When HBO’s White House Plumbers premiered in 2023, it brought the chaotic story of E. Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy into the spotlight — two men whose mix of zealotry, incompetence, and loyalty to President Richard Nixon helped ignite one of the biggest political scandals in U.S. history. Billed as a satirical political drama, the series leans heavily into absurdity, painting the break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters as both tragic and farcical. But how does the dramatization stack up against the historical record?

Below, we break down how White House Plumbers portrays Hunt and Liddy, and where fact and fiction part ways.

The Real E. Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy

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E. Howard Hunt

In history, Hunt was no stranger to covert operations. A veteran CIA officer, he had worked on numerous Cold War missions, including the Bay of Pigs invasion. By the early 1970s, he had left the CIA but remained deeply connected to Washington’s corridors of power. Hunt was recruited into Nixon’s orbit through the White House Special Investigations Unit — better known as “the Plumbers” — which was created to stop or retaliate against leaks after the Pentagon Papers were published in 1971.

G. Gordon Liddy

Liddy’s background was more law enforcement than espionage — he was a former FBI agent and an assistant district attorney. In the Nixon White House, he became a political operative with a flair for the theatrical and an unwavering belief in the righteousness of the cause. Liddy’s proposals for political sabotage — some so extreme they bordered on the surreal — often alarmed even his fellow conspirators.

Both men shared a willingness to break the law for political ends, and together they formed the operational backbone of the Watergate burglary plan.

The HBO Portrayals

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White House Plumbers exaggerates certain personality traits for comedic and dramatic effect.

• Hunt (Woody Harrelson) is depicted as a man clinging to past glory, forever trying to prove his worth after his CIA career fizzled. His relationship with his family, particularly his wife Dorothy (Lena Headey), becomes a subplot that explores the personal toll of his actions.

• Liddy (Justin Theroux) is played as an eccentric extremist whose mix of patriotism and paranoia is both unsettling and oddly funny. The show leans into his bizarre real-life quirks, like his fondness for quoting Hitler and his readiness to endure pain to prove loyalty.

These portrayals align with certain historical anecdotes, but they also heighten the absurdity, giving the series a Coen Brothers-esque dark comedy tone.

The Watergate Break-In: Fact vs. Fiction

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The series keeps the broad strokes of history intact — the break-in at the DNC headquarters on June 17, 1972, was the culmination of a poorly executed plan meant to gather intelligence on Nixon’s political opponents. However, the timeline and emphasis are adjusted for storytelling:

• In reality, the Plumbers’ earlier operations, including the break-in at Daniel Ellsberg’s psychiatrist’s office, were at least as significant in showing the Nixon administration’s willingness to abuse power. The show includes this but condenses events to fit its narrative arc.

• The real break-in was marked by a chain of blunders: faulty equipment, repeated entries, and the infamous piece of duct tape that caught a security guard’s attention. The show captures these mishaps but amps up the comedic incompetence.

• Dorothy Hunt’s role — and her mysterious death in a 1972 plane crash — is touched on in the series, though historians still debate the extent of her involvement in her husband’s clandestine activities.

Where the Series Diverges from History

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1. Character Amplification – Hunt and Liddy were indeed colorful figures, but their eccentricities are dialed up for comedic tone, sometimes overshadowing their very real political ruthlessness.

1. Simplified Motivations – The show frames much of their behavior as misguided loyalty and ego, but historically, both men were driven by complex mixtures of ideology, paranoia, and career ambition.

1. Narrative Compression – The real Watergate saga stretched over years, with layers of investigation, cover-up, and political fallout. The miniseries condenses events to maintain pacing and focus on the duo’s misadventures.

The Lasting Impact

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In the end, White House Plumbers offers a stylized window into the Watergate era, blending farce and fact to explore how personal ambition and blind loyalty can collide with democracy’s checks and balances. While not a documentary, it captures an essential truth: the scandal wasn’t only about political crime — it was about the flawed men who thought they could get away with it.

The real Hunt and Liddy both served prison sentences for their roles. Hunt retreated into relative obscurity, writing spy novels, while Liddy embraced his infamy, hosting a radio show and cultivating a persona as an unrepentant operative until his death in 2021.

Their legacy, like Watergate itself, is a cautionary tale about the fragility of trust in government — and the strange personalities who can help bring it down.

White House Plumbers is available now with a subscription to HBO Max…