Veteran Amerian Attorney, Earl J. Silbert, dies at 86

Earl Judah Silbert was an American lawyer who served as an America Attorney for the District of Columbia from 1974 to 1979. He was born on March 8, 1936, in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Silbert was noted for being the first prosecutor in the Watergate scandal, alongside two other U.S. Attorneys.

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Watergate First Prosecutor Earl Silbert Dies at 86

On the morning of June 17, 1972, Earl J. Silbert was in bed when the telephone rang early waking him from his sleep.

A colleague called him to inform Mr. Silbert, then principal assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, of strange events that had transpired hours earlier at the Watergate complex on the banks of the Potomac River where five men wearing business suits had been arrested in an attempt to bug headquarters of the Democratic National Committee. Among the five men, one of them was James W. McCord Jr., who was the security chief for President Richard M. Nixon’s reelection campaign and also a former CIA employee.

“It was going to be a hot case,” Mr. Silbert recalled many years ago. “The only thing opened was how hot was hot going to be.”

By his own account, he didn’t immediately grasp the case’s magnitude when, as the first prosecutor in a matter of the Watergate affair, Silbert set out to obtain indictments of five burglars and two key co-conspirators and the former White House aides G. Gordon Liddy and E. Howard Hunt. He said he regarded break-in as too clumsy to be work of anyone but underlings.

“You will always assume and maybe that was a mistake an underlying rationality,” Silbert told the New York Times in 1975.

What was the Death Cause of Earl J. Silbert?

After 86 Years, Mr. Silbert passed away on Sept. 6, 2022, at a medical facility in Keene, N.H., his family claimed. He had actually endured an aortic breakdown. After that Watergate case, he was offered 5 years as a united state lawyer for the Columbia area as well as later on developed an exclusive technique in Washington DC.

However, Silbert continued to be life-related to the instance that started in the early morning in 1972, when he was only a 36-year-old government district attorney recognized for his refined fashion also known as “Earl the Pearl.”

Let’s Know about Family and Early Life American Lawyer

Earl J. Silbert was born in Boston, America. He was from a middle-class family. His father was also a lawyer and also a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives for the Republican Party and his mother was a housewife and social worker but his parent’s name is not known till now.

earl j. silbert age

Silbert attended his school level at Phillips Exeter Academy and he successfully graduated from there in 1953. He was one of the brilliant students in his school. After his graduation, he then studied history at Harvard University. Silbert also graduated from Harvard with a bachelor’s degree in the year 1957.

Meet the Wife of Earl J. Silbert: Patricia Allott Silbert  

Earl J. Silbert was married to Patricia Allott in 1970. It is not known whether they had a love marriage or arrange marriage. They remained together for 52 years until Silbert’s death. After the marriage, the couple had two daughters named as Sarah Silbert and Leslie Silbert. According to his children’s profession, both of his daughters were novelists.

Silbert’s wife, Patricia has always supported him and is a very kind and supportive woman. She was a housewife and mother of their two children and she used to support him in his good and bad times.

How Earl Silbert became a Famous American Lawyer?

After graduating from Harvard, Silbert first worked at the United States Department of Justice in 1960 and his refined demeanor earned him the moniker “Earl the Pearl”. After that, he then served as a principal assistant for the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia and it was also in his capacity that he became the first prosecutor in the Watergate scandal. Silbert collaborated with Donald E. Campbell and Seymour Glanzer in obtaining indictments of five thieves and two main leading co-conspirators (G. Gordon Liddy and E. Howard Hunt) in September 1972. He later revealed that he had initially underestimated the severity of the case, believing the break-in to be too inept.

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Following the case of Watergate, Silbert became interim United States Attorney for the District of Columbia in January 1974, before being confirmed to a role in October 1974. He also ultimately served in that capacity until 1979. Silbert was indirectly involved in the trial of CIA asset Michael Townley for the assassination of Orlando Letelier who was the former Chilean ambassador to the U.S. Silbert’s involvement centered on a document he agreed to with the Chilean government of dictator Augusto Pinochet to limit the amount of information and also the Justice Department would release about the assassination of Letelier and other activities involving Chilean government.

Silbert also later represented Michael Abbell who was a former U.S. Justice Department prosecutor who then became a defense attorney for Colombia’s notorious Cali cartel. Cali Cartel was eventually sentenced to five years in prison for his involvement in drug trafficking and he also represented former Enron chairman Kenneth Lay.

Contributions and Awards Received by Earl J. Silbert

The American Lawyer has so many contributions to the people of America in his career as he was the first Prosecutor in the case of Watergate in 1972. Silbert also worked against drug trafficking, terrorism act, and many others.

And in the Year 2009, the Council for Court Excellence Justice Potter Stewart Award was given to Silbert for his work to improve the judicial system, both as a United States Attorney and also subsequently in private practice.

What was the Overall Earnings of American Lawyer? Know his Net Worth

Silbert hasn’t revealed his income in public but it is found that his net worth is more than worth $1 Million. His main income source was from being a Successful Lawyer. Being a Lawyer for many years, he has earned a good source of income.

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