As impeachment was closing in on President Nixon, the CIA could, it seemed breathe a sigh of relief, as it had skillfully and luckily, with the unstinting help of the Washington Post, navigated rocky shoals. The Mullen cover contract (Ep. 3), Michael Stevens’ bombshell stories (Ep. 14), Lou Russell’s involvement (Ep. 15), the desk key found during the Watergate breakin (Ep. 16), CIA handler, Lee Pennington's document burning (Ep. 17), the CIA Defense offered during the burglary trial (Ep. 27), blackmail claims (Ep. 28), and Bittenbender's reports had all been avoided in the public narrative. So nothing could derail our country’s first presidential impeachment, correct?
But what if an honest CIA Security Officer, wishing not to be obstructive, forced disclosure of previously concealed CIA documents to the Senate? The Democratic Majority would not wish to touch them, but what about the Republican Minority, led by Tennessee Senator Howard Baker, heretofore cowed into submission by the Washington Post? And with the televised hearings long concluded, how would the Republican Minority reach the public? Tune in to this chapter of Watergate, regarding the little-read Baker Report, that has been lost to history.
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