Watergate Documents May Become Public

Secret documents linked to the Watergate scandal may become public soon. The Justice Department said there was no reason to keep many of the judicial records sealed. The agency has responded to a legal request made by a Texas history professor. He wanted to read testimony by the former FBI agent hired to eavesdrop and transcribe the conversations at Democratic National Committee headquarters in 1972. The Justice Department said hundreds of papers could be released. But others, including documents containing personal or grand-jury information or about the content of illegally obtained wiretaps, should be kept sealed.