{{Short description|Campaign aide to U.S. President Richard Nixon}} {{Use American English|date=December 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2025}} {{Infobox criminal | image_name = | name = Herbert L. Porter | image_size = | image_caption = | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1938}} | birth_place = | death_place = | charge = Making a false statement to an agency of the federal government | conviction_penalty = 30 days | conviction_status = Guilty | occupation = [[Committee for the Re-Election of the President]] (CRP) organizer, former White House aide | religion = | spouse = | parents = | children = }} '''Herbert L. "Bart" Porter''' (born 1938) is an American political operative who served as a campaign aide to [[Richard Nixon]]. He became involved in the [[Watergate scandal]] after the FBI questioned him about a money transfer he had made; Porter later testified before the [[Senate Watergate Committee]] and admitted that he had lied to the FBI during that questioning. Porter was convicted of making false statements in 1974 and served 30 days in prison.
==Early life == Porter was raised in California, and describes himself as having been a supporter of Richard Nixon from a young age: {{blockquote|I first met Mr. Nixon when I was 8 years old in 1946, when [[1946 California's 12th congressional district election|he ran for Congress]] in my home district [in California]. I wore Nixon buttons when was 8 and when I was 10 and when I was 12 and when I was 16. My family worked for him; my father worked for him in campaigns, my mother worked for him in campaigns.<ref name="NYT-Admission" />}}
Porter attended the [[University of Southern California]], where he befriended future Nixon administration figures including [[Ron Ziegler]]. Ziegler invited Porter onto Nixon's staff in 1970, and six months later, Porter was named the Scheduling Director of the [[Committee for the Re-Election of the President]].<ref name="NYT-Scars">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/08/05/archives/watergate-leaves-scars-on-young-nixon-loyalist-concealed-data-on.html |title=Watergate Leaves Scars on Young Nixon Loyalist |publisher=[[New York Times]] |date=August 5, 1973 |access-date=April 17, 2024}}</ref>
==Watergate scandal== In July 1972, Porter was questioned by the FBI about money he had transferred to [[G. Gordon Liddy]]. He falsely told the agents that the money had been used to fund the infiltration of left-wing student organizations.<ref name="NYT-Sentence">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/04/12/archives/porter-gets-30day-term-for-lying-on-watergate-term-starts-april-22.html |title=Porter Gets 30‐Day Term For Lying on Watergate |publisher=[[New York Times]] |date=April 12, 1974 |access-date=April 17, 2024}}</ref> Porter testified during the January 1973 trial of the [[Watergate Seven]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/watergate/articles/013173-1.htm |title=News Analysis: Still Secret – Who Hired Spies and Why |first1=Carl |last1=Bernstein |first2=Bob |last2=Woodward |publisher=[[Washington Post]] |date=January 31, 1973 |access-date=April 17, 2024}}</ref> and testified again before the [[Senate Watergate Committee]] in June 1973. In the latter testimony, he admitted to having lied about the purpose of the spending, and stated that he had done so at the direction of [[Jeb Stuart Magruder]].<ref name="NYT-Admission">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/06/08/archives/a-campaign-aide-admits-lying-on-watergate-cash-excampaign-aide.html |title=A Campaign Aide Admits Lying on Watergate Cash |publisher=[[New York Times]] |date=June 8, 1973 |access-date=April 17, 2024}}</ref> Reflecting on his motivations for the lie, Porter told the committee that Nixon's administration was an insular community that placed a high value on "protect[ing] the President".<ref name="NYT-Scars" />
Porter pleaded guilty to the charge of [[Making false statements|lying to the FBI]] on January 28, 1974.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,943550,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081222072443/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,943550,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 22, 2008 |title=The Other Nixon Watergate Men |accessdate=March 30, 2009 |date=March 11, 1974 |work= |publisher=[[Time (magazine)|Time magazine]]}}</ref> He was sentenced on April 11 of the same year; his sentence was 15 months' imprisonment, but the bulk of this sentence was suspended by Judge [[William B. Bryant]], with the result that Porter was only imprisoned for 30 days.<ref name="NYT-Sentence" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,943607,00.html |title=The Nation: 30 Days for Lying |publisher=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=April 22, 1974 |access-date=April 17, 2024}}</ref>
==Post-Watergate== After Porter's testimony in January 1973, he and his family left Washington and returned to the West Coast. In the immediate aftermath of the testimony, Porter had a hard time finding employment due to his connection to the Watergate scandal. In August 1973, he told the ''[[New York Times]]'' that he was considering starting a [[land development]] business in [[Orange County, California|Orange County]].<ref name="NYT-Scars" />
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Porter, Herbert}} [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:1938 births]] [[Category:American people convicted of making false statements]] [[Category:People convicted in the Watergate scandal]]