Senate Hearings
On March 8, 1973 the United States Senate held its first hearing on the Watergate break in. This first hearing was originally closed-door, but because there were many leaks to the press, the Senate decided that the next hearing they had would be public.
The hearing was called by one of the five burglars that were convicted along with two accomplices. The only closed-door witness for the hearing was James McCord, the security coordinator for the Committee to Re-Elect the President. McCord confirmed rumors that John Dean and Jeb Magruder had knowledge about the plan before it took place. He also promised to name others who contributed to the scandal. McCord also testified that his boss, G. Gordon Liddy had mislead him into believing that the Attorney General John Mitchell had signed off on the plans. McCord told the Senate that he would find documents that would back up his accusations. Minutes after the closed session had ended, the media was leaked the news. However, these facts were not revealed to be the truth until vice-chairman Howard Baker of Tennessee confirmed what the media had heard. Soon after, Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox began to find widespread evidence of political espionage. Some examples of this espionage and power were widespread wire-tapping and giving funds to the Republican party for bribes.
Finally in July the official recordings between Nixon and his staff were brought to the Senate, but Cox subpoenaed these for three months. Nixon finally got tired of the waiting and agreed to send summaries of the tapes. Cox did not agree with this decision and was promptly fired by Nixon who then hired Leon Jaworski. Jaworski managed to get many high-ranking officials convicted according to their crimes. However, the public opinion of Nixon decreased rapidly and by July 1974 there were three articles of impeachment against Nixon. After Nixon resigned, being the first president in history to ever do so, his successor Ford pardoned him of any crimes.
-Sierra H.
The hearing was called by one of the five burglars that were convicted along with two accomplices. The only closed-door witness for the hearing was James McCord, the security coordinator for the Committee to Re-Elect the President. McCord confirmed rumors that John Dean and Jeb Magruder had knowledge about the plan before it took place. He also promised to name others who contributed to the scandal. McCord also testified that his boss, G. Gordon Liddy had mislead him into believing that the Attorney General John Mitchell had signed off on the plans. McCord told the Senate that he would find documents that would back up his accusations. Minutes after the closed session had ended, the media was leaked the news. However, these facts were not revealed to be the truth until vice-chairman Howard Baker of Tennessee confirmed what the media had heard. Soon after, Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox began to find widespread evidence of political espionage. Some examples of this espionage and power were widespread wire-tapping and giving funds to the Republican party for bribes.
Finally in July the official recordings between Nixon and his staff were brought to the Senate, but Cox subpoenaed these for three months. Nixon finally got tired of the waiting and agreed to send summaries of the tapes. Cox did not agree with this decision and was promptly fired by Nixon who then hired Leon Jaworski. Jaworski managed to get many high-ranking officials convicted according to their crimes. However, the public opinion of Nixon decreased rapidly and by July 1974 there were three articles of impeachment against Nixon. After Nixon resigned, being the first president in history to ever do so, his successor Ford pardoned him of any crimes.
-Sierra H.