Us Vs Nixon Case Study

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June 17, 1972 in the case United States vs. Nixon, burglars were arrested in the Watergate building of Washington, DC. The burglars were connected to Richard Nixon’s campaign for president. They were caught wiretapping phones and hacking to steal important documents. Historians didn’t know if Nixon knew about the burglary until he started trying to cover it up. Nixon raised “Hush Money” giving to the burglars to be quiet. He then tried paying off the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from investigating the scene. Nixon then went on to destroying evidence and firing any staff that wouldn’t cooperate with him. Nixon was accused of withholding information from other government officials. The Special Prosecutor held motion for a subpoena …show more content…

Shortly after the documents and tapes were discovered for release Nixon resigned. Source 1 "United States vz. Nixon." Oyez. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 May 2017. . “Is the President allowed to safeguard information using his ‘executive privilege’ politically correct”? A jury prosecuted Nixon and several others. The defendant had tapes and documents that Nixon planned the burglary to get ahead in his re-election as president. Nixon claimed from his subpoena that he had “executive privilege” which gave him the right to withhold information from other governing branches for their protection. Nixon claimed it was his right to executive power. The court stated that Nixon wasn’t able to have separation of powers, withhold any communication from other leaders, and he didn’t have a executive privilege. The court granted there was limited executive privilege. They gave Nixon due process of law or fair administration of justice. Therefore Nixon needed to obey the subpoena and produce the tapes and documents. Soon after he released the tapes he resigned his re-election campaign. Source …show more content…

The case was argued July 8, 1974 and decided on July 24, 1974. When a subpoena is delivered you can not deny it, however president Nixon did. Then later on was told that he could not and he did not have any special executive powers to being president. They were very limited. Nixon was asked for the tapes and any documents he had on the burglary and he refused. Later he ended up surrendering the tapes along with resigning his campaign. Source 3 "United States v. Nixon 418 U.S. 683 (1974)." Justia Law. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 May 2017. Violation of staff members in the white house and other members resulted in them getting fired by Nixon. A subpoena was produce for president Nixon to show up to court with the tapes and any documents he had against the burglary. The tapes were meetings held against presidents or other staff members to get any type of information as possible to get ahead in Nixon’s campaign. Nixon rejected the subpoena and then was told if he didn’t accept it he would have an “in camera” evaluation. Nixon decided to accept the subpoena and soon after was asked to release the tapes. He then refused but later gave them up along with resigning his