Look at who was in that room. McCord had a long career at the CIA and left only in 1970. Hunt was a career CIA officer and a veteran of the Bay of Pigs. Liddy was a former FBI agent. TIME reported in 1974 that five of the seven burglars had been involved with the agency at one time or another. [1]
Yet the operation was full of basic mistakes. The door latch was taped horizontally, where a guard could see it, and taped again after the guard removed it. Men carried address books with Hunt’s name and White House number. McCord, a professional security officer, was the man whose job could be traced straight to the campaign.
Then McCord turned. His letter to Judge Sirica in March 1973 blew the cover-up open. And the CIA had helped Hunt before, with a disguise and photo development for the Fielding job. [2][3]
To believers, the pattern points one way: men who knew better either wanted to be caught or were following someone else’s plan.
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