Nixon's Law-Breaking: Abuse Of Power And Trust

Richard Nixon was the 37th president of the United States. He resigned from office on August 9, 1974, becoming the only US president to do so. Nixon's resignation came in the wake of the Watergate scandal, which began on June 17, 1972, when five burglars were arrested in the office of the Democratic National Committee, located in the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. The burglars were caught wiretapping phones and stealing documents.

It was later revealed that the burglars were connected to Nixon's reelection campaign and that Nixon himself had tried to cover up the crimes. The burglars were employed by the Committee to Re-Elect the President (CRP), a campaign organisation formed to support Nixon's reelection.

Nixon's attempts to cover up the scandal included firing staffers allegedly involved in the cover-up, refusing to hand over tapes of conversations in the Oval Office, and ordering the CIA to impede the FBI's investigation of the crime.

In July 1974, the House Judiciary Committee voted to adopt three articles of impeachment against Nixon: obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and contempt of Congress. Facing likely impeachment, Nixon resigned.

Obstruction of justice

Richard Nixon was the first US president to be the subject of an official impeachment inquiry in the House of Representatives since Andrew Johnson in 1868. While Nixon was never impeached, the impeachment process against him is the only one that has brought about a president's departure from office.

Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974, before the full House voted on the articles of impeachment. The three articles of impeachment approved by the House Judiciary Committee charged Nixon with:

• Obstruction of justice in attempting to impede the investigation of the Watergate break-in, protect those responsible, and conceal the existence of other illegal activities.
• Abuse of power by using the office of the presidency on multiple occasions, dating back to the first year of his administration, to unlawfully use federal agencies, such as the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as well as establishing a covert White House special investigative unit, to violate the constitutional rights of citizens and interfere with lawful investigations.
• Contempt of Congress by refusing to comply with congressional subpoenas.

The first article of impeachment, obstruction of justice, was passed by a vote of 27-11, with six Republicans voting in favour along with all 21 Democrats. The article alleged that Nixon had worked with subordinates to "delay, impede, and obstruct the investigation" into the Watergate break-in; to "cover up, conceal and protect those responsible"; and to "conceal the existence and scope of other unlawful covert activities".

The article specified nine ways by which Nixon was alleged to have carried out the plan to obstruct the investigation:

• Ordering the CIA to falsely claim to the FBI that national security was involved in the Watergate break-in, in order to block investigations.
• Ordering the CIA to tell the FBI to "stay the hell out" of the Watergate investigation.
• Offering to pay hush money to the Watergate burglars to buy their silence.
• Ordering the payment of hush money to Howard Hunt, one of the Watergate burglars, who was blackmailing the White House.
• Offering clemency to Watergate burglar James McCord in return for a recommendation of leniency for the other burglars.
• Offering executive clemency to Watergate burglar John Dean in return for his silence.
• Ordering the FBI to drop its investigation of the Watergate break-in.
• Ordering the destruction of the White House taping system.
• Ordering the destruction of documents related to the installation of the White House taping system.

The House Judiciary Committee's report on the three articles of impeachment stated that Nixon had "acted in a manner contrary to his trust as President and subversive of constitutional government, to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States".

Abuse of power

Richard Nixon's abuse of power was a central component of the Watergate scandal, which ultimately led to his resignation.

Nixon was accused of using the powers of the office of President of the United States to violate the constitutional rights of citizens, impede the due and proper administration of justice, and interfere with lawful investigations.

Nixon's administration was found to have used the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to unlawfully target citizens, as well as establishing a covert White House special investigative unit to violate the constitutional rights of citizens and interfere with lawful investigations.

Nixon was also accused of misusing the power vested in his office to interfere with the activities of the FBI, Central Intelligence Agency, Department of Justice, and the Watergate special prosecutor.

The House Judiciary Committee approved articles of impeachment against Nixon, charging him with abuse of power, in addition to obstruction of justice and contempt of Congress.

Nixon's abuse of power included:

• Using the IRS to initiate tax audits or obtain confidential tax data for political purposes
• Using national security as a cover for a series of secret wiretaps against government officials, newsmen, and Nixon's brother, Donald Nixon
• Establishing the White House special investigative unit, later dubbed the "plumbers," for "covert and unlawful activities," including the burglary of the office of a psychiatrist in search of information to defame Daniel Ellsberg for his part in publishing the Pentagon Papers
• Failing to act on the knowledge that close subordinates had sought to impede justice in the Watergate case and related matters
• Knowingly misusing the power of his office to interfere with the activities of the FBI, CIA, Department of Justice, and the Watergate special prosecutor

Contempt of Congress

The third article of impeachment against President Nixon was for contempt of Congress. The article was approved by the House Judiciary Committee on July 30, 1974, by a vote of 21-17. It charged Nixon with:

> [F]ail [ing] without lawful cause or excuse, to produce papers and things as directed by duly authorized subpoenas issued by the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives, on April 11, 1974, May 15, 1974, May 30, 1974, and June 24, 1974, and willfully disobey [ing] such subpoenas. The subpoenaed papers and things were deemed necessary by the Committee in order to resolve by direct evidence fundamental, factual questions relating to Presidential direction, knowledge or approval of actions demonstrated by other evidence to be substantial grounds for impeachment of the President. In refusing to produce these papers and things, Richard M. Nixon, substituting his judgement as to what materials were necessary for the inquiry, interposed the powers of the Presidency against the lawful subpoenas of the House of Representatives, thereby assuming to himself functions and judgments necessary to the exercise of the sole power of impeachment vested by the Constitution in the House of Representatives.

The article was based on Nixon's refusal to comply with subpoenas issued by the Judiciary Committee for tapes of presidential conversations and his daily diary. In a letter to Chairman Peter Rodino, Nixon outlined his reasons for non-compliance, including that he believed the continued succession of demands for additional presidential conversations would constitute a "massive invasion into the confidentiality of Presidential conversations".

Nixon's refusal to comply with the subpoenas led to the Judiciary Committee considering whether to charge him with contempt of Congress. The Committee eventually approved the article of impeachment, but Nixon resigned before the full House could vote on it.

Illegal campaign financing

The Watergate scandal, which began with the break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in 1972, revealed a network of secret fundraising and illegal campaign donations. The scandal exposed tens of millions of dollars in illegal corporate donations that had fuelled President Nixon's sweeping victory in the 1972 election.

The Committee to Re-Elect the President (CRP) was a campaign organisation formed to support Nixon's re-election. The five men arrested for breaking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters were employed by the CRP.

The scandal led to the resignation of several of Nixon's aides, including his chief of staff, H. R. Haldeman, and domestic affairs advisor, John Ehrlichman. It also led to the resignation of Attorney General John Mitchell, who had recently stepped down from his role to become director of the CRP.

The scandal revealed that Nixon had a tape recording system in his office, which raised the possibility that many of his conversations about the Watergate incident were recorded. Nixon refused to hand over the tapes to the special prosecutor or Congress.

The House Judiciary Committee began an official investigation and, in April 1974, commenced impeachment hearings. The committee voted to adopt three articles of impeachment against Nixon: obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and contempt of Congress.

The first article alleged that Nixon had obstructed justice by attempting to impede the investigation into the Watergate break-in. The second charged Nixon with abuse of power for using federal agencies to harass his political enemies and authorising burglaries of private citizens who opposed him. The third article accused Nixon of refusing to cooperate with the Judiciary Committee's investigation.

Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974, before the full House could vote on the articles. He was the first US president to resign from office.

Bugging of DNC headquarters

The bugging of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters was a pivotal event in the Watergate scandal, which ultimately led to President Richard Nixon's resignation.

On June 17, 1972, five men were arrested for breaking into the DNC's Watergate headquarters in Washington, D.C. They were caught wiretapping phones and stealing documents. The burglars were connected to Nixon's reelection campaign, specifically the Committee to Re-Elect the President (CRP).

The burglars were tried and convicted, and their trial led to a flood of testimony from witnesses. This, along with the work of investigative journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, helped uncover a massive campaign of political spying and sabotage directed by White House officials and illegally funded by donor contributions.

Nixon's administration attempted to cover up the incident, but in February 1973, the Senate established a special Watergate Committee, and the House of Representatives granted its Judiciary Committee expanded authority to investigate.

In April 1973, it was revealed that Nixon had installed a voice-activated taping system in the Oval Office, and his administration refused to grant investigators access to the tapes, leading to a constitutional crisis.

In July 1974, the House Judiciary Committee voted to adopt three articles of impeachment against Nixon, including obstruction of justice, which was directly related to the bugging of the DNC headquarters.

Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974, before the full House could vote on the articles of impeachment.

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