Erlichman"s deputy, Egil Krogh, Jr. and David Young, a member of the National Security Council staff, hired former FBI agent G. Gordon Liddy and former CIA operative E. Howard Hunt to run their illegal secret operation.

             The plumbers set wiretaps, opened mail, and conducted break-ins in order to gain information about the leakage to the New York Times. They targeted political enemies of the Nixon administration for harassment. Ellsberg who was fingered as the leaks source was at the top of the list. In September of 1971, the plumbers unit broke into the office of Dr. Lewis Fielding, Ellsberg"s psychiatrist. They wanted to find degrading information about Ellsberg before his espionage trial began. In turn the case against Ellsberg was dismissed because of this burglary.

             The Beak-In.

             On June 17, 1972, five men were arrested for breaking into the offices of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. The men were adjusting electronic devices they had installed in May of that year. The police apprehended a walkie-talkie, forty rolls of unexposed film, two 35-millimeter cameras, lock picks, pen-sized teargas guns, and bugging devices.

             Four of the men who were arrested came from Miami, Florida. They were Bernard Barker, Frank Sturgis, Virgillio Gonzalez, and Eugenio Martinez. The other man was James McCord, security coordinator for CRP. The two co-plotters were G. Gordon Liddy and Howard Hunt. Their arrest eventually uncovered a White House-sponsored plan of surveillance of political opponents and a trail of conspiracy that led to many of the highest officials in the country.

             Secret Fund.

             A secret fund that contained more than $300,000 was designated for sensitive political projects. G. Gordon Liddy, Jeb Magruder, Herbert Porter (Scheduling Director, CRP) H.R. Haldemen (President"s chief of staff), and Herbert Kalmbach (Deputy Finance Chairman, CRP) had control of the fund.