Watergate Affair

On June 17th, 1972, five men were arrested for breaking and entering into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Hotel. Days later, they, and two others, were charged with burglary and wiretapping. President Nixon and his administration denied any connection to these seven men and their crimes, although the press insisted otherwise. The Washington Post received leaked evidence from an anonymous informant dubbed “Deep Throat.” In 2005, “Deep Throat” was revealed to be William Mark Felt, the former deputy director of the FBI.
The seven were put on trial, five of which pleaded guilty while the other two were found guilty by a jury. However, Sirica, the judge of the trial, read a letter from one of the defendants alleging that the Nixon Administration had been attempting to cover up their involvement with the break in at the Watergate and had also told the accused persons to plead guilty and not disclose any other information about the case. With this information, investigations on the White House began. Nixon accepted the resignation of the seven defendants, but maintained the fact that he was unaware and in no way connected to the crimes.
Archibald Cox was appointed as the “special Watergate prosecutor.” Also, Sam Ervin, a democrat from North Carolina, headed the Ervin Committee against Nixon. Butterfield, a former member of the White House, released information that Nixon’s conversations had been recorded. The tapes were subpoenaed, but Nixon refused to give them up, citing executive privilege and national security. Furthermore, he ordered the Attorney General to fire Cox. Rather than fire Cox, the Attorney General resigned. Cox was dismissed and replaced by Leon Jarwoski.
Nixon was eventually pressured into providing the tapes by the public. As the plot to steal records about a former Department of Defense worker from a physiatrist’s office unfolded, the many charges against Nixon and his Administration led to the passing of three articles of impeachment. Before he was impeached, Nixon resigned from the presidency.

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/637431/Watergate-Scandal
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/watergate/part1.html