Watergate

During theDeseret News event "Integrity & Trust: Lessons from Watergate and Today," Elder D. Todd Christofferson detailed the experience that "put an end to [his] life of crime."

In 1973, Bob Woodward was a young reporter for the Washington Post when he won a Pulitzer Prize for his pursuit of the Watergate scandal. His influence on the events that led to Richard Nixon’s resignation, the first-ever resignation from a U.S. president, is undeniable. Since Watergate, he has written many books, been portrayed in a Hollywood movie by Robert Redford, and appeared on countless network news programs, but on Monday, he sat down with Elder D. Todd Christofferson. During Watergate, Elder Christofferson was a young law clerk for Judge John J. Sirica and was among the first to listen to President Nixon’s White House tapes. Together, Woodward and Elder Christofferson relived their experiences surrounding Watergate, discussing specifically why integrity and trust matters in government today.

When Bob Woodward learned that Richard Nixon had been pardoned, the reporter whose investigation led to the president’s resignation believed the pardon was improper, “the final corruption of Watergate.”

Bob Woodward literally wrote the book on Watergate. Five books, in fact, including All the President's Men with Carl Bernstein, his partner in the landmark reporting on the presidential scandal that led to the resignation of Richard Nixon.

Elder D. Todd Christofferson, who worked as a law clerk for U.S. District Court Judge Sirica during the Watergate trials, and legendary Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Bob Woodward, who worked with Carl Bernstein to break the Watergate story, are coming together for an unprecedented event. The two will highlight the lessons they learned about trust and integrity in public life during their unique experiences with Watergate and beyond. Hosted by the Deseret News,the event will be held in Washington, D.C. and streamed live online on Monday, January 14, 2019, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. EST (4:30 to 6 p.m. MST).

As a law clerk to Judge John Sirica in the 1970s, Elder D. Todd Christofferson had the rare opportunity of experiencing the Watergate trials from a closer perspective than most.