WATERGATE BREAK-IN PLOTTER G. GORDON LIDDY DIES AT 90

G. Gordon Liddy, a mastermind of the Watergate burglary and a radio talk show host after emerging from prison, died Tuesday (Wednesday, March 31, 2021, in Manila) at age 90, Will Lester reported for the Associated Press (AP).

His son, Thomas Liddy, confirmed the death but did not reveal the cause, other than to say it was not related to COVID-19.

Liddy, a former FBI agent and Army veteran, was convicted of conspiracy, burglary and illegal wiretapping for his role in the Watergate burglary, which led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon.

He spent four years and four months in prison, including more than 100 days in solitary confinement. “I’d do it again for my president,” he said years later.

Liddy, a lawyer who adored Adolf Hitler, was outspoken and controversial as a political operative under Nixon. He recommended assassinating political enemies and investigative columnist Jack Anderson, bombing the left-leaning think tank Brookings Institution and kidnapping war protesters.

His White House colleagues ignored such suggestions. Liddy claimed in an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” that Nixon was “insufficiently ruthless” and should have destroyed tape recordings of his conversations with top aides.

One of his ventures — the break-in at Democratic headquarters at the Watergate building in June 1972 — was approved.

The burglary went awry, which led to an investigation, a cover-up, and Nixon’s resignation in 1974.

Liddy also was convicted of conspiracy in the September 1971 burglary of the office of the psychiatrist of Daniel Ellsberg, the defense analyst who leaked the secret history of the Vietnam War known as the Pentagon Papers.

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