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Watergate defamation continues
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THE US$5.1 million defamation lawsuit against Watergate burglar G Gordon Liddy went to the jury on Wednesday after his attorney accused former White House counsel John Dean of using the case to squash theories that suggest he organized the break-in.
Dean "is using the judicial process to enforce his own official story of Watergate," Liddy attorney John Williams said in closing arguments.
The conventional theory is that the Watergate burglars were sent to Democratic National Committee headquarters in 1972 to find political intelligence for President Nixon's re-election campaign.
But Liddy, now a 70-year-old talk show host, told jurors he now believes the group was sent to find photos of call girls, including Dean's future wife, Maureen, that were kept in the desk of Ida Wells, then a young DNC secretary.
Wells testified that the only thing in her desk were "office supplies, hand lotion and reports". She is the one who sued Liddy for publicly linking her to the alleged call-girl ring.
Liddy's testimony was his first about the particulars of the botched break-in. He refused to testify during his 1973 trial and was sentenced to more than 20 years in prison. He had served four years and four months when President Carter commuted his sentence.
John and Maureen Dean have denied Liddy's call-girl theory, and both sued Liddy and others for libel in 1992. The case against Liddy was dismissed last year, though it can be refiled. (SD-Agencies)
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