Wiretapping of the Democratic Party's headquarters. E. Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy, who led the Watergate break-in team, were stationed in a Watergate Hotel room while the burglary was underway. A lookout was posted across the street at the Howard Johnson Hotel.
The judge, however, remains above the fray, providing an independent and impartial assessment of the facts and how the law applies to those facts. Many criminal cases - and almost all civil ones - are heard by a judge sitting without a jury. The judge is the trier of fact, deciding whether the evidence is credible and which witnesses are telling the truth.
These are officers of the district court who are appointed by a majority vote of the active judges of that court. These judges serve a term of 8 years, and are given duties by the district court judges. Magistrate judges issue search warrants, set bail, and do other preliminary things in criminal cases.