Segretti

<h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading">Donald Segretti</h1>

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Donald Henry Segretti (born September 17, 1941, in <a title="San Marino, California" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Marino,California">San Marino, California</a>) was a political operative for the <a title="Committee to Re-elect the President" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committee_to_Re-elect_the_President">Committee to Re-elect the President</a> (<a title="Richard Nixon" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon">Nixon</a>) during the early 1970s. Segretti was hired by friend <a title="Dwight L. Chapin" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwight_L.Chapin" class="mw-redirect">Dwight L. Chapin</a> to run a campaign of <a title="Dirty tricks" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirty_tricks">dirty tricks</a> (which he dubbed "<a title="Ratfucking" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratfucking" class="mw-redirect">ratfucking</a>") against the <a title="Democratic Party (United States)" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Party_%28United_States%29">Democrats</a>, with his work being paid for by <a title="Herb Kalmbach" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herb_Kalmbach" class="mw-redirect">Herb Kalmbach</a>, Nixon's lawyer, from presidential campaign re-election funds gathered before an April 7, 1972, law required that contributors be identified. His actions were part of the larger <a title="Watergate scandal" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watergate_scandal">Watergate scandal</a>, and were important indicators for the few members of the press actively investigating the <a title="Watergate scandal" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watergate_scandal">Watergate break in</a> in the earliest stages that what became known as the <a title="Watergate scandal" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watergate_scandal">Watergate scandal</a> involved far more than just a simple break in.

Segretti's forged authorship of the "<a title="Canuck letter" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canuck_letter">Canuck letter</a>" typifies the tactics Segretti and others working with him used, forging a letter ascribed to <a title="United States Senate" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate">Senator</a> <a title="Edmund Muskie" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Muskie">Edmund Muskie</a> which maligned the people, language and culture of <a title="French Canada" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Canada">French Canada</a> and <a title="French Canadian" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Canadian">French Canadians</a>, causing the soon to be Democratic <a title="United States presidential election, 1972" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_1972">presidential candidate Muskie</a> considerable headaches in denying the letter and having to continue dealing with the issue. Many historians have indicated over the years that Muskie's withdrawal from the Presidential primaries, and the disastrous <a title="Iowa" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iowa">Iowa</a> primary loss to <a title="George McGovern" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_McGovern">George McGovern</a> that precipitated it, were at least partly the result of Segretti and some of the other "Ratfuckers" creating so much confusion and false accusations that Muskie simply could not respond in any meaningful way.

In 1974, Segretti pleaded guilty to three <a title="Misdemeanor" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misdemeanor">misdemeanor</a> counts of distributing illegal (in fact, forged) campaign literature and was sentenced to six months in prison, actually serving four months. One notable example of his wrong-doing was a faked letter on Democratic <a title="United States presidential election, 1972" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,1972">presidential candidate</a> <a title="Edmund Muskie" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Muskie">Edmund Muskie</a>'s <a title="Letterhead" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letterhead">letterhead</a> falsely alleging that U.S. <a title="United States Senate" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate">Senator</a> <a title="Henry M. Jackson" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_M.Jackson">Henry "Scoop" Jackson</a>, a fellow Democrat, had had an illegitimate child with a 17-year-old; the Muskie letters accused Senator <a title="Hubert H. Humphrey" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubert_H.Humphrey" class="mw-redirect">Hubert H. Humphrey</a> of sexual misconduct as well.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Segretti#cite_note-jogs-0">[1]</a> After testimony regarding the Muskie letters emerged, Democrats in <a title="Florida" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida">Florida</a> noted the similarity between these sabotage incidents and others that involved stationery stolen from Humphrey's offices after Muskie dropped out of the race. A false news release on Humphrey's letterhead "accused <a title="Rep. Shirley Chisholm" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rep.Shirley_Chisholm" class="mw-redirect">Rep. Shirley Chisholm</a> (D-N.Y.) of being <a title="Mental illness" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_illness" class="mw-redirect">mentally unbalanced</a>" and a mailing with an unidentified source mischaracterized Humphrey as supporting a controversial environmental measure that he actually opposed.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Segretti#cite_note-jogs-0">[1]</a>

In the 1976 film about Watergate, <a title="All the President's Men (film)" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_the_President%27s_Men_%28film%29">All the President's Men</a>, Segretti was played by <a title="Robert Walden" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Walden">Robert Walden</a>.

Segretti was a <a title="Lawyer" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawyer">lawyer</a> who served as a <a title="Prosecutor" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosecutor">prosecutor</a> for the <a title="Military of the United States" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_of_the_United_States" class="mw-redirect">military</a> and later as a civilian. However, his license was <a title="Disbarment" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disbarment">suspended</a> for two years following his conviction. In 1995, he ran for a local judgeship in <a title="Orange County, California" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_County,_California">Orange County, California</a>. However, he quickly withdrew from the race when his campaign awakened lingering anger over his involvement in the Watergate scandal. In 2000, Segretti served as co-chair of <a title="John McCain" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCain">John McCain</a>'s <a title="John McCain" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCain#2000_presidential_primary">presidential campaign</a> in Orange County.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Segretti#cite_note-1">[2]</a>

He holds a <a title="Bachelor of Science" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachelor_of_Science">B.S.</a> in <a title="Finance" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finance">Finance</a> from the <a title="University of Southern California" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Southern_California">University of Southern California</a> (1963) and a <a title="Juris Doctor" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juris_Doctor">J.D.</a> from <a title="Boalt Hall" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boalt_Hall" class="mw-redirect">UC Berkeley Law School</a> (1966). While at USC he became associated with <a title="Dwight L. Chapin" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwight_L.Chapin" class="mw-redirect">Dwight L. Chapin</a>, Tim Elbourne, <a title="Ron Ziegler" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Ziegler">Ron Ziegler</a>, <a title="Herbert Porter" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Porter">Herbert Porter</a> and <a title="Gordon C. Strachan" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_C.Strachan">Gordon C. Strachan</a>, they all joined the "Trojans for Representative Government" group.

<a title="Karl Rove" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Rove">Karl Rove</a>, a 21st-century political operative is said to have been Segretti's <a title="Protégé" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prot%C3%A9g%C3%A9" class="mw-redirect">protégé</a>, either directly<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Segretti#cite_note-anderson03-2">[3]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Segretti#cite_note-elliott-3">[</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Segretti#cite_note-elliott-3">4]</a> or indirectly.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Segretti#cite_note-johnson-4">[5]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Segretti#cite_note-curry-5">[</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Segretti#cite_note-curry-5">6]</a>

<h2>[<a title="Edit section: References" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Donald_Segretti&action=edit&section=1">edit</a>] References</h2>

<li id="cite_note-jogs-0">^ <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Segretti#cite_ref-jogs_0-0">a</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Segretti#cite_ref-jogs_0-1">b</a> New York Times Press Service. "Watergate jogs memory: Democrats recall strange election incidents," The Dallas Morning News, May 13, 1973, page 14A.</li>

<li id="cite_note-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Segretti#cite_ref-1">^</a> "<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.nndb.com/people/359/000024287/" class="external text">Donald Segretti</a>", <a title="NNDB" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NNDB">Notable Names Database</a>, retrieved July 25, 2006.</li>

<li id="cite_note-anderson03-2"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Segretti#cite_ref-anderson03_2-0">^</a> Jack Anderson. "Is Karl Rove a genius or an evil genius?" (opinion column), The Intelligencer (Doylestown, PA), October 6, 2003, page 7A: "Another Segretti protege is Karl Rove, known as "General" Rove in the George W. Bush White House for his masterful handling of the 2000 presidential campaign and the 2002 congressional campaign."</li>

<li id="cite_note-elliott-3"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Segretti#cite_ref-elliott_3-0">^</a> Bob Elliott. "Rove, Knight are winners ... or not" (opinion column), Iowa City Press-Citizen, February 15, 2008, page 13A: "Though he was born on Christmas Day in 1950, Rove isn't someone you'd characterize as a jolly old elf. Matter of fact, the person credited with being Rove's mentor is Donald Segretti , himself convicted and jailed after Watergate era scandals."</li>

<li id="cite_note-johnson-4"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Segretti#cite_ref-johnson_4-0">^</a> Rheta Grimsley Johnson. "Some humans ain't human" (opinion column), Montgomery Advertiser (Alabama), May 5, 2008, Lifestyles page: "I came of age during Nixon and Watergate, so I realize dirty tricks have been around forever. ... Dirty tricks and meddling are not a Karl Rove invention. Donald Segretti beget Lee Atwater who beget Karl Rove."</li>

<li id="cite_note-curry-5"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Segretti#cite_ref-curry_5-0">^</a> Bill Curry. "McCain staking race on caricature issues" (opinion column), Hartford Courant, October 19, 2008, page C3: "The culture wars were invented by the folks who brought you Nixon's dirty tricks and kept alive by a direct line of their descendants, from Donald Segretti to Lee Atwater to Karl Rove to Steve Schmidt, the Rove acolyte who made McCain's flagging campaign what it is today."</li>

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<h2>[<a title="Edit section: External links" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Donald_Segretti&action=edit&section=2">edit</a>] External links</h2>

<ul>

<li>"<a rel="nofollow" href="http://foia.fbi.gov/watergat/watergat1.pdf" class="external text">Watergate file, pg. 102</a>PDF (4.84 <a title="Mebibyte" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mebibyte">MiB</a>)" (pg. 116 in PDF format)</li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.nndb.com/people/359/000024287/" class="external text">Donald Segretti</a> at <a title="NNDB" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NNDB">NNDB</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKsegretti.htm" class="external text">Donald Segretti</a> at Spartacus Educational</li>

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hired by Chapin D, who was hired by Haldeman and JWT

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<a href="http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x479316">http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x479316</a>

Her friend had known Segetti, Chapin and Tim Elbourne since college. He referred to the "USC Mafia" in the White House and said Segetti and Elbourne had been called by their schoolmates Dwight Chapin and Ron Ziegler to help in the Nixon reelection business.

All belonged to a campus political party called "Trojans for Representative Government". The Trojans called their brand of electioneering "ratfucking". Ballot boxes were stuffed, spies were planted in the opposition camp, and bogus campaign literature abounded. Ziegler and Chapin had hooked onto Richard Nixon's 1962 campaign for governor of California-managed by Bob Haldeman. After graduation, Ziegler, Chapin and Elbourne had joined the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency in Los Angeles, where Haldeman was vice president. Segetti had been summoned to Washington and trained to work in a presidential election, according to Karlyn Barker's friend.

Bernstein called the Justice Department official who had originally told him Segetti was part of the Watergate investigation. "Yes, political sabotage is associated with Segetti. I've heard the term for it, 'ratfucking', the official said. There is some very powerful information, especially if it comes out before November 7," the day of the election.

Did Segetti have anything to do with "Canuck Letter?"

Bernstein had been reading the clippings on the primaries for any examples of malicious tricks. Finally he hit with one call. Ratfucking?" The word struck a raw nerve with a Justice Department attorney. "You can go right to the top with that one. I was shocked when I learned about it. I couldn't believe it. These are public servants? God. It's nauseating. You're talking about fellows who come from the best schools in the country. Men who run the government!"

From 'All the President's Men'

<a target="_blank" href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/4/7/22533/89209.">The USC Ratfucking Techniques </a>

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Am Herit

Under the direction of Donald Segretti, a young UCLA-trained attorney (whose name fittingly means “Secrets” in Italian), the White House engaged in a dirty-tricks campaign against Sen. Edmund S. Muskie of Maine, who in early 1972 had been widely regarded as the strongest of Nixon’s potential Democratic opponents. Segretti launched stink bombs at Muskie rallies, paid a young woman to run naked through the senator’s hotel yelling “I love Muskie,” and disseminated thousands of fliers in the black neighborhoods of Milwaukee falsely advertising free beer and food and an appearance by Coretta Scott King at a Muskie event. Throughout the early Democratic primary season, Segretti, an independent contractor paid with CREEP funds but working under the direction of White House aide Dwight Chapin, threw the frontrunner’s campaign into disarray, issuing fake press releases and event schedules and churning out incendiary bumper stickers that read, “Help Muskie in Busing More Children.”

Segretti

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