‘I believe Mr Nixon knew all along’: The tragic story of Martha Mitchell

John and Martha Mitchell were in California for fund-raising engagements at the time of the arrests. Realising she would easily connect the break-in to himself and the campaign (one of the arrested men, Creep staffer James McCord, had previously been assigned to her as a personal guard), John tried to keep the news from Martha. As he prepared to return to Washington to begin a cover-up operation, he suggested she remain at their hotel to rest, and told the Creep team, including security aide Steve King, to ensure she didn’t see any newspapers. A few days later, however, Martha managed to find a copy of the Los Angeles Times, and phoned one of her reporter friends, United Press International’s Helen Thomas, to discuss what she’d learned.