Watergate's Magruder arrested in Grandview

by Matthew Marx

Former Nixon aide, discovered by police lying on sidewalk, says charge baseless

Grandview police arrested key Watergate figure Jeb Stuart Magruder on Friday and charged him with disorderly conduct — a charge Magruder called "ludicrous" last night.

"It's a baseless claim. . . . It's ludicrous," Magruder, of Upper Arlington, told The Dispatch.

Magruder — who recently made headlines when he said former President Richard M. Nixon ordered the 1972 break-in at the Watergate hotel in Washington — is charged with one fourth-degree misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct.

He is accused of lying on the sidewalk while drunk in front of 1276 Grandview Avenue and refusing a request from Grandview Police Officer Calvin Adkins to get up, Franklin County Municipal Court records show. Margruder was booked in the Franklin County jail Friday night and was released after paying a $45 bond, court records show.

Magruder, 68, a retired minister, said last night he won't be in court today for his 9 a.m. arraignment.

"I'm going to be out of town, seeing a client in Montana."

His attorney, Jack Chester, or someone from Chester's firm will represent him, Magruder said. Chester couldn't be reached last night. Also, Adkins wasn't available for comment last night. Grandview Police Sgt. Larry Balla refused to comment.

On a television documentary and in The Dispatch last month, Magruder said he was present at a meeting on March 30, 1972, when campaign manager John Mitchell was told by Nixon over the phone to go ahead with the plan. The break-in occurred two months later, on June 17, 1972, touching off one of the nation's most notorious political scandals.

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