Watergate scandal part 2

Senate committee has televised the investigation of members of the president Nixon White house staff and his case vs. the united state. The Watergate tape was a collection of recordings of conversations between U.S. President Richard Nixon and several White House staff in February 1971. In addition to the line-taps placed on the telephones, small lavaliere microphones was installed at various locations around the rooms of the Watergate.

The tape was first discovered by Senate Committee staff member, Donald Sanders, on July 13, 1973 in an interview with White House Aide Alexander Butterfield. Three day after he found the tapes he made it public during the televised testimony of Butterfield. In his testimony he said that there was a system in the White House that automatically recorded everything in the Oval Office. It was also determined that Nixon's private office in the Old Executive Office Building was also bugged, where most of Nixon meet were place. The Senate committee then learned that it was the president who was responaible for taped every conversation in the White House office. However Nixon refuses to use the tapes as evidence. Nixon prosecutor, Archibald Cox was hired to be Nixon prosecutor and he filed a subpoena to secure tapes Nixon had secretly taped in the Oval Office of the White House. This led to the Saturday Night Massacre.

When Nixon found out he was so angry that he wants to fire Cox for this, he told Attorney General Richardson and ordered him to fire the special prosecutor. However Richardson refuses and resigns in protest. So Nixon then ordered Deputy Attorney General Ruckelshaus to fire Cox; he also refused and resigned in protest. Nixon then contacted the Solicitor General, Robert Bork, and ordered him as acting head of the Justice Department to fire Cox. So Richardson and Ruckelshaus had both personally assured the congressional committee to overseeing this special prosecutor investigation that they would not interfere, however Bork had made no such assurance to the committee. Bork complied with Nixon's order and fired Cox. Congress then infuriated by the act, which was seen as Nixon was abuse his presidential power. In that followed day, there were numerous bill of impeachment against Nixon were introduce to the congress.

The Supreme Court soon ruled that due to the process of law is more important then executive privilege. Which Nixon use to argue when the Supreme Court ask to use the tapes as evidence. So Nixon the released the tapes July 30, 1974, which revealed that right after the break-in, Nixon tried to protect those who were responsible for the Watergate break-in. Since it was legal to cover up the crime, Nixon action would also be a crime. The court found him guilty of covering up the crime. Nixon resigns 10 days later. Nixon served as an example to subsequent presidents not to overstep the limits of their constitional power.

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