Slow Burn: Watergate | 2. The Defeat of Wright Patman

Host: Leon Neyfak | Date: December 5, 2017

Episode Overview

This episode traces the largely forgotten investigation into Watergate by Texas Congressman Wright Patman, a populist crusader against big banks. Host Leon Neyfak explores how Patman, despite holding a powerful position and sensing early on that Watergate was more than a third-rate burglary, was systematically thwarted by President Nixon and his allies. The story highlights the ease with which powerful interests can suppress the truth—and the emotional toll of being helpless against institutional barriers to accountability.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Who Was Wright Patman?

• Background: Patman, a populist Democrat, represented rural and working-class Americans in Congress from 1929, and chaired the House Banking Committee by the time of the Watergate break-in (01:11–02:35).
• Legacy: Known for opposing big banks and defending ordinary people; likened to “the Elizabeth Warren of his time.”
• Mistrust of Banks: He believed banks should be run like utilities, not profit centers, making the Watergate burglars’ stash of sequential hundred-dollar bills instantly suspicious to him.

“Why were the burglars...carrying thousands of dollars in hundred dollar bills?...And why had one of those burglars received a deposit of $89,000 in checks from a Mexican bank?”
—Leon Neyfak (01:11)

2. The Early Watergate Investigation

• Patman’s Initiative: Immediately after the break-in, Patman moved to investigate the suspicious banking aspects connecting the crime to presidential politics (03:02–03:20).
• The Investigator: Patman tasked Curtis Prinz, a former financial journalist who admired Patman but had professional run-ins due to his objectivity, to trace the money (07:04–07:42).
• Methodology: Prinz and colleagues followed financial leads, even examining latex gloves and investigating phone records, though some leads were mundane (e.g., a burglar’s daughter calling a vet about her poodle) (08:02–09:02).

"Back then, you couldn't just walk into Costco and get 300 pairs of latex gloves. You had to go to a doctor, or someone like that to get them."
—Curtis Prinz (08:30)

3. Connections to Nixon's Campaign

• Breakthrough: Patman’s investigators confirmed the $89,000 in Mexican checks were laundered contributions to Nixon’s Committee to Re-Elect the President (CREEP) (09:02–09:31).
• Obstruction: When they tried to question Nixon’s finance chief, Maurice Stans, he stonewalled them in an almost farcical scene involving a hidden room filled with lawyers and associates (10:02–10:39).

“As soon as we asked a question...they would go to this room and open the door. It was like a clown car in there...people who were connected to something bigger than just a Committee to Re-Elect the President.”
—Curtis Prinz (10:02)

• Tensions: Stans accused Patman’s staff of partisan misconduct; Patman and staffers fired back, each side accusing the other of bad faith (11:16–11:57).

4. The Battle for Subpoenas

• Wide Net: Patman sought broad subpoenas, targeting Nixon’s inner circle (12:09–13:29).
• Political Maneuvering: Despite a Democratic majority in the committee, White House pressure (including Nixon’s direct involvement and enlisting Minority Leader Gerald Ford) ensured every Republican and several Democrats voted against subpoenas for public hearings (13:29–14:23).

“This is the big play. I'm getting into this thing. He's got to know that it comes from the top.”
—Richard Nixon (quoting White House tapes via John Dean memoir, 15:54)

• Justifications: Supposed concerns for “civil liberties” and the fair trial rights of Watergate defendants were used as pretext to block the Patman probe (17:34–19:10).

5. The Committee Vote & Aftermath

• Betrayal by Democrats: The Democratic majority fractured under political pressure or self-interest; staffer Peggy Ray Hawk Lewis describes the sense of betrayal as the tally turned against them (19:50–20:48).

“When Brasco voted, then I felt like I had been kicked in the stomach...That was when it was a kick in the stomach and I knew we had lost.”
—Peggy Ray Hawk Lewis (20:33)

• Final Vote: The committee voted 20–15 against issuing subpoenas, with 6 Democrats joining all Republicans (21:01).
• Theories: Some no-votes may have been influenced by threats or knowledge of unrelated corruption (21:09).

“So it's possible the Nixon administration knew what they were up to and threatened to reveal it. Or maybe they were just very, very concerned about the burglar's right to a fair trial.”
—Leon Neyfak (21:09)

6. A Symbolic Hearing & Public Impact

• Empty Chair Hearing: Despite defeat, Patman proceeded with a hearing—four empty chairs set for no-show witnesses, a now-famous image of legislative impotence (22:24–22:49).

“Patman asked the empty chairs questions for an hour.”
—Curtis Prinz (22:31)

• Denunciation: Patman delivered forceful, symbolic denunciations, blaming President Nixon personally for stonewalling (23:15–23:36).

“President Nixon is responsible for those four empty chairs. He was responsible for his secrecy, for the elimination of the people's right to know.”
—Wright Patman (23:15)

• Patman Team’s Disillusionment: Investigators described lingering anger, bitterness, and political cynicism from seeing a genuine probe sabotaged (24:40–25:04).

“It's safe to say I felt a real sense of betrayal. And for myself, it was the beginning of a political cynicism.”
—Peggy Ray Hawk Lewis (24:54)

“I'm still mad that we couldn't go further with this thing.”
—Curtis Prinz (25:04)

7. Legacy of the Patman Investigation

• Vindication: The White House’s interference in Patman’s probe was cited among the articles of impeachment against Nixon two years later (25:19).
• Irony & Aftermath: After Nixon’s resignation, a new wave of reform Democrats ousted Patman from his chairmanship, viewing him as out of step with the times. He died in 1976 after never really recovering from the political blow (25:19–26:19).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On early suspicions:
  “When Patman learned about the Watergate burglary, immediately after it happened, he smelled a rat.”
  —Nancy Beck Young, historian (02:59)

• On Nixon’s plotting:
  “He’s got to know it comes from the top.”
  —Nixon, as recounted by Leon Neyfak (15:54)

• On the hearing with empty chairs:
  “Patman asked the empty chairs questions for an hour.”
  —Curtis Prinz (22:31)

• Patman’s final public indictment:
  “President Nixon is responsible for those four empty chairs.”
  —Wright Patman (23:15)

Important Segment Timestamps

• Introduction to Wright Patman: 01:06–02:44
• Why Patman Pursued Watergate: 02:59–03:20, 05:05
• Interview with investigator Curtis Prinz: 07:42–08:30, 10:02–10:56, 22:31
• Maurice Stans stonewalls the committee: 10:02–10:56
• Nixon, Dean, and Ford plotting to kill the probe: 13:29–15:54
• The critical committee vote and Democratic betrayal: 19:50–21:09
• Empty chair hearing: 22:24–23:36
• Patman’s lasting legacy and ouster: 25:19–26:19

Tone & Style

The tone is investigative, poignant, and at times bitterly ironic—reflecting both the moral seriousness of the issues and the deep frustration patently felt by the key players trying to seek the truth.

For Listeners New to Watergate

This episode provides a revealing look into why Watergate so nearly remained buried before it exploded into a national scandal. It’s also a study in the limits of political courage under enormous institutional pressures, captured through vivid personal recounting and audio from the time.