# Herbert Porter > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Herbert_Porter > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Herbert_Porter.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Porter > Source revision: 1345179512 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Campaign aide to U.S. President Richard Nixon Herbert L. Porter Born 1938 (age 87–88) Occupations Committee for the Re-Election of the President (CRP) organizer, former White House aide Criminal status Guilty Criminal charge Making a false statement to an agency of the federal government Penalty 30 days **Herbert L. "Bart" Porter** (born 1938) is an American political operative who served as a campaign aide to [Richard Nixon](/source/Richard_Nixon). He became involved in the [Watergate scandal](/source/Watergate_scandal) after the FBI questioned him about a money transfer he had made; Porter later testified before the [Senate Watergate Committee](/source/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: I first met Mr. Nixon when I was 8 years old in 1946, when [he ran for Congress](/source/1946_California's_12th_congressional_district_election) 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.[1] Porter attended the [University of Southern California](/source/University_of_Southern_California), where he befriended future Nixon administration figures including [Ron Ziegler](/source/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](/source/Committee_for_the_Re-Election_of_the_President).[2] ## Watergate scandal In July 1972, Porter was questioned by the FBI about money he had transferred to [G. Gordon Liddy](/source/G._Gordon_Liddy). He falsely told the agents that the money had been used to fund the infiltration of left-wing student organizations.[3] Porter testified during the January 1973 trial of the [Watergate Seven](/source/Watergate_Seven),[4] and testified again before the [Senate Watergate Committee](/source/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](/source/Jeb_Stuart_Magruder).[1] 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".[2] Porter pleaded guilty to the charge of [lying to the FBI](/source/Making_false_statements) on January 28, 1974.[5] 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](/source/William_B._Bryant), with the result that Porter was only imprisoned for 30 days.[3][6] ## 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](/source/New_York_Times)* that he was considering starting a [land development](/source/Land_development) business in [Orange County](/source/Orange_County%2C_California).[2] ## References 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-NYT-Admission_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-NYT-Admission_1-1) ["A Campaign Aide Admits Lying on Watergate Cash"](https://www.nytimes.com/1973/06/08/archives/a-campaign-aide-admits-lying-on-watergate-cash-excampaign-aide.html). [New York Times](/source/New_York_Times). June 8, 1973. Retrieved April 17, 2024. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-NYT-Scars_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-NYT-Scars_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-NYT-Scars_2-2) ["Watergate Leaves Scars on Young Nixon Loyalist"](https://www.nytimes.com/1973/08/05/archives/watergate-leaves-scars-on-young-nixon-loyalist-concealed-data-on.html). [New York Times](/source/New_York_Times). August 5, 1973. Retrieved April 17, 2024. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-NYT-Sentence_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-NYT-Sentence_3-1) ["Porter Gets 30‐Day Term For Lying on Watergate"](https://www.nytimes.com/1974/04/12/archives/porter-gets-30day-term-for-lying-on-watergate-term-starts-april-22.html). [New York Times](/source/New_York_Times). April 12, 1974. Retrieved April 17, 2024. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Bernstein, Carl; Woodward, Bob (January 31, 1973). ["News Analysis: Still Secret – Who Hired Spies and Why"](https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/watergate/articles/013173-1.htm). [Washington Post](/source/Washington_Post). Retrieved April 17, 2024. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["The Other Nixon Watergate Men"](https://web.archive.org/web/20081222072443/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,943550,00.html). [Time magazine](/source/Time_(magazine)). March 11, 1974. Archived from [the original](http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,943550,00.html) on December 22, 2008. Retrieved March 30, 2009. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["The Nation: 30 Days for Lying"](https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,943607,00.html). [Time](/source/Time_(magazine)). April 22, 1974. Retrieved April 17, 2024. --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Herbert Porter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Porter) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Porter?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.