Reply #2: Spring, 1974 [View All]

[longship]

As far as I know. (IANAL)

In 1974 the grand jury did not want the controversy of indicting a sitting POTUS. Possibly the independent prosecutor thought there would be a court case challenging the indictment. It was certainly Nixon's position that POTUS could not be indicted. So, in addition to indicting the six main WH conspirators (Haldemann, Erlichman, etc.) they handed down a sealed memo (is that what they called it?) naming Richard M. Nixon as an unindicted co-conspirator. Of course, the press got wind of this right away. (How? I cannot remember.) The feeding frenzy that resulted was something to behold. It caused a tremendous stir.

The House was already preparing to begin hearings on impeachment. The Senate hearings had completed the previous summer. The Saturday Night Massacre happened the previous October. By then, the country basically knew that Nixon was damaged goods. However, impeachment wasn't a sure thing until the smoking gun tape was revealed in August. That's the one where Nixon discusses having the CIA intervene in the FBI's investigation to stop it on the basis that it would reopen "the whole Bay of Pigs thing". As soon as people heard of this they knew that Nixon was toast.