A year before the Watergate break-in, E. Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy are assigned to look into the Pentagon Papers leak, and assemble a team of Cubans to track down whoever caused those leaks.
Hunt and Dorothy entertain Liddy and his wife, Fran, at their country club, while their children, Lisa and Saint John paint an imperfect family picture. Hunt and Liddy have a chance for redemption, following a dispute with District Attorney John Mitchell,
Hunt, Liddy, and the Cubans try to break into the Democratic National Committee offices in the Watergate Building to plant wiretaps for the White House.
Hunt is shocked by the Watergate arrests, then seeks Saint John's help in getting rid of the evidence, while Liddy warns the acting District Attorney that the burglaries could be linked to the President.
Liddy tells John Dean that he's worried about Hunt's stability and tries to make a deal. After Liddy, Hunt, and their accomplices are convicted, Kevan uses a secret notebook to convince her father to testify before the Senate, and the President resigns.