Watergate scandal

=== "Smoking Gun" tape ===
[[File:Nixon Oval Office meeting with H.R. Haldeman "Smoking Gun" Conversation June 23, 1972.wav|thumb|"Smoking Gun" tape of Nixon and H.R. Haldeman's conversation in Oval Office on June 23, 1972]]

On August 5, 1974, the White House released a previously unknown audio tape from June 23, 1972. Recorded only a few days after the break-in, it documented the initial stages of the cover-up: it revealed Nixon and Haldeman had a meeting in the Oval Office during which they discussed how to stop the FBI from continuing its investigation of the break-in, as they recognized that there was a high risk that their position in the scandal might be revealed.

Haldeman introduced the topic as follows:

<blockquote>...{{nbsp}}the Democratic break-in thing, we're back to the—in the, the problem area because the FBI is not under control, because [[L. Patrick Gray|Gray]] doesn't exactly know how to control them, and they have&nbsp;... their investigation is now leading into some productive areas&nbsp;... and it goes in some directions we don't want it to go.<ref name="haldeman6.23.72" /></blockquote>

[[File:Members and staff of House Judiciary Committee 1974.png|thumb|left|upright=1.35|House Judiciary Committee members and staff, 1974]]

After explaining how the money from CRP was traced to the burglars, Haldeman explained to Nixon the cover-up plan: "the way to handle this now is for us to have Walters [CIA] call Pat Gray [FBI] and just say, 'Stay the hell out of this&nbsp;... this is ah, business here we don't want you to go any further on it.'"<ref name="haldeman6.23.72" />

Nixon approved the plan, and after he was given more information about the involvement of his campaign in the break-in, he told Haldeman: "All right, fine, I understand it all. We won't second-guess Mitchell and the rest." Returning to the use of the CIA to obstruct the FBI, he instructed Haldeman: "You call them in. Good. Good deal. Play it tough. That's the way they play it and that's the way we are going to play it."<ref name="haldeman6.23.72">{{Cite web |url=http://www.nixonlibrary.gov/forresearchers/find/tapes/watergate/wspf/741-002.pdf |title="Transcript of a Recording of a Meeting Between the President and H.R. Haldeman in the Oval Office on June 23, 1972 from 10:04 to 11:39&nbsp;am" Watergate Special Prosecution Force |access-date=June 17, 2010 |archive-date=May 28, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528003941/http://www.nixonlibrary.gov/forresearchers/find/tapes/watergate/wspf/741-002.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oe3OgU8W0s |title="Audio: Recording of a Meeting Between the President and H.R. Haldeman in the Oval Office on June 23, 1972 from 10:04 to 11:39&nbsp;am" Watergate Special Prosecution Force |via=YouTube |access-date=November 26, 2015 |archive-date=January 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114215125/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oe3OgU8W0s |url-status=live }}</ref>

Nixon denied that this constituted an obstruction of justice, as his instructions ultimately resulted in the CIA truthfully reporting to the FBI that there were no national security issues. Nixon urged the FBI to press forward with the investigation when they expressed concern about interference.<ref>[http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=4320&st=&st1= Statement Announcing Availability of Additional Transcripts of Presidential Tape Recordings] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304205848/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=4320&st=&st1= |date=March 4, 2016 }} August 5, 1974</ref>

Before the release of this tape, Nixon had denied any involvement in the scandal. He claimed that there were no political motivations in his instructions to the CIA, and claimed he had no knowledge before March 21, 1973, of involvement by senior campaign officials such as [[John N. Mitchell|John Mitchell]]. The contents of this tape persuaded Nixon's own lawyers, [[Fred Buzhardt]] and [[James D. St. Clair|James St. Clair]], that "the President had lied to the nation, to his closest aides, and to his own lawyers—for more than two years".<ref>Bernstein and Woodward (1976): ''The Final Days'', p. 309</ref> The tape, which [[Barber Conable]] referred to as a "[[smoking gun]]", proved that Nixon had been involved in the cover-up from the beginning.

In the week before Nixon's resignation, Ehrlichman and Haldeman tried unsuccessfully to get Nixon to grant them pardons—which he had promised them before their April 1973 resignations.<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,908732-8,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130521074323/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,908732-8,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 21, 2013 |title=The Administration: The Fallout from Ford's Rush to Pardon |date=September 23, 1974 |magazine=Time |access-date=July 24, 2011}}</ref>