WASHINGTON, July 27 (UPI) -- Watergate figure Jeb Magruder says in a new PBS documentary that President Nixon himself ordered the Watergate break-in.
The assumption has been that Nixon was forced to resign because of his subsequent role in the coverup, not that he had ordered it to begin with.
Nixon White House counsel John Dean told CNN he was surprised by the revelation. He said he doesn't know whether Magruder, who served a 7-month sentence, is right or wrong.
Magruder said he never came forward with the information before because he wasn't asked directly about it and he was hoping he would be pardoned by Nixon.
Magruder became a Presbyterian minister and said he didn't want the information to disrupt the congregation.
Now, however, he told PBS he wanted to get the information on the record. The documentary will be broadcast beginning Wednesday.
