Nixon Watergate Scandal Summary

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This case occurred in the midst of the Nixon Watergate scandal. The parties involved were the United States and President Richard Nixon. The case took place on July 8th, 1974 in the US Supreme Court. The main constitutional issue at hand was whether or not the President’s Article II constitutional privilege is absolute. The prosecutor assigned to the case had subpoenaed (a formal order for the summoning of witnesses or the submission of evidence) the President’s recordings of his office visits and phone conversations. The attorney for the President insisted that the tapes should not be subpoenaed since they were granted executive privilege. Furthermore, the President’s attorney also argued to the court that the issue should not be held in the Supreme Court because it was a dispute within the executive branch and the Supreme Court can only properly hear cases where there is a dispute between branches. However, the case continued to be judged in the Supreme Court because the District Court ruled against Nixon so The President appealed. …show more content…
Police quickly discovered that the burglars worked directly or indirectly for the Committee to re-elect President Nixon. Nixon and leaders of his campaign denied any connection with the incident. In 1973, a Senate select committee began an investigation, and it was clear that the main members of the Nixon administration were part of an elaborate cover-up of the break-in and other illegal actions. It was also found that Nixon had equipped a taping system that automatically recorded all of his conversations with his