More Nixon Break-ins

Rolling Stone reports at least 100 mysterious break-ins- -all of them apparently political in nature-- occurred during the last four years of the Nixon administration.

Robert Fink, a researcher for Washington Post reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, writes that the break-ins continued long after the Watergate burglars were caught in June of 1972. He says the most recent political burglary occurred just 10 weeks ago, about two weeks before Nixon resigned from office.

Dozens of the individuals and organizations who were burglarized, are also on the White House "enemies list."

Some of the individuals who discovered their homes or offices had been broken into and their files searched included Dan Rather of CBS; Tad Szule of the New York Times; former vice-presidential candidate Sargeant Shriver; Democratic National Chairman Robert Strauss; and John Gardner, the chairman of Common Cause.

Fink writes that the burglaries began at about the same time Richard Nixon approved the so-called "Houston plan". That plan authorized surreptitious entries, wiretaps, and mail covers to be used against opponents of the Nixon administration.

Fink says he cannot establish for certain that the more than 100 break-ins are connected to the White House, or even to government agents. But he writes that the modus operandi in virtually every case was identical; important political papers were taken while valuables were always left.

The most recent suspicious burglary reportedly took place July 17, 1974, when the Senate Subcommittee office investigating Robert Vesco's campaign contributions was burglarized.

--ZODIAC