The four men involved fired their attorney and changed their pleas to "guilty." (Bernstein and Woodward, p.233). The judge clearly did not believe that they had not been bribed or that they did not know the source of the money they received. (Bernstein and Woodward, p. 233-235).

Even though there is still a considerable amount of mystery regarding Watergate and the surrounding events, what is certain is the impact that the Watergate scandal had on the face of American politics. All presidencies following Nixon's have been tainted by the lingering impact of Watergate. The direct result of Nixon's actions was that "presidents not only would be subject to doubt and second guessing, they would be suspected of outright criminality. Nixon's tapes of his office and telephone conversations left an irrefutable historical record that the president abused government power for political purposes, obstructed justice, and ordered his aides to do so...
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