Committee for the Re-Election of the President

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The Committee for the Re-election of the President (or the Committee to Re-elect the President, CRP, but often mocked by the acronym CREEP[1]) was, officially, a fundraising organization of United States President Richard Nixon's 1972 re-election campaign during the Watergate scandal. In addition to fundraising, the organization also engaged in political sabotage against Nixon's opponents, the various Democratic politicians running in the election.

History

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Planning began in late 1970 and an office opened in the spring of 1971. Besides its re-election activities, CRP employed money laundering and slush funds, and was involved in the Watergate scandal.[2]

Anti-George Wallace campaign and neo-Nazi payment scandal

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In California, the CRP aimed to get George Wallace's American Independent Party (AIP) knocked off the ballot in the 1972 presidential election.[3] They feared that he would split the vote in a 3-way race, and without him believed Wallace voters would go for Nixon.[3][4]

As part of this plan, in 1971 the CRP offered to pay Joseph Tommasi, a Californian neo-Nazi and a local leader of the National Socialist White People's Party (NSWPP), US$5,000, equivalent to $38,821 in 2024, to help them with this plan.[5] They were connected through a former Wallace supporter who had left and joined the NSWPP.[3] Tommasi was told to convince AIP voters to register instead as Republican; due to California's election rules, if there were too few registered voters for a party, they would be knocked off the ballot.[5][6] The goal was to get the AIP's numbers either below 11,000 or less than 1/15th of 1% of all registered voters in the state.[3]

The AIP's voter registration actually rose during the period the plan was enacted. Tommasi's involvement was also a failure, as he only came up with 4 men for the plan instead of his promised 20.[5][3][4] Tommasi was paid less than he was promised (US$1,200 vs US$5,000), and claimed the CRP had cheated the Nazis.[7][5][4] In response, Tommasi leaked the story to the press.[5][8] This initially resulted in only local news reports, but after the reveal of the Watergate scandal and CRP's implication in it, the story made national news, including in The New York Times.[5][3][9] Hugh W. Sloan Jr. testified about the plan to the Watergate Commission.[3]

Robert Walters, the high-profile right-wing activist who created the plan, initially denied any tie to the CRP and said he had come up with the idea on his own.[3][4] He also said he did not remember the Nazis.[9] Another participant in the plan disputed Walters's telling of events; reporters ultimately found checks from Walters to Tommasi, after which Walters conceded that the neo-Nazis "might have been involved".[3][4] The plan was described by the Watergate Committee as a "complete failure numerically, according to all participants",[7] though the Los Angeles Free Press noted it had perhaps worked out for Tommasi.[3]

Watergate

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The CRP used $500,000 in funds raised to re-elect President Nixon to pay legal expenses for the five Watergate burglars. This act helped turn the burglary into an explosive political scandal. The burglars, as well as G. Gordon Liddy, E. Howard Hunt, John N. Mitchell, and other Nixon administration figures (Watergate Seven), were indicted over the break-in and their efforts to cover it up.

The acronym CREEP became popular due to the Watergate scandal.[10][11]

Prominent members

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Joan Hoff (2010). L. Edward Purcell (ed.). Richard Milhous Nixon. Vol. Vice Presidents: A Biographical Dictionary. Infobase Publishing. p. 351. ISBN 978-1-4381-3071-2.
  2. ^ "Committee for the Re-Election of the President Collection: Frederic Malek Papers". Nixon Presidential Library & Museum. Archived from the original on 2010-05-31. Retrieved 2010-06-04.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Chrouser, Mary (1973-06-15). "Secret Fund Given to Nazis by Republicans". Los Angeles Free Press. Vol. 16, no. 24. p. 7. ISSN 0024-6573. JSTOR community.28040055.
  4. ^ a b c d e Zak, Allen; Bess, Mary (1972-11-12). "Local American Nazis Claim Republicans Paid Them". Los Angeles Free Press. Vol. 9, no. 44. pp. 3, 5. ISSN 0024-6573. JSTOR community.28040021.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Sunshine, Spencer (2024). Neo-Nazi Terrorism and Countercultural Fascism: The Origins and Afterlife of James Mason's Siege. New York: Routledge. p. 36. ISBN 978-0-429-57601-0.
  6. ^ Morrison, Patt (2025-01-05). "Hate Groups Have Long History in Southland". Los Angeles Times. pp. B1–B2. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2025-05-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ a b United States Senate Watergate Committee 1974, p. 308.
  8. ^ Cordova, Jeanne (1975-02-21). "Exclusive Free Press Interview: Local Nazis Admit to Rosenberg, Socialist Bombings". Los Angeles Free Press. Vol. 12, no. 12. pp. 7, 28. ISSN 0024-6573. JSTOR community.28040134.
  9. ^ a b Roberts, Steven V. (1973-06-08). "Nazi Party Linked to G.O.P. Anti‐Wallace Move". The New York Times. p. 17. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-10-05.
  10. ^ "Watergate scandal", Encyclopædia Britannica, by Rick Perlstein, June 10, 2019. Retrieved June 15, 2019.
  11. ^ 100 Mistakes that Changed History: Backfires and Blunders That Collapsed Empires, Crashed Economies, and Altered the Course of Our World, by Bill Fawcett, Penguin, October 5, 2010, page 289. Retrieved June 15, 2019.

Works cited

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