Records of the Watergate Special Prosecution Force
1971 to 1977
Volume: 1,362 feet
Many records of the Watergate Special Prosecution Force (WSPF) are open for research. Other documents may be requested under the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552, as amended).
The vast majority of the records of the WSPF are NOT available online. For access to these records, contact the Special Access and FOIA Program:
Write: Special Access and FOIA Program
National Archives and Records Administration
8601 Adelphi Road, Room 5500
College Park, MD 20740
By phone: (301) 837-3190
Fax: (301) 837-1864
E-mail: specialaccess_foia@nara.gov
For additional information about records of Independent Counsels in the National Archives and Records Administration, please visit the Special Prosecutors and Independent Counsels Main Page.
Watergate Special Prosecution Force (WSPF) Finding Aids
The Guide to the National Archives of the United States provides an overview of the records of the WSPF.
Below is an index of folder title lists that are available on line. A folder title list is just that-- a finding aid created by the National Archives that shows the titles of the folders in a specific box and their order within that box. In some cases, an entry on the list has been redacted in accordance with a FOIA exemption. Please contact the Special Access and FOIA Program for information on the availability of the records in the folder title lists and for additional finding aids not available on line. A page count following a folder title indicates that the contents of the folder have been reviewed for release.
- Campaign Contributions Task Force Numerical Files
- Plumbers Task Force
- Records of Executive Assistant Pertaining to Presidential Tape Recordings
Selected Subjects of Previously Released Watergate Special Prosecution Force (WSPF) Records
- 18 1/2 Minute Gap Investigation
- Abplanalp, Robert
- Agnew, Spiro
- Anderson, Jack
- Artime, Manuel
- Ayers, U.S. v.
- Baker, Howard
- Barker, Bernard
- Bennett, Robert
- Berrigan cases, alleged buggings and break-ins
- Bittman, William O.
- Bork, Robert
- Break-in at the Democratic National Committee Headquarters
- Bremer, Arthur
- Brookings Institution-burglary/firebomb
- Buchanan, Patrick
- Bush, George
- Buzhardt, J. Fred
- Camden 28
- Campbell, Don- Assistant U.S. Attorney work file
- Carlstead, Harold [cousins of E. Howard Hunt]
- Casey, William
- Casper, Norman
- Caulfield, John
- Central Intelligence Agency, Use of, 6/23/72
- Central Intelligence Agency, Report on Domestic Intelligence, 12/12/74
- Chennault, Anna
- Chicago Seven-burglary
- Chicago Weather People
- Chilean Embassy-break-in
- Chotiner, Murray
- Colson, Charles
- Conein, Lucien
- Cornfeld, Bernard
- Cosmos Bank
- Cuba-attempts to invade Cuba with Cuban exiles
- Cushman, Robert E.
- Dean, John W., III
- Dole, Robert
- Ellsberg, Daniel-Mill Valley, CA burglary
- Ellsberg, Daniel-May 3rd Demonstration
- Empire Life Assurance Co. [Moody, Shearn]
- Enemies List
- Fielding, Fred
- Fielding, Dr. Louis
- Ford, Gerald R.
- Gainesville 8
- Garment, Leonard
- Gerstein, Richard-burglary
- Golden, James
- Haig, Alexander
- Hartley, Fred
- Hoffa, James [and Teamsters Union]
- Hogan and Hartson Executive Committee
- Hoover, J. Edgar
- Hughes, Howard
- Hunt, E. Howard
- ITT Task Force
- Jaworski, Leon
- Juliana, James [and George Meany]
- Khashoggi, Adnan
- Kissinger, Henry
- Krogh, Egil
- Lansky, Meyer
- Laxalt, Paul
- Liddy, G. Gordon
- MacGregor, Clark
- Magruder, Jeb Stuart
- Malek, Fred
- McCord, James
- Meany, George [and James Juliana]
- Meier, John
- Milk Fund Investigation-George Mehren
- Milk Fund Investigation-Harold S. Nelson
- Milk Fund Investigation-Paul Alagia
- Milk Fund Investigation-Gary Hanman
- Milk Fund Investigation-Jake Jacobsen
- Minnick, Walter
- Mitchell, John
- Mittler, Austin
- Moody, Shearn [Empire Life Assurance Co.]
- Mosbacher, Robert
- NAACP Legal Defense Fund-burglary
- Newsday
- Nixon, Richard M., documents re the resignation, possible indictment, and eventual pardon of,
- Nixon, Richard M.-prosecution memoranda 2/7/74
- Nixon, Richard M.-pardon of
- Nixon, Richard M.-rights to pension benefits
- Nixon, Richard M.-WSPF interviews July 1975
- Nixon Grand Jury Records
- Nixon, F. Donald
- Oliver, R. Spencer
- O'Brien, Paul
- Pappas, Thomas
- Parkinson, Kenneth
- Perot, H. Ross
- Philippine Contributions
- Presidential Files, Attempts to gain access to, after President Nixon's resignation
- Radford Incident
- Rather, Dan-burglary
- Rebozo, Charles G.
- Repressive Legislation, National Committee Against
- Responsiveness Program
- Richardson, Elliot and the establishment of the Watergate Special Prosecution Force
- Rockefeller, Nelson
- Rollins, John
- Russell, Louis
- Segretti, Donald
- Sheppard, Roy
- Silberman, Laurence H.
- Silberman, David Russell
- Silbert, Earl-"Present Status of Watergate Investigation Conducted by United States Attorney's for the District of Columbia"-memo to WSPF 6/7/73
- Silbert, Earl- Assistant U.S. Attorney work file
- Silbert Earl-diary
- Stans, Maurice
- Stewart, Jack
- Strauss, Robert-burglary
- Sturgis, Frank
- Suarez, Miguel
- Teamsters Union [and James Hoffa]
- Teeter, Robert
- Torrijos, Omar, alleged attempt to assassinate
- United States Attorney-documentary evidence file
- United States Attorney-Earl Silbert diary
- United States Attorney-Earl Silbert work file
- United States Attorney-"Present Status of Watergate Investigation Conducted by United States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia"-memo to WSPF 6/7/73
- United States Attorney-court file for U.S. v. Liddy, et al., CR 1827-72
- United States Attorney-Don Campbell work file
- United States Attorney-court file for appeals arising from U.S. v. Liddy, et al., CR 1827-72
- U.S. v. Liddy Trial Records and Government Exhibits
- U.S. v. Liddy Unsealed Materials
- Vietnam Veterans Against the War
- Seife- burglary, Dr. Seife- burglary
- Wallace, Gerald
- Wallace, George
- Walters, Johnnie
- Washington Free Press
- Watergate Special Prosecution Force, Administrative History of
- Watergate Special Prosecution Force, Elliot Richardson and the establishment of,
- Watergate Road Map
- White House Taping System, installation of
- White House Taping System, WSPF testimony summaries
- Williams, Edward Bennett
- Wolfson, Warren
- Wong, Alfred
- Woods, Joseph
- Yeutter, Clayton
- Young, David R.
Selected Records Online in the National Archives Catalog
The National Archives Catalog is a database of selected holdings from the National Archives and Records Administration. The National Archives Catalog is a searchable database that contains information about a wide variety of NARA's holdings across the country. You can use the National Archives Catalog to search descriptions for key words or topics, and then to retrieve digital copies of selected textual documents, photographs, maps, and sound recordings.
Digitized copies of five documents from the records of the Watergate Special Prosecution Force and related court cases are available in the National Archives Catalog:
Watergate Special Prosecution Force
- The page from the security officer's log from the Watergate office building showing the entry for June 17, 1972, has been digitized.
- Search Hint:
- To retrieve the digitized image of this artifact, enter "watergate special prosecution force" in the Keywords box.
Search the National Archives Catalog
U.S. District Court Records
- Four exhibits from the trial of the Watergate burglars (United States versus G. Gordon Liddy, Eugenio Martinez, Frank Sturgis, E. Howard Hunt, James McCord, Bernard Barker, and Virgilio Gonzalez) have been digitized. These items include two photographs of the Watergate complex, a page from the address book of burglar Bernard Barker discovered in a room at the Watergate hotel on June 18, 1972, and a photograph of Chapstick tubes with hidden microphones.
- Search Hint:
- To retrieve these digitized images from the advanced search screen, enter "watergate" in the first Keywords box.
- Select Descriptions of Archival Materials linked to digital copies at the top of the form.
- Press the Lookup button next to the Record Group Number(s) box.
- Enter "21" in the new Keywords box. Select Go. The title of Record Group 21 (Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-1991) will display.
- Paste the selected record group into the advanced screen by pressing the All button. The Online will take you back to the Advanced search screen with "21" now pasted into the Record Group Number(s) box.
Search the National Archives Catalog
Related U.S. District Court Records
The records of the trials the WSPF conducted serve as an adjunct to the records of the WSPF. Located in Record Group 21, Records of United States District Courts, the trials are divided into Criminal, Civil, and Miscellaneous cases. In most cases, the records consist of briefs and motions filed by the prosecution and the defense, transcripts of pre-trial (and any post-trial) proceedings and of the trial itself, government and defense exhibits, and some appeal actions. Appeals filed by defendants in Watergate-related cases can be found in the Court of Appeals records located in our Washington, DC building. Call the A1 Reference Section (RR1RR) at 202-357-5287 for further information. The court records are all open for research, except for a few items that are still sealed by the court.