Is the President Above the Law? | United States v. Nixon (Patreon)

Is the President Above the Law? | United States v. Nixon

Go to https://www.blinkist.com/mrbeat and get 25% off of a Blinkist Premium membership. In episode 64 of Supreme Court Briefs, the President of the United States, Richard Nixon, doesn't want to release some secret recordings that might implicate him in the Watergate scandal. Music by @Electric Needle Room, Mr. Beat's band: https://electricneedleroom.bandcamp.com/track/waiting-for-the-end Produced by Matt Beat. All images/video by Matt Beat, found in the public domain, or used under fair use guidelines. Check out cool primary sources here: https://www.oyez.org/cases/1973/73-1766 Additional sources/further reading/watching: https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/418/683 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Nixon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watergate_scandal https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/anniversary-of-united-states-v-nixon https://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/app/uploads/2013/11/U-S-v-Nixon.pdf https://www.crf-usa.org/images/pdf/nixon_lesson.pdf Cameo, yo: https://www.cameo.com/iammrbeat?qid=1614915028 Buy Mr. Beat merch: https://matt-beat-shop.fourthwall.com/ Snail mail Mr. Beat: PO Box 1982 Lawrence, KS 66044 Donate to Mr. Beat for great perks on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/iammrbeat Buy Mr. Beat's book, The Ultimate American Presidential Election Book: Every Presidential Election in American History (1788-2016) https://amzn.to/3fdakiZ Donate to Mr. Beat on Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/mrbeat More merch: https://www.bonfire.com/store/mr-beat/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/mrbeat/ Mr. Beat's band: http://electricneedleroom.net/ Mr. Beat on Twitter: https://twitter.com/beatmastermatt Mr. Beat on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iammrbeat/ Mr. Beat on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iammrbeat Mr. Beat's Discord server: https://discord.gg/g8cZPjt Mr. Beat's Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@iammrbeat?lang=en Mr. Beat favorites: POP! Icons: George Washington https://go.magik.ly/ml/11jrb/ Useful Charts: https://usefulcharts.com/?aff=12 Recommended books: Republic, Lost by Lawrence Lessing https://go.magik.ly/ml/11jul/ Truman by David McCullough https://go.magik.ly/ml/11jwc/ Studio equipment: Canon EOS M50 Camera EF-M 15-45mm Lens https://amzn.to/3dcNPen Samtian LED Video Light Kit https://amzn.to/3llDwHO TroyStudio Acoustic Panel https://amzn.to/33CkqHn Blue Snowball iCE USB Mic https://amzn.to/2GseOHa I use MagicLinks for all my ready-to-shop product links. Check it out here: https://www.magiclinks.com/rewards/referral/mrbeat/ FTC Disclosure: This post or video contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission for purchases made through my links. #supremecourt #supremecourtbriefs #apgov Washington, D.C. June 17, 1972 Five men break into the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate Office Building. They tried to set up a wiretap and photograph confidential Democratic Party documents. However, the police caught them in the act and arrested them. Little did most know, these men were connected with the Committee for the Re-Election of the President, or CRP, or CREEP (hee hee), the organization directly tied to President Richard Nixon in order to help him get re-elected. Flash forward to May 1973, and thanks to multiple ongoing investigations, now more and more Americans are thinking the Nixon administration was directly linked to the Watergate break-in. The U.S. Senate Watergate Committee began public hearings, and the Nixon administration appointed Archibald Cox to lead a separate, independent investigation. Flash forward again to July 1973, and Americans found out that there is a new system in the White House that automatically records everything in the Oval Office and Cabinet Room. In other words, if Nixon was in on the Watergate break-in or even if he just knew about it and was trying to cover it up, there could be evidence of it in the recordings. Cox, as well as the Senate, immediately subpoenaed the White House recordings, or required that they be submitted to court as evidence. However, Nixon refused to release them, citing his “executive privilege” as the president. He even ordered Cox to drop his subpoena, and after Cox refused, Nixon had him fired. Not a good look there, Nixon. But the investigations only picked up. In what eventually became known as The Watergate Scandal, a total of 69 people were indicted and 48 people convicted for either participating in, aiding in, or covering up information about the Watergate break-in. MANY of these folks were top Nixon administration officials. By early 1974, it seemed pretty clear that President Nixon had at least known about the Watergate break-in and tried to cover it up. However, there was little solid evidence, and Nixon had still refused to give up the recordings. On March 1, 1974, a grand jury, or special jury selected to see if an accusation was valid or not, indicted SEVEN former aides of Nixon, who later simply became known as the “Watergate Seven.”