Richard Nixon - Watergate (INCOMPLETE)

Richard Nixon - Watergate (INCOMPLETE)

1. Coverup

   • Investigated by the United States Congress
     • Nixon's administration resisted congress' probes, which led to a constitutional crisis.

2. Offences

   • Break Into the DNC
     • Five men broke into the DNC headquarters at the Watergate complex on Saturday, June 17, 1972
       • The FBI investigated and discovered a connection between cash found on the burglars and a slush fund used by the Committee for the Re-Election of the President (CRP), the official organization of Nixon's campaign.
       • The men were Virgilio Gonzalez, Bernard Barker, James McCord, Eugenio Martínez, and Frank Sturgis.
   • bugging the offices of political opponents and people of whom Nixon or his officials were suspicious.
   • Nixon and his close aides also ordered investigations of activist groups and political figures, using the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as political weapons.

3. Discoveries

   • The [Watergate] scandal led to the discovery of multiple abuses of power by members of the Nixon administration, the commencement of an impeachment process against the president, and Nixon's resignation. The scandal also resulted in the indictment of 69 people, with trials or pleas resulting in 48 being found guilty, many of whom were top Nixon officials.
   • Evidence mounted against the president's staff, including testimony provided by former staff members in an investigation conducted by the Senate Watergate Committee. The investigation revealed that Nixon had a tape-recording system in his offices and that he had recorded many conversations.
     • Smoking Gun Tape
       • The release of the tape was ordered by the Supreme Court on July 24, 1974, in a case known as United States v. Nixon. The court’s decision was unanimous.
       • President Nixon released the tape on August 5. It was one of three conversations he had with Haldeman six days after the Watergate break-in. The tapes prove that he ordered a cover-up of the Watergate burglary. The Smoking Gun tape reveals that Nixon ordered the FBI to abandon its investigation of the break-in.
         • After the release of the tape, the eleven Republicans on the Judiciary Committee who voted against impeachment charges said they would change their votes. It was clear that Nixon would be impeached and convicted in the Senate.

4. Resignation

   • Nixon announced his resignation on August 8.
     • On September 8, 1974, his successor, Gerald Ford, pardoned him.

5. Important Figures

   • Richard Nixon (obviously)
   • G. Gordon Liddy, Finance Counsel for the Committee for the Re-Election of the President (CRP)
   • Presidential Counsel John Dean
   • Attorney General John Mitchell