During the early hours of 17 June 1972, five men were arrested inside the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C. They carried surveillance equipment and cash, and investigators began tracing connections between the burglars and President Richard Nixon’s re-election organisation.
The break-in was not immediately understood as a presidential scandal. The White House denied involvement, and Nixon won re-election in November 1972. However, the criminal investigation, the Watergate trial and reporting by journalists continued to expose links among the burglars, campaign officials and political intelligence operations.
The break-in became the entry point into a much wider investigation. Questions increasingly focused not only on who authorised the burglary, but on money, campaign practices, political espionage and attempts to obstruct or conceal the investigation.