Page Eight THE MCHIGAN DAILY Friday, August 9, 1974 PageEigh TH MICIGANDAIY Frday ugut 9,197 Watergate WASHINGTON (tP - Water- ing catalogue of alleged mis- gate was merely a footnote on deeds, bringing Nixon's leader- the Nixon presidency at first, ship and honesty into question. an aberration in his re-election But it remained the poisonous campaign. But it grew, an- core. Eventually a grand jury grily, into a scandal that stone- would find probable cause to be- walling couldn't hide and presi- lieve the President was involv- dential power couldn't stop. ed in a criminal conspiracy to While the skeleton of the story thwart the Watergate investi- was unearthed piecemeal, the gation. full involvement of the Nixon Nixon had promised coopera- men in the break-in and cover- tion with investigators, b u t up was known only to them- yielded tapes and documents selves for nine months after only when other alternatives five men crept into Democratic had failed. He exhausted every party headquarters to bug and avenue, from ignoring congres- pry. sional subpoenas to fighting his BUT THEN, in the incredi- case in the Supreme Court. ble months of March and April And after the House Judiciary 1973, the silence was breached Committee recommended an ar- and the scandal burst over ticle of impeachment based on men in the highest councils of the subpoenas and the Supreme government, finally staining Cort ruled against him, Nixon Richard Nixon himself. admitted he withheld three cr- The President might have cial tapes, "a serious act of ridden it out, like he did so omission for which I take full many other personal challenges, responsibility and which I had it not been for his fateful dee Eregret." decision in 1971 to activate an UNTIL THEN, the President unseen taping system designed had continually asserted his in- to preserve every word said nocence, battling a crisis of while he was in his offices. confidence that nibbled inexor- Nixons stbbor refual shabv at his public support. Nixon's stubborn refusal to aThe President's actions in the yield those tapes brought the Watergate aftermath were the first full-blown cry for his im- genesis of the first article o peachment. And it was the impeachment recommended by tapes themselves, with their re- the House Judiciary Committee velstions of knowledge and sub- to the full House of Representa- terfuge, that produced the tives. It said that Nixon "in Vio- most damning evidence against lation of his constitutional duty Richard Nixon and the men who to take care that the laws be surrounded him. faithfully executed, has p r e- W A T E R G A T E quickly vented, obstructed, and imped- became a code word for scan- ed the administration of j u s- dals that embraced a bewilder- tice.." 431 S. STATE DEAL 662-6264 Fri., Mon., & Tues., open 6:45; shows of 7 and 9 p.m. Sort., Sun., & Wed., open 12:45; shows at 1-3-5-7-9 p m. bugged The story of the Watergate had h -break-in is too well known to partic require extensive recounting. he sa Under the direction of t w o an i former White House aides, Gor- coons don Liddy and Howard H u n t Dea five men with CIA backgrounds ducte twice broke into Democratic he w National Committee headquart- the pi ers in the, plush Watergate of- wie fice complex. The first entry wiret on Labor Day 1972, was to plant Nixon bugs and photograph files. The Nixon second, on June 17 - when the keeph burglars were arrested - was White to correct a transmitter mal- finger function and to copy more docu- that ments. and s THE BURGLARS were found ON to have been paid with funds ion from the Committee for the Re- ing 0 election of the President, which trict. as a result won the popular ed a acronym CREEP. The mission, allegii according to some testimony, ants was approved by former Atty. itirvi Gen. John Mitchell, Nixon ' s volvel one time law partner and cam- On paign director. The fruits of the the W wiretaps went to the committee and it of the testimony, into the White that c and, again according to some i"tens House. Water Charles Colson testified t a to set when Nixon learned of t h e The break-in "he was so furious that ctiT he had thrown an ashtray a th across the room at Key Bis- Ns th cayne and . . . was just as out- e.t raged over the fact that any- ent body even remotely connected with the campaign organization $inh would have anything to do with dienst something like Watergate." ticha But the June 23 Nixon taone a spe shows he ordered a halt to the FBI's probe of the break-in, IN didn't want to "second g u e s s' the pI Mitchell and the rest." He said House later, "I was aware of the ad- the of vantages this course of action psych would have with respect to lins- On iting possible public exposure of most involvement by person.s con- confir nected with the re-election com- veale mittee." that 1969, The President insisted from cludin early on, "The White House for na Nixon era ad no involvement in lhis -ular incident." In August id that was confirmed in vestigatioh conduc.ed by el John Dean. an was to say later he con- d no investigation and that orked overtime to thwart robe. September 1972, seven men indicted for burglary and apping and conspiracy. complimented Dean on ng involvement from the House by "putting your s in the dikes every time leaks have sprung here prung there." MARCH 23, at a court ses- convened for the sentenc- f the burglars, U.S. Dis- Judge John Sirica disclos leter from James McCord, ng pressure on the defend- to plead guilty, of per- in the trial and of the in- ment of others. April 17, Nixon came into Ihite House briefing rom n a short statement s a i d in March 21 he had been live new inquiries int the gate matter "as a result rio'is charges which came attention." taoes show the feverish tv inside the White House e scandal been to unri- in Anril 30 Nixon announc- e resignations of Halde- Ehrlichman, Atty. Gen. ;-d Kleindienst and the fin- 'fDean. He gave Klein- 's successor, E1l i o t rdson, authority to name cial prosecutor. THE ensiling days carne uhlic disclosure that White agents had burglarized ffice of Daniel Ellsberg's atrist. May 2, Nixon issued his detailed statement 'o date, ming what had been re- d in news media earlier; there were wiretaps in an intelligence plan in- g breaking and entering tional security and a spec- ial investigations unit known as the plumbers. Of Watergate, Nixon said he had no advance knowledge of the burglary, that he sought to prevent disclosure of possible CIA involvement, and that he never authorized or knew about offers of executive clemency for the defendants. The Senate Watergate com- mittee hearings began and on July 16, former White H ou s e aide Alexander Butterfield dis- closed the White House taping system. Immediately the struggle be- gan as both the Senate commit- tee and the newly appointed special prosecutor Archibald Cox subpoenaed tapes. COX WON first a district court decision and then in the appeals court. He was ordered to stop his efforts and refused. In the Saturday Night Massacre in October, Richardson and his successor as acting attorney general resigned rather t h a n fire Cox, who was finally dis- patched by the country's third attorney general in as many hours. As telegrams by the thous- ands flooded Congress in pro- test, the first impeachment talk began in earnest. Nixon named a new special prosecutor, Leon Jaworski, who picked up where Cox left off. More subpsenas, first from Jaworski, then from House impeachment pro'ers. At the end of April this year, Nixon responded to a House subpoena for tapes by making transcripts of 46 con- versations public. The impact was stunning, but not in the way the W h i t e House hoped. They showed a President concerned with fend- ing off investigations by "stone- walling," or "going the modi- fied, limited hang-out" route. They also showed the discus- sion of hush money for Hunt and the President's resoonse, "for Christ's sake, get it." In July, the House Judictary Committee made public its ver- sions of key tapes together with a stunning amount of evidence gathered for its impeachment probe. And later in the month, the committee voted to recain- mend three articles of impeach- ment to the full House. Water- gate, again, was the corner- stone. At first, Ziegler derided the committee as a kangeroo court. But the bipartisan nature of the vote made impeachment a "for- gone conclusion," as Nixon himself conceded. His revelation that he had or- dered the FBI's Watergate in- vestigation blunted six days af- ter the break-in - because the probe was leading to the Presi- dent's men - placed Nixon in grave jeopardy at the Senate trial that would surely ensure. U-M SCHOOL Of MUSIC PWWMESm MOZARYS THE AIDUU1t THE %RAGLl(- COMEDY I-THREE ACTS , (IGLH) A 15-16-17-18 TCKTS 13.508:0p AUSEATSIRESERVE STMPEEnlOPE . - JOSE 0ATT.CON1UCTOR 10 RALPH HERBERT,STAGE DIRECTOR opEkk.SCHOOL Of MUSIc. 10801 05 t 64583'BKosW 1200-5:00, 150160170180 AUG11-14 MaOOR1230800, 'tTiS 100 0c s EUGs 15-a TICKLETSALO0AIttLABLE ACT LIERTYsMUsICSHOP 603 E. Liberty * Dial 665-6290 Open 12:45 daily, Shows at 1-3-5-7-9 p m. ... boisterously Zany BARBRA funny at her wackiest! old-time farce... STREISAND For Pete's Sake, at her best!" See The Picture --Vincent Canby, N.Y. 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