing information linking her to a
call-girl A call girl or female escort is a sex worker who (unlike a street walker) does not display her profession to the general public, nor does she usually work in an institution like a brothel, although she may be employed by an escort agency.
ring that worked for the DNC. The authors also lay out a case that Nixon's Chief of Staff Alexander Haig was the identity of " Deep Throat", the nickname for an important and then-unidentified source for reporter Bob Woodward. Woodward, a Naval officer before becoming a reporter, had briefed Haig at the White House in 1969 and 1970 and the authors suggest that Haig was a source for the reporters. In 2005 it was revealed that FBI deputy director
Mark Felt William Mark Felt Sr. (August 17, 1913 – December 18, 2008) was an American law enforcement officer who worked for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from 1942 to 1973 and was known for his role in the Watergate scandal. Felt wa ...
was the "Deep Throat" informant who had become Woodward's key source after his partner Carl Bernstein was able to locate
hush money Hush money is a term for an arrangement in which one person or party offers another an attractive sum of money or other enticement, in exchange for remaining silent about some illegal, stigmatized, or shameful behavior, action, or other fact abou ...
paid to the DNC burglars in Miami, Florida.


Lawsuits

In 1992 John and Maureen Dean sued Nixon "plumber"
G. Gordon Liddy George Gordon Battle Liddy (November 30, 1930 – March 30, 2021) was an American lawyer, FBI agent, talk show host, actor, and convicted felon in the Watergate scandal as the chief operative in the White House Plumbers unit during the Nixon admi ...
for
libel Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...
, after Liddy sought to support the core claims in ''Silent Coup''. Liddy's testimony was the first time he spoke publicly in detail about the Watergate break-in, as he had refused to cooperate with investigators during the Watergate scandal. The libel case was dismissed without prejudice and was later refiled. In 2001 a federal judge declared a
mistrial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, w ...
after the jury was deadlocked, and dismissed the $5.1 million defamation lawsuit. The Deans also sued St. Martin's Press, publisher of Silent Coup. St. Martin's settled the case for an undisclosed sum. Len Colodny also settled with John Dean, and explained that “Dean agreed to accept a settlement and sign an agreement not to sue the author again on the same grounds because he wanted to avoid a public courtroom drama.” Although, “Colodny said he wanted the court to hear the case because he was confident that a public trial would validate his reporting.” For his part, Dean has gone on record in the preface to his 2006 book, '' Conservatives Without Conscience'', that he is "pleased" with the outcome. In 2001, former DNC secretary Ida Wells sued Liddy in the U. S. Federal District Court in
Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
on bases similar to those used by Dean. The court declared a mistrial, with judge J. Frederick Motz stating no " reasonable jury" could find in Wells’ favor.Civil Case No. JFM-97-946, "Memorandum" by District Judge J. Frederick Motz, March 19, 2001, U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.


References


External links


''Silent Coup'' website''Silent Coup'' online book''Booknotes'' interview with Colodny and Gettlin on ''Silent Coup'', August 11, 1991
{{Authority control 1991 non-fiction books 1992 non-fiction books Books about the Watergate scandal Non-fiction crime books Defamation