White House Call Girl: The Real Watergate Story, proclaims that the egregious 1972 burglary at the headquarters of the National Committee of the Democratic Party was not, as commonly believed, motivated out of politics but, instead, was sexual in nature. Although the information presented by journalist Phil Stanford is new, it does not upset the Pulitzer Prize winning Washington Post investigations of Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward. Journalist Stanford boldly explores why the burglary took place, claiming the real reason behind the break-in at the Washington D.C.’s Watergate Hotel was the fear of the disclosure of a call girl operation that would consume Washington.

The former Oregonian columnist described the idea that the break-in was in pursuit of political information as “the easy explanation,” one that was accepted without question by prosecutors and the U.S. Senate’s Watergate Special Committee.  “That’s the part of the Woodward and Bernstein story, that’s part of the conventional story,” he said.

The plot began assembling itself for Stanford when he was provided with the actual “little black book” of ex-stripper, mob operative and madam of Washington Erika “Heidi” Rikan. The book reportedly contains her breathtaking lineup of contacts; from professional football players to the criminal underworld to a crowd of sleazy and powerful Washington politicians.

Others have proffered revisionist accountings of Watergate. Jim Hougan wrote in 1986 that the break-in was shepherded by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. Stanford agrees with authors Len Colodny and Robert Gettlin in Silent Coup: The Removal of a President, who write that the intent of the burglary was to hide the personal relationship between White House Counsel John Dean and Heidi Rikan. Dean’s wife, Maureen “Mo” Biner, had at one time been Rikan’s roommate.

When the 1972 break-in occurred, Rikan was managing a sexual blackmail / call-girl network for the mob that, Stanford wrote, was running it for a U.S. intelligence agency.  “An age-old tradition” is how he describes sexual extortion in Washington. In a video discussion with Huffington Post, Stanford said Heidi Rikan had clients in the White House, as well as employees of the U.S. State Department and the Democratic National Committee.

Nixon’s sometimes-painted-heroic attorney, John Dean does not fare well by Stanford. Before White House Call Girl was released, Dean sent a five-page threatening letter the publisher of the book, Feral House, and stating that Stanford’s premise is “bogus” and that any connection between Watergate and Heidi Rikan did not exist. The matter has not been pursued by Dean.

Stanford says Dean does not like the theory around call-girls  because his girlfriend then (and current wife) was close friends with Heidi Rikan.” Some make the case that Dean was the actual organizer of the burglaries. Stanford stated that Dean paid hush money to the burglars, managed the cover-up from the White House itself and also attempted to get Howard Hunt out of the U.S.” E. Howard Hunt was ultimately convicted of conspiracy, burgalry and wiretapping, and served 33 months in prison.

Before the U.S. Senate’s Watergate Committee, Dean swore that Nixon himself was immersed in the cover-up conspiracy and that both of them talked about the cover-up on at least 35 different occasions. Still despised in Republican circles, Dean is blamed for the conviction of co-conspirators H.R. Haldeman, John Mitchell, Robert Mardian and John Ehrlichman.