Richard Nixon: Watergate Co-conspiracy - Report Example

Richard Nixon Causal Explanation For Nixon's Watergate Co-conspiracy Richard Nixon made many achievements during his presidency specially those pertaining to foreign ties and diplomatic relationships, as a result of which he had succeeded to gain a strong political position. However, as the 1972 elections approached, he grew paranoid about his position and got very much concerned about his chances for re-election. At the outset of Richard Nixon's presidency, his supporters had already begun to make plans for his re-election. For this purpose, the Committee to Re-elect the President (CRP), sometimes referred to as CREEP, was established. Officially, the group was a fundraising venture but they also carried out some missions of espionage on behalf of the President. CRP began a massive fund-raising campaign aimed at collecting as much money as possible before the reporting contributions became mandatory under a new law, and the money could be used for any purpose. Besides this official objective, under Nixon's orders, members of the CRP began conducting electronic surveillance of government officials and members of the press, in an attempt to control the flow of information regarding Nixon's activities. In the period between 1969 and 1971, wiretaps were installed on telephones around Washington DC in the name of "national security," and the Oval Office was equipped with voice-activated tape recorders, a decision that would later come back to haunt Nixon. In 1971, the CRP began to ramp up its political intelligence-gathering activities in preparation for the upcoming presidential election. The group planned to infiltrate the Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters, located on the sixth floor of the Watergate apartment and office complex in Washington DC. Leading the conspiracy were US Attorney General John Mitchell, deputy director of the CRP Jeb Magruder, and CRP counsel G. Gordon Liddy. Their goal was to photograph campaign materials and place bugging devices in the office of Democratic National Chairman Lawrence F. O'Brien. Cuban agents were assigned to study O'Brien's movements and determine the best opportunity to conduct a break-in. The motive behind this elaborate scheme to wire tap the phones of several Democrats was to hinder their plans. The Watergate break-in eventually exposed a whole array of campaign practices designed to disrupt or embarrass the political opposition, all of which commentators later summarized as 'dirty tricks.' Investigation and Prosecution When making an attempt to break into the Watergate building in order to fix up previously installed wiretapping equipment, all the burglars were caught red-handed by the police on information of the building guard. The number of these burglars was five including Bernard Barker, Virgilio Gonzlez, Eugenio Martnez, James W. McCord, Jr., and Frank Sturgis. After investigation the police found telephone number of E. Howard Hunt in McCord's notebook who was Chief of Security at the Committee to Re-elect the President (CRP). This was a strong proof that strengthens the idea that there was surely a connection between the burglars and someone close to the President. Investigation started to find a link between McCord and the CIA and finally it was discovered that the CRP bribed McCord. The White House denied any knowledge of the break in. Six days later, John Haldeman, the White House Chief of Staff, met with Nixon to tell him that the FBI had traced the money found in the burglars' possession to CREEP. In a tape-recorded conversation, Nixon asked Haldeman to get in touch with the CIA to have the FBI's investigation stopped. In spring 1973, three of the five indicted men in the Watergate break-in pled guilty, while the remaining two were found guilty after a trial. The Cuban men were each sentenced to forty years in prison, and Hunt was sentenced to thirty-five. McCord sent word to Judge Sirica that he was willing to cooperate in exchange for a reduced sentence. White House counsel John Dean also approached the Judge and offered his cooperation, as he feared that Nixon and his team would attempt to pin the Watergate scandal on him. He resigned as counsel. With very few players remaining, Nixon summoned his advisors Erlichman and Haldeman to Camp David. He asked for their resignations in an attempt to make it appear as though they were the masterminds behind the crime. That May Nixon named Archibald Cox as a special prosecutor to investigate Watergate. A Senate Committee was also appointed to investigate the affair, and Senator Sam Ervin was named Chairman. In June of 1973 John Dean testified during the nationally televised investigation that Nixon knew of the break in. He also testified about the President's paranoia and hostility toward his perceived enemies. It was also revealed that Nixon was routinely recording Oval Office conversations, presumably for his memoirs. The existence of tapes that could resolve the question of what the president knew about Watergate and when he knew it created a new set of circumstances for the investigators. When subpoenaed for the tapes, however, Nixon steadfastly refused to release them. He claimed that they were his personal property and therefore not admissible as evidence. In August 1973 Cox and the Senate Committee sued him to release the tapes. The judge asked to review the tapes to determine their relevancy and Nixon offered him written summaries. He then ordered Cox fired. When his Attorney General refused he was forced to resign his position. Eventually an Attorney General was hired who would fire Cox and Leon Jaworsky was hired to replace Cox. Cox's replacement Leon Jaworsky, just continued the pressure on the President for the tapes. Finally on March 1, 1974 a federal grand jury indicted Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Mitchell, Charles Colson and three other men, for conspiracy to obstruct justice. At the same time, a House Judiciary Committee started investigating the Watergate affair and other "related matters". Nixon released on April 30th edited transcripts containing what was called "suspicious gaps" of related Oval Office conversations. Still not satisfied with the president's reply, Judge Sirica subpoenaed even more tapes. When Nixon refused, the case moved to the Supreme Court. The Court ruled on July 24th against Nixon with an 8-0 vote. The Court conceded that a president could withhold national security material, however it insisted that "Watergate" was a criminal matter and did not qualify for protection. In late July of 1974, the House Judiciary Committee recommended that Nixon be Impeached on three charges: 1. Obstruction of justice, 2. Abuse of presidential powers, 3. Trying to impede the impeachment process by defying their subpoenas. On August 5, 1974 Nixon released three tapes to the public. One revealed that he had taken steps to slow the FBI's inquiry into the Watergate burglary. With House impeachment loaming and Senate conviction threatened, Nixon decided to resign on 9th August 1974. He had lost complete political support and avoided the prospect of losing the impeachment vote in the full House. He became the first US president ever to do so. President Nixon was named an 'un-indicted co-conspirator' at that time because Watergate Special Prosecutor Leon Jaworsky advised the grand jury that in his opinion a sitting President could not be indicted. In his view, the House Judiciary Committee was the appropriate body under the Constitution for examining evidence relating to the President. The House Judiciary Committee pursued its constitutional mandate and drew up five articles of impeachment. On August 9, 1974, President Richard Nixon resigned the Presidency and became citizen Richard Nixon. When U.S. President Richard Nixon resigned in 1974 in the wake of the Watergate scandal, it was only the second time that impeachment of a president had been considered. Although the U.S Constitution has provisions for a person removed from office is liable to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment according to the Law, there are no guidelines in the Constitution about a President who has resigned. Thus, for the second time the Watergate Special Prosecutor's Office faced the question of whether or not to seek an indictment. To decide on this issue, the Watergate Special Prosecution Force developed a memorandum containing factors both against and in favor of prosecution against Richard Nixon for obstruction of justice. According to this memorandum, the factors that mandated against indictment and prosecution are as follows: 1. His resignation has been sufficient punishment. 2. He has been subject to an impeachment inquiry with resulting articles of impeachment which the House Judiciary Committee unanimously endorsed as to Article 1 (the Watergate cover-up) 3. Prosecution might aggravate political divisions in the country. 4. As a political matter, the times call for conciliation rather than recrimination. 5. There would be considerable difficulty in achieving a fair trial because of massive pre-trial publicity. The factors, which mandated in favor of indictment and prosecution, were: 1. The principle of equal justice under law requires that every person, no matter what his past position or office, answer to the criminal justice system for his past offenses. This is a particularly weighty factor if Mr. Nixon's aides and associates, who acted upon his orders and what they conceived to be his interests, are to be prosecuted for the same offenses. 2. The country will be further divided by Mr. Nixon unless there is a final disposition of charges of criminality outstanding against him so as to forestall the belief that he was driven from his office by erosion of his political base. This final disposition may be necessary to preserve the integrity of the criminal justice system and the legislative process, which together marshaled the substantial evidence of Mr. Nixon's guilt. 3. Article 1, Section 3, clause 7 of the Constitution provides that a person removed from office by impeachment and conviction "shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment, and Punishment, according to Law." The Framers contemplated that a person removed from office because of abuse of his public trust still would have to answer to the criminal justice system for criminal offenses. 4. It cannot be sufficient retribution for criminal offenses merely to surrender the public and trust which has been demonstrably abused. A person should not be permitted to trade in the abused office in return for immunity. 5. The modern nature of the Presidency necessitates massive public exposure of the President's actions through the media. A bar to prosecution on the grounds of such publicity effectively would immunize all future Presidents for their actions, however criminal. Moreover, the courts may be the appropriate forum to resolve questions of pre-trial publicity in the context of an adversary proceeding. On September 8, 1974, President Ford pardoned Nixon of all charges related to the Watergate scandal. The Watergate affair amounted to an attack on many Americans' conception of the presidency, the election process, and democracy in general. Conclusion White-collar crime generally encompasses a variety of nonviolent crimes usually committed in commercial situations for financial gain. Many white-collar crimes are especially difficult to prosecute because the perpetrators are sophisticated criminals who have attempted to conceal their activities through a series of complex transactions. The white-collar crimes for political or governmental deviance very rarely result in criminal prosecution, but do result in some measure of citizen outrage and public condemnation, media attention and criticism. Occasionally official investigation is carried out and termination of political careers takes place, as was the case with Watergate incident. Personal corruption and bribery of and by political officials represent another major type of government white-collar crime. During the course of the Watergate investigation, it was discovered that nearly forty different corporations and individual executives had made illegal contributions to both parties during the 1972 presidential campaign. As a result, Congress enacted sweeping campaign finance reforms in 1974, limiting the amount of contributions to political campaigns and establishing guidelines for the detailed accounting and reporting of donations and expenditures. References Constitutional Issues - Watergate and the Constitution http://www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/lessons/watergate_and_constitution/watergate_and_constitution.html So what is Richard M. Nixon's Watergate Scandal Event summaries by J.P. Cohen Richard M. Nixon,By: Petersen, Jennifer B., Richard M. Nixon (Great Neck Biography), 2005 http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/index.php/White-collar_crime Watergate: The Scandal That Brought Down Richard Nixon http://www.watergate.info/ The History Place - Presidential Impeachment Proceedings http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/impeachments/nixon.htm http://nixon.archives.gov/index.php Read More