In April 1973, the "Manchester Union Leader" accused Chotiner of having organized the Watergate break-in. He responded by bringing suit for libel against the "Union Leader" and its lead investigator. In December 1973, the parties reached a settlement by which Chotiner received an undisclosed, but substantial, sum of money and the newspaper printed a front-page apology and retraction of its accusations in its December 31, 1973 edition. Chotiner described Watergate in January 1973 as "a stupid, useless, inane experiment by people who have seen too many TV shows and especially too many productions of """. According to "The Washington Post", Chotiner was not close to Haldeman, John Ehrlichman, and most other staffers at the White House and CRP. In a taped discussion of the fallout from Watergate, Haldeman told Nixon that his former campaign manager was not "wired in", and the President expressed strong opposition to Chotiner being used as a White House contact. At the suggestion that Chotiner could defend him, Nixon worried that the attorney might not be willing to do so.