Former Nixon aide John Dean has proven himself an annoyance to Republicans during the George W. Bush administration by committing the cardinal sin: telling the truth about the party. His best-selling books include Broken Government: How Republican Rule Destroyed the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Branches; Conservatives Without Conscience; Worse Than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush, and his latest, an honest biography of the man John McCain replaced in the U.S. Senate: Pure Goldwater, written with his college roommate, Barry M. Goldwater, the late senator's son.

This could only go so long without retribution, so it arrives soon in the most puerile and obvious way:

New Watergate book says John Dean ordered break-in

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A new book on the scandal that brought down President Richard Nixon alleges that White House counsel John Dean ordered the infamous Watergate break-in in 1972, a charge Dean strongly rejected.

James Rosen, a Fox News Channel correspondent in Washington, made the charge based on interviews and an exhaustive review of documents for "The Strong Man: John Mitchell and the Secrets of Watergate."

The biography is being released this week about Nixon's attorney general, a central Watergate figure.

Dean called Rosen's assertion "pathetic."

The only allegations the story quotes are from Jeb Magruder, who apparently said Dean was responsible in 1990 and 1995—17 and 23 years after the fact. Dean's response:

Dean told Reuters, "I hope this book is being sold as fiction, for if it is not, readers are being defrauded."

"His conclusions are pathetic. Rosen has simply ignored all the sworn testimony to the contrary, including my own," he said.

After Dean writes several best-selling books that embarrass the GOP brand, a Fox News Channel reporter comes up with "new information" saying John Dean ordered the Watergate break-in.

Imagine my surprise.