Documents from Dean v. St. Martin's
Responding to the 1991 publication of Silent Coup,
John and Maureen Dean filed a libel suit against
Leonard Colodny and his publisher, St. Martin's. In
the only public legal document relating to the
lawsuit's conclusion, Judge Sullivan dismissed the
lawsuit in 1999. The lawsuit generated videotaped
depositions from Watergate participants and legal
documents prepared by both sides. In 1996 Mr.
Colodny filed for summary judgement (dismissal) of
the lawsuit. John and Maureen Dean responded. Mr.
Colodny's Motion for Partial Summary Judgement
reviews Mr. Dean's involvement in the Watergate
break-in and cover-up.
Looking beyond the legal terminology and the
specifics of the lawsuit, these documents contain a
wealth of information about Watergate, drawn from
published and unpublished sources. They also include
the reasoning, argument, and point of view of their
respective side.
