White House plumbers, Nixon's secret internal unit, and ill-advised plans to prevent leaks of the Pentagon Papers, and the true story of how they led to Watergate and the downfall of the president.

On July 17, 1971, Egil "Bud" Krogh was summoned to a closed-door meeting by his mentor - and key confidant of the president - John Ehrlichman. Krogh, expecting to discuss the latest drug-control program launched in Vietnam, was shocked when Ehrlichman handed him a file and put him in charge of the Special Investigations Unit, the SIU, later known as the "Plumbers."
According to Nixon, the work of the Plumbers was of critical importance to national security: they had to investigate the leaking of top secret government documents, including the Pentagon Papers, to the press. Driven by blind loyalty, diligence and devotion, Krogh, working hand in hand with his co-director, David Young, set out to complete the task, and finally they hired G. Gordon Liddy and E, Howard Hunt, under whose leadership they would break into the psychiatrist treating Daniel Ellsberg, whom they suspected of leaking, Dr. Fielding to his office. Krogh had no idea that his decisions would soon lead to one of the most famous conspiracies in presidential history and the downfall of the Nixon administration.
White House Plumbers is Krogh's account of what really happened behind the closed doors of the Nixon White House, how a good man can make bad decisions, and the power of decency to make good.

The miniseries based on the book is now available on HBO Max.