United States v. Nixon | BRI’s Homework Help Series
Can the President of the United States withhold certain information from Congress and the courts? During the Watergate Scandal, President Richard Nixon attempted to withhold recording tapes from the White House from investigators. The Supreme Court’s ruling would have huge impacts on the system of checks and balances within the United States' governing system.
0:00 If a President is implicated in a crime, can they claim executive privilege and remove themselves from an investigation? As far back as George Washington, presidents throughout history have invoked executive privilege, or the right of the executive and members of its branch to withhold certain pieces of confidential information from congressional, national, oversight, or judicial subpoenas.
0:21 While it is not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution, the Supreme Court has ruled that the President does have the right to exercise this power if the released information would harm national security or if it involves other issues where the executive has primary responsibility. What happens when a president accused of breaking the law or wrongdoing claims executive privilege?
0:42 And what happens to confidential information when members of the executive branch, including the President himself, come under judicial investigation? These questions were at the heart of a landmark Supreme Court case. This is the story of the United States V. Nixon.
1:06 In June 1972, five men broke into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C. Their arrests and the subsequent investigation produced evidence that top members of President Richard Nixon’s administration had approved the burglary in an attempt to gain information that could help him get reelected as President.
1:27 The subsequent coverup was massive, an illegal operation riddled with bribes, witness tampering, and firings. This series of events was soon dubbed the Watergate Scandal. Eventually, the Justice Department, which is part of the Executive branch, appointed special prosecutor Archibald Cox to investigate the case. After a Nixon official revealed that a secret listening device existed in the Oval Office,
1:50 cox immediately subpoenaed for the release of the tapes for his investigation. President Nixon refused to comply with the subpoena on the basis of executive privilege, claiming that the tapes contained sensitive conversations that would impair his ability to carry out the duties of his office. After Cox refused to drop the subpoena, Nixon fired him, and Leon Jaworski became the new special prosecutor.
2:12 Within a few months, Jaworski also subpoenaed for the release of the tapes. Nixon agreed to release parts of the tapes but moved to squash the subpoena, which ordered all of the tapes to be handed over. Judge John Suraka of the District of Columbia District Court first heard the case and rejected Nixon’s argument that executive privilege protected the President and his officials from any
2:33 and all judicial proceedings, especially impeachable crimes. The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case upon appeal. So how would the High Court rule? Does executive privilege protect the President and his officials from any and all judicial proceedings? In an 8-0 ruling, the Court upheld the subpoena as legal and ordered Nixon to obey it.
2:53 Writing the unanimous opinion, Chief Justice Warren Burger stated, quote, in designing the structure of our government and dividing and allocating the sovereign power among three coequal branches, the framers of the Constitution sought to provide a comprehensive system, but the separate powers were not intended to operate with absolute independence. The chief justice went on stating, quote,
3:15 the President’s broad interest in confidentiality of communications will not be vitiated by disclosure of a limited number of conversations preliminarily shown to have some bearing on the pending criminal cases. President Nixon released the subpoenaed tapes, though with eight and a half minutes mysteriously missing. Within a few weeks, he resigned from office. The tapes revealed that Nixon was aware
3:38 of the burglary and the attempts to cover it up, and that he knew he would most likely be convicted during his impeachment trial. The issue of balancing powers in our government is an ongoing debate between the executive, legislative and judicial branches. What will be the next case involving executive powers? This has been the story of United States v. Nixon.
4:00 Thanks for watching, guys. Don’t forget to like this video and subscribe. See you next time.
