No Takers for Watergate at Auction

Site of secret meeting gains historical marker

(NEWSER) - The most important parking garage in American history has joined the list of Washington DC-area tourist attractions. A historical marker has been placed in front of the suburban parking garage where Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward met the anonymous "Deep Throat," receiving information that brought the Watergate scandal to light and brought down the Nixon presidency. More»

He says he 'practically blew my stack' when he heard

(NEWSER) - The public finally got to hear Richard Nixon’s long-sealed grand jury testimony regarding Watergate today—and what they heard didn’t amount to much. Asked to explain the infamous 18½ missing minutes of tape, Nixon said it was probably just erased by accident. “I practically blew my stack” when I found out how much had been lost, he said. The AP concludes that he “was no help to investigators” in reconstructing the missing conversation. More»

Hope to fill in gaps with cutting-edge forensics

(NEWSER) - Forensic scientists think their latest tools could solve one of the enduring mysteries of American politics: what was said in the 18 1/2 minutes missing from the Watergate tapes? The answer may lie in the yellow notepad on which Nixon's chief of staff, HR Haldeman, took notes on his meeting with Nixon on June 20, 1972—the day the tape was erased. More»

Archivist pushes plan to uncover lost pages' imprints

(NEWSER) - A Watergate hobbyist has a plan to discover what was discussed during the 18½ minutes erased from a taped conversation between President Nixon and his chief of staff after the break-in. Phil Mellinger doesn’t want to examine the tape itself; that's been done without success. He says the answer lies on sheets of legal yellow paper used by HR Bob Haldeman to take notes during the conversation, Mother Jones reports. More»

(NEWSER) - Political scandal icon the Watergate Hotel will go to the highest bidder Tuesday when creditors auction off the foreclosed property, reports the Washington Post. The 251-room hotel, scene of a burglary that eventually brought down a president, has been empty since 2007 as its owners scrambled to pay $40 million in loans. Bidding starts at $1 million. More»