White House Plumbers is a limited series that ran for five, hour-long episodes. It starts in June 1971, with the hiring of two men who would set the Watergate scandal into motion. E. Howard Hunt, an ex-CIA agent, and G. Gordon Liddy, a former FBI agent, are hired by Nixon’s aide Bud Krogh to form the Special Investigations Unit, nicknamed the “White House Plumbers”. As Plumbers and devout right-wingers, Hunt and Liddy are tasked with discrediting Daniel Ellsberg and others who leaked the Pentagon Papers. Though Hunt’s wife is less than happy with Liddy’s admiration of Adolf Hitler and love of guns. Regardless, together they get to work – soon getting involved in wiretapping, donning disguises in recon missions and later recruiting others to break nto an office. Their effort gets the attention of President Richard Nixon, who next tasks them with finding information to take down the Democratic Party. Liddy and Hunt make a bid to launch Operation Gemstone – asking Attorney General John Mitchell for $1million to get them off the ground. Among their missions in the operation includes voter suppression, discrediting Democrat politicians, preventing issues at the Republican National Convention, and bugging the opposition for information. While Mitchell is sceptical of their radical plans, a chance scandal of his own gives the men the leverage they need to get what they want. The pair meet their team of Plumbers to discuss their plans opposite the Watergate complex.Episode Recap
Episode 1 - ‘The Beverly Hills Burglary’
Episode 2 - ‘Please Destroy This, Huh?’
Now with a team of eight, the Plumbers head on a mission to get into the DNC offices at Watergate. However, the plan is not as successful as they hoped, prompting Nixon to tell them to try again to get what they need from the Democratic offices – the files of strategist Larry O’Brien. But when they do, a security guard threatens to foil their plans. Hunt recruits his teenage son to get rid of his Plumber equipment following the latest operation. Liddy meets with Nixon’s new Attorney General about what happened at Watergate, while the press gets wind of what happened and who was behind the burglary. As the team tries to bury the White House connections to the Watergate break-in, Hunt starts thinking of his future away from the US with his wife, Dorothy, who has other ideas about what lies ahead for them. When his cash flow stops, a desperate Hunt starts coming up with a new plan – but disaster strikes as his entire life collapses Despite facing tragedy, Hunt doubles down on his plans to get money from the government, which forces Liddy to come up with a new proposal as their court date looms. As Nixon publicly declares there was no White House involvement, Hunt is threatened and is suggested to be involved in another past scandal. With the Plumbers now charged and facing court, the CIA and White House begin to cover their tracks, leaving Hunt and Liddy in the firing line. As they head to the court, the former partners in crime begin to turn on each other.Episode 3 - ‘Don’t Drink the Whiskey at Watergate’
Episode 4 - ‘The Writer’s Wife’
Episode 5 - ‘True Believers’
White House Plumbers available now on Sky Atlantic and NOW
