CNN Sets June 5 Debut For Watergate Documentary Series – Deadline

CNN will debut Watergate: Blueprint for a Scandal, with John Dean offering his first-hand account of the break in that brought down Richard Nixon’s presidency, on June 5.

Dean, former White House counsel for Nixon, serves as an executive producer on the project, with the debut tied to the 50th anniversary of the break in.

In a statement, Dean said, “After passage of a half century, we have the complete record of what happened during Watergate and this series is more than a cautionary tale about these events. The criminal conduct of Richard Nixon and his top aides was found to be totally unacceptable to the American people and became the blueprint for what no President of the United States should do.”

Dean said that the history of Watergate “is highly relevant once again, and it is a risk to our democracy to ignore it.”

He appears in a new teaser (view here) in which he says, “When you boil it to its essence, the story is about the abuse of power by somebody in a position to exercise that power.”

The four-part series also will feature new interviews with Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein, Elizabeth Holtzman, Richard Ben-Veniste and Alexander Butterfield, among others.

Two episodes will premiere on June 5 at 9 PM ET.

Amy Entelis, executive vice president for talent and content development at CNN Worldwide, said in a statement, “Watergate is the reference point for all presidencies about abuse of power and John Dean’s personal account takes our understanding of this important moment in our political history to a new level. Our historical CNN Original Series continue to fascinate our audiences, providing a new lens through which to view current events.”

Other EPs include Mark Herzog and Andie Beckerman for producer Herzog & Company; John Dean; and Amy Entelis, Lyle Gamm, and Jon Adler for CNN Original Series. Domini Hofmann is an executive producer and showrunner for the series.