United States Senate 1974: President Nixon Impeachment Trial Chairs: Kiara Cronin & Lillian Wood CMMUN VI November 18, 2017
Letter from the Chairs Dear Delegates, I would like to welcome you to the Nixon Impeachment Committee! My name is Kiara Cronin, and I will be one of your co-chairs at this conference. I'm a senior at Ursuline Academy, as well as the Vice President of Ursuline Model United Nations. I chaired a committee last year at the Catholic Memorial Conference, and am very excited to do so again! In addition to Model UN, I am also the co-president of Ursuline s Gay-Straight Alliance, and backstage manager for many plays! In our fraught political climate, an impeachment trial is especially relevant. Only by examining our shared history can we find a blueprint for the future. Through eloquent and intelligent debate, your chairs hope that this committee can come to a consensus on a course of action to take in response to the events of the Watergate scandal. While this will be difficult, I have the utmost faith in all of you. Do your research, and come prepared for fruitful debate! Feel free to email me with any questions you may have at kiaracronin18@gmail.com. Good luck! Sincerely, Kiara Cronin Hello Delegates, Again let me welcome you to the Nixon Watergate Trial (or Nixon Impeachment) Committee. My name is Lillian Wood and I am your other co-chair for the conference. I am a senior at Ursuline Academy and a dedicated member of our school s Model UN team. This is my second year participating and first time co-chairing. I am particularly excited for the format which, as mentioned below, will be more or less that of the actual trial. Outside of Model UN, I participate in the Creative Writing club. With serious talk of impeachment in our present government, it is important to understand this famous case and a great opportunity to be involved in this committee. I speak redundantly here, but success in this committee will come with research and preparation. I wish you all good luck and remind you that I can be reached at lillianfwood@gmail.com, if you have any questions. Thank you, Lillian Wood 1
Introduction to Committee Format As you may have already considered, it would be difficult to conduct an impeachment trial while using parliamentary procedure. So, we have developed a different method to be used during this committee. It will be set up more like an actual trial, with a defense and a prosecution. Each side will make an opening statement, and then they will be able to call witnesses up to the stand. The witnesses will be interrogated under oath. This is why research is key. It is imperative that the witnesses understand their role in the scandal and play their part accordingly. Whether they lie, tell the truth, or expose their fellow conspirators is entirely up to them. The chairs advise that the defense and the prosecution assemble a list of questions to ask individual witnesses, keeping in mind that they have no knowledge of what those people have done or not done. Periodically, journalists and FBI agents will enter and announce that new pieces of evidence have been uncovered. The evidence may change notions of who is guilty, and it may expose those who are lying under oath. A committee of chairs and pages will serve as a jury. Even though this is a historically based committee, the jury will be unbiased, and it is entirely possible that key players in the scandal could be found not guilty. We will begin this trial from the very beginning of the scandal- everybody is on the same page, and neither side has begun their questioning. Also, a small note; the chairs are aware that no trial took place, but for a better understanding of the events and for our format of an afternoon, we felt it would be best to do a trial of Nixon in the US Senate to learn about the period. Please email us if you have any further questions about the committee format or setup. Background Following the Vietnam War, a set of documents called the Pentagon Papers containing top secret information about the US s history and role in the Vietnam War was leaked to the press by Daniel Ellsberg. The New York Times provided both interpretive articles as well as the documents themselves. On June 30, 1971, an attempt by the Nixon Administration to restrain such publication from The New York Times and other newspapers such as the Washington Post was shut down by the Supreme Court. On Sept. 3, 1971, burglars broke into Dr. Fielding s Beverly Hills office to photograph the files, but found nothing related to Mr. Ellsberg. (New York Times) 2
On May 28th, 1972, a group of burglars, led by James McCord, broke into the Watergate Complex, which housed the Democratic National Headquarters, during the presidential election of 1972. They wiretapped two phones; one belonging to Democratic National Committee Secretary Larry O Brien, and one belonging to Robert Spencer Oliver, the executive director of the Association of State Democratic Chairmen. They quickly retreated, and were not caught. (Watergate.info) However, the conspirators determined that the wiretaps were not working, and they planned a second break-in in order to fix them on June 17th, 1972. (Curriden) A security guard at the complex named Frank Willis noticed the tape that they used to keep the doors unlocked and quickly called the police. All five of the burglars were apprehended, and on January 30th, 1973, they were all convicted and sent to jail. All five of the burglars had ties to the Committee to Re-Elect the President, which were discovered during the course of their trial. However, suspicion grew of a larger conspiracy when it was discovered that one of the burglars had a large amount of money in their bank account that was to be funneled into the re-election campaign of Richard Nixon, and all of the burglars had been paid by the Committee to Re-Elect the President for travel expenses. (Shepard) Due to suspicions of the President s involvement, the Senate unanimously voted to create a special committee to investigate Watergate and try the major players involved. This is where our committee will commence. Statement of the Problem It is 1973 and the Senate Watergate committee is commencing with nationally televised hearings on the trial. Richard Nixon was re-elected in 1972 and there is already prevalent talk of impeachment. With so much at stake for Nixon and everyone else involved, the question becomes, What did the president know, and when did he know it? The defense will have much work to do considering the amount of evidence available to condemn those they are defending, however, if they play their cards correctly, Nixon and the others have the potential to be free of any charges and public suspicion. 3
Positions Defense: (Sempliner) Charles Alan Wright Described by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as my quintessential friend, Wright s kindness and intelligence made him close friends with many major judicial figures at the time, even those not of his party. He was also the lead defense lawyer in the Watergate trial. William Hundley One of the main defense lawyers in the Watergate trial, Hundley is dedicated to protecting his clients. As with all of the defense lawyers, the Nixon administration is paying him very well to do a good job. Leonard Garment Member of the Watergate defense team. J. Fred Buzhardt Member of the Watergate defense team. H. Chapman Rose Specializing in monetary matters, Rose defended the Nixon campaign s many suspicious financial choices. Prosecution: (Shepard) Archibald Cox The Special Prosecutor of the Watergate Trial, Cox is very popular throughout the country for his calm, intelligent, and dignified demeanor. He, along with Sam Ervin, leads the prosecution. 4
Sam Ervin The Democrat who led the Senate Watergate Committee, Ervin is known for his knowledge of law and the Constitution. His main priority is getting to the bottom of the scandal and dispensing justice. While Nixon suspects that Ervin may be biased towards him, only time will tell us if that is true. Richard Ben-Veniste Member of the Watergate prosecution team. William Bittman Member of the Watergate prosecution team. Donald Campbell Youngest member of the Watergate prosecution team. Witnesses: (Shepard, Watergate.info) Richard Nixon President of the United States at the time of our committee. He has known about Watergate for quite some time now, and realizes the damage that could eradicate his political career if the truth comes to light. He is desperately trying to avoid impeachment, and is willing to do whatever it takes to cover up his complicity in the crime. Gerald Ford Ford wasn't always Nixon s Vice President. The original Vice President, Spiro Agnew, had been forced to resign after admitting to laundering money and taking bribes, and Ford, who was Speaker of the House, had been chosen to replace him. As Ford was entering his role, the Watergate investigations were heating up. Nixon had no desire to involve another person in the conspiracy, and so he mostly kept Ford out of his inner circle. Gordon Liddy The chief operative of the White House Plumbers unit, Liddy is directly responsible for planning and executing the breaking in of the Democratic National Headquarters. If the truth is exposed, he could stand to be convicted of multiple charges, and has worked extensively with Nixon to cover up the scandal. 5
John Ehrlichman Ehrlichman served as a White House counsel and as Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs under Nixon. He is responsible for creating the Plumbers unit, and for orchestrating the breaking in of the Watergate complex. Along with his counterpart Haldeman, he worked to isolate Nixon, who increasingly relied on him for advice. Collectively, Ehrlichman and Haldeman were known as the Berlin Wall for this reason. H. R. Haldeman Nixon s Chief of Staff, Haldeman was, along with Ehrlichman, one of Nixon s most trusted advisors. He kept an extensive diary, which is the source of much modern knowledge concerning the Watergate Scandal. In the mysterious eighteen and a half minute gap in Nixon s White House recordings, the President is having a conversations with Haldeman. John Mitchell In Nixon s first term, Mitchell had served as his Attorney General, but he had stepped down to run Nixon s reelection campaign. He was a major player in the organizing of the Watergate complex break-in. John Dean Nixon s Chief White House Counsel, Dean is known as the mastermind behind the Watergate Scandal cover-up. Historically, he sold out his colleagues to protect himself, and became the star witness of the prosecution. However, in our committee's events, that path is not a guarantee. L. Patrick Gray Director of the FBI, Gray was also involved in the cover-up. He destroyed crucial documents, and ordered the FBI to not investigate crucial leads to protect his employers. Alexander Butterfield The deputy-assistant to President Nixon, Butterfield is aware of the existence of tapes, but was not himself involved in the scandal. However, he enjoys his position, and doesn't want to give it up, so he may lie or evade the truth to protect Nixon. Ron Ziegler Nixon s Press Secretary, Ziegler is concerned with the public image of the president, and as such has repeatedly lied to the American people about Watergate. He is not a major player in the scandal, but he basically ran the public cover-up. 6
Howard Hunt An organizer of the original break-in, Hunt was given an extensive amount of money by Nixon, and so is not incentivized to expose the president s cover-up. Rose Mary Woods Woods is President Nixon s personal secretary. Intensely loyal to the president, she has lied to protect him before, and may do so again. She has been his Secretary for basically his entire political career. Questions to Consider If you are a witness, what is your connection to the scandal? Will you benefit from lying or telling the truth under oath, and if you lie, would the prosecution be able to prove it? Are you prepared to answer any question likely to be asked while you are on the stand by either side? If evidence is brought against you at any point during the trial, are you prepared to again cover your tracks? If you are on the prosecution team, how do you plan on winning the case? What strategies will you use? What background information on the scandal or the people involved (remember the trial hasn't happened yet so use information on witnesses already known prior to Watergate) would be beneficial to your case? How can you prove to the jury that those you are convicting are guilty? If you are on the defense team, how do you plan on winning the case? What strategies will you use? What background information on the scandal or the people involved (again, use information known prior to Watergate) would be beneficial to you? How can you prove to the jury that those you are defending are not guilty? What is your overall goal for the outcome of the trial? 7
Sources 1. http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/the_lawyers_of_watergate_how_a_3 rd-rate_burglary_provoked_new_standards/ 2. https://nacla.org/article/nixon-defense-team 3. http://geoffshepard.com/major-players/ 4. http://watergate.info 5. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/30/opinion/30krogh.html 8