Freda Reiter – G. Gordon Liddy and Wife Frances Liddy – Pastel Drawing

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G. Gordon Liddy was one of the “White House Plumbers” who organized the bugging of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate and the earlier burglary of Daniel Ellsberg’s psychiatrist’s office in Los Angeles. Liddy and the other “plumbers” were tried for the Watergate burglary in 1973, and for the California burglary in 1974. It’s unclear from which trial this drawing dates.

Pastel drawing, 17″ x 14″

Watergate exhibition page

Freda L. Reiter

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Since cameras were banned from courtrooms, news outlets depended on professional sketch artists like Freda Reiter for visuals. When Reiter was assigned the Watergate burglary trial, in 1973, she had no idea that she would be spending the better part of two years in Washington.

Watergate Courtroom Sketches by Freda L. Reiter, 1973–75
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To provide sufficient visuals for the substantial airtime allotted to the story each night, Reiter made multiple sketches a day: close-up portraits, as well as wide-angle views of the courtroom incorporating as many as 28 figures.