As suspicions and questions mounted, Mitchell and Republican National Committee Chair Bob Dole both released statements denying having anything to do with what the press was calling the “Watergate caper.” Ron Ziegler continued to dismiss not only any presidential tie, but even any presidential interest in the case, saying Nixon hadn’t even discussed the burglary with anyone like Mitchell. “I’m not going to comment from the White House on a third-rate burglary attempt,” he said, in a line that would prove to be one of the most famous—and infamous—in the entire scandal.
