C-SPAN: 1973 U.S. Senate Watergate Committee- James McCord Testimony

Source:CSPAN– Nixon White House security official James McCord.

“James McCord Testimony – 1973 U.S. Senate Watergate Committee. Program Airs May 18, 2013 7:30pm ET:CSPAN

From CSPAN

This was extremely important, the Senate Watergate Committee hearings in 1973, because it gave Americans an inside look through their TV’s at how their Congress operates. At least on the Senate side of the U.S. Capitol. No cable TV back in 73 and no C-SPAN which came around in 1979. TV cameras weren’t allowed in Congress at all until the U.S. House passed a bill in 1979 to allow networks to film the House of Representatives, the House floor and committee hearings. The Senate did that in 1986. And this just happened to be one of the most important Congressional committee hearings of all-time in the Watergate Committee.

As far as James McCord: how someone with his professional background in the CIA as an electronics expert and the intelligence and education that he most of had, ever get involved in a third-rate burglary where they were caught the night of the failed operation by Washington Police, I may never know. You would have to think someone with his intelligence and education and hopefully character to work for the CIA the way he did must have known better. But that unfortunately can be said about most of the people involved in the Watergate burglary. Good productive educated people who did something really stupid.

James McCord being one of the failed rookie burglars in this operation. You would think that someone who would order a break in like this would hire people who actually have experience doing operations like this. And not just as spies oversees, but perhaps hiring professional burglars. People who aren’t killers, but people who have long track records of successfully pulling off operations like this to steal things of value. But instead the person who ordered this operation, who I believe was Attorney General John Mitchell, who just happened to be the Chief Law Enforcement Officer in the United States when, turns to people without any experience in this line of work.