Source: Garrett M. Graff. Watergate - A New History (2022)
Frustrated at Rodino’s snail-like pace with the impeachment inquiry, House Majority Leader Tip O’Neill (D; MA) ordered him to have a lawyer lined up for the House Judiciary Committee by no later than Christmas. On that same Monday after Thanksgiving, seven tapes, all of them covering the conversations of 20 June 1972, were delivered from the White House to the DC Courthouse. The tapes were placed in a special safe, with only Judge Sirica and his clerk privy to the combination, and the safe was guarded 24/7 by US Marshals, in addition to security cameras.
That same day, Sirica convened a hearing in order to get to the bottom of the 18+ minute gap. Jaworski had the only woman from his team, Jill Volner, argue the case for the office of the Special Prosecutor. The media dubbed her the ‘Mini-Skirted Lawyer”, and used phrases such as “Blonde Bombshell” to describe her. But Volner was a tough interrogator, even though she was only 30 years old. It would be Volner with whom Rose Mary Woods dealt when she took the witness stand.
Woods was the one constant in Nixon’s 25+ years in public life, serving as his personal secretary, but also as his gatekeeper and confidant. Woods was basically Nixon’s “political memory”, helping him keep track of friends and foes alike, especially reminding Nixon of his many long-standing grudges. Woods was unmarried, and in effect was the fifth member of the Nixon family, called “Aunt Rose” by Nixon’s daughters. Before the 18+ minute gap, Woods commanded widespread respect. For example, early in Nixon’s Presidency, the Ladies’ Home Journal named Woods one of the nation’s 75 most important women, listed with Joan Baez, Coretta Scott King, and Katharine Graham. Woods wanted to find a way to describe how the 18+ minute erasure occurred without involving Nixon, so she settled on a hard-to-believe story in which she claimed to be distracted on a phone call, and while on the phone her foot accidentally pressed the “record” foot control the whole time.
That same day, Sirica convened a hearing in order to get to the bottom of the 18+ minute gap. Jaworski had the only woman from his team, Jill Volner, argue the case for the office of the Special Prosecutor. The media dubbed her the ‘Mini-Skirted Lawyer”, and used phrases such as “Blonde Bombshell” to describe her. But Volner was a tough interrogator, even though she was only 30 years old. It would be Volner with whom Rose Mary Woods dealt when she took the witness stand.
Woods was the one constant in Nixon’s 25+ years in public life, serving as his personal secretary, but also as his gatekeeper and confidant. Woods was basically Nixon’s “political memory”, helping him keep track of friends and foes alike, especially reminding Nixon of his many long-standing grudges. Woods was unmarried, and in effect was the fifth member of the Nixon family, called “Aunt Rose” by Nixon’s daughters. Before the 18+ minute gap, Woods commanded widespread respect. For example, early in Nixon’s Presidency, the Ladies’ Home Journal named Woods one of the nation’s 75 most important women, listed with Joan Baez, Coretta Scott King, and Katharine Graham. Woods wanted to find a way to describe how the 18+ minute erasure occurred without involving Nixon, so she settled on a hard-to-believe story in which she claimed to be distracted on a phone call, and while on the phone her foot accidentally pressed the “record” foot control the whole time.
Volner had Woods recreate her story, and as soon as Woods reached for the phone, her foot came off the foot control pedal for the tape recorder/player. The White House later released a photo that showed Woods at her desk, keeping her foot on the pedal while reaching for the phone, which was beyond-laughable, since there was no way she could realistically have done so as she claimed in court; the media referred to the photo as “The Rose Mary Stretch". That photo ran on the cover of Newsweek, with the caption “Rose Mary’s Boo Boo”. Even if Woods’ account was believable, at best it only accounted for the first five or six minutes of the 18+ minute gap. Over three days of testimony, Woods never offered an explanation for why there were an additional 12 or so minutes erased. Additionally, the timelines that Woods provided for when she had worked transcribing the tapes didn’t add up to when the foot pedal tape machine was delivered or to the White House logs. When Haig took the stand, the only time he stumbled in his testimony was when he was asked about the 12+ minute long extra erasure, and outside the courtroom, he dismissed Woods as a typical woman that had no way of knowing how long she chatted on the phone.
Volner’s theory was that Woods and Nixon erased the 18+ minutes together, in that Nixon, a colossal klutz, couldn’t properly work the tape machine in any regard, which meant that the blindly loyal Woods helped the President erase the 18+ minutes. Adding to her theory, Volner posited that Nixon had started listening to several tapes, and he realized that they all spelled trouble. Nixon couldn’t keep erasing subpoenaed tapes, so he went all-in on keeping the tapes from becoming public. As far as Jaworski was concerned, there was plenty of evidence on the collected tapes anyway, claiming that the 18+ minute gap was symbolic, not substantive. On 12 December 1973, the first of the newly turned over seven reels of tapes arrived at Jaworski’s office, all that “existed” from the original nine subpoenaed tapes.
Volner’s theory was that Woods and Nixon erased the 18+ minutes together, in that Nixon, a colossal klutz, couldn’t properly work the tape machine in any regard, which meant that the blindly loyal Woods helped the President erase the 18+ minutes. Adding to her theory, Volner posited that Nixon had started listening to several tapes, and he realized that they all spelled trouble. Nixon couldn’t keep erasing subpoenaed tapes, so he went all-in on keeping the tapes from becoming public. As far as Jaworski was concerned, there was plenty of evidence on the collected tapes anyway, claiming that the 18+ minute gap was symbolic, not substantive. On 12 December 1973, the first of the newly turned over seven reels of tapes arrived at Jaworski’s office, all that “existed” from the original nine subpoenaed tapes.
Jaworski and his team immediately listened to the 21 March 1972 “Cancer on the Presidency” conversation Dean had with Nixon, and it was far more damaging to Nixon than they imagined. Jaworski and his team felt that they had now turned the corner on Watergate. Jaworski couldn’t believe that Nixon, in the Oval Office no less, had encouraged perjury from his own staff. Jaworski and his team firmly believed that they had a solid case against Nixon.
One of Jaworski’s investigators went to the White House to look at files under supervision, and that investigator immediately realized that certain documents had been altered, or certain paragraphs had been removed or rewritten, and that there was no telling how many documents had been removed. Jaworski now had to subpoena White House staffers to compel them to reconstruct what had been altered and removed. Ironically, Cox had been cautious and deferential to the White House, but Jaworski was far more aggressive with his actions and tone in going after the White House by late-1973. Cox was an academic, where Jaworski was a legal brawler, a first-class legal fighter, which was yet another of Nixon’s miscalculations concerning Watergate, since the President believed he could “manage” Jaworski, given their mutual friend John Connally.
Jaworski knew that Nixon’s legal team had listened to the tapes and knew far more than he did at that point, and he wondered when they would advise Nixon that he wouldn’t politically survive what was ahead. On 21 December 1973, Haig and Jaworski met in the White House to bargain over the tapes and documents. Jaworski advised Haig to enlist the services of a fine criminal defense attorney, and to have him listen to the 21 March 1973 tape of the conversation with Nixon and Dean.
One of Jaworski’s investigators went to the White House to look at files under supervision, and that investigator immediately realized that certain documents had been altered, or certain paragraphs had been removed or rewritten, and that there was no telling how many documents had been removed. Jaworski now had to subpoena White House staffers to compel them to reconstruct what had been altered and removed. Ironically, Cox had been cautious and deferential to the White House, but Jaworski was far more aggressive with his actions and tone in going after the White House by late-1973. Cox was an academic, where Jaworski was a legal brawler, a first-class legal fighter, which was yet another of Nixon’s miscalculations concerning Watergate, since the President believed he could “manage” Jaworski, given their mutual friend John Connally.
Jaworski knew that Nixon’s legal team had listened to the tapes and knew far more than he did at that point, and he wondered when they would advise Nixon that he wouldn’t politically survive what was ahead. On 21 December 1973, Haig and Jaworski met in the White House to bargain over the tapes and documents. Jaworski advised Haig to enlist the services of a fine criminal defense attorney, and to have him listen to the 21 March 1973 tape of the conversation with Nixon and Dean.
During early-December 1973, Gerald Ford was finally confirmed as Vice-President, having passed all background investigations and the hearings with flying colors. Ford was even-tempered, honest (for a politician), modest in his personality, ambition, and lifestyle. Ford was universally respected as a DC politician, having spent many years in the House. Ford’s swearing-in as VP brought a collective sigh of relief in DC.
Nixon’s tax evasion scandal worsened during early-December 1973, with Senator Weicker’s office calculating that Nixon owed $235k in back taxes. Forensic accountants from the California Secretary of State’s office (Jerry Brown was the CA SecState) determined that the National Archives deed for the Nixon’s donated documents had been illegally backdated. Investigators matched the deed to a typewriter in Kalmbach’s law firm that had been purchased after the “LBJ Law” took effect. It was also revealed that Nixon hadn’t paid any local or state taxes in CA or DC. Being confirmed as a tax scofflaw proved to be the moment that public opinion turned against him in earnest. Watergate was very layered and confusing, but the vast majority of Americans could easily understand and be outraged by a President that only paid $700 in federal taxes.
By mid-December 1973, a longtime Nixon backer, Senator Barry Goldwater (R; AZ) started to publicly state that Nixon’s lack of honesty was the biggest problem the nation faced with its President. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Peter Rodino finally settled on a lawyer for the committee’s impeachment inquiry, selecting John Doar (age 52). Doar had been a lawyer in the Justice Department and had been on the front lines of the Civil Rights Movement. For example, Doar did his best to protect the Freedom Riders in 1961, and in 1962, he accompanied James Meredith at Ole Miss.
Nixon’s tax evasion scandal worsened during early-December 1973, with Senator Weicker’s office calculating that Nixon owed $235k in back taxes. Forensic accountants from the California Secretary of State’s office (Jerry Brown was the CA SecState) determined that the National Archives deed for the Nixon’s donated documents had been illegally backdated. Investigators matched the deed to a typewriter in Kalmbach’s law firm that had been purchased after the “LBJ Law” took effect. It was also revealed that Nixon hadn’t paid any local or state taxes in CA or DC. Being confirmed as a tax scofflaw proved to be the moment that public opinion turned against him in earnest. Watergate was very layered and confusing, but the vast majority of Americans could easily understand and be outraged by a President that only paid $700 in federal taxes.
By mid-December 1973, a longtime Nixon backer, Senator Barry Goldwater (R; AZ) started to publicly state that Nixon’s lack of honesty was the biggest problem the nation faced with its President. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Peter Rodino finally settled on a lawyer for the committee’s impeachment inquiry, selecting John Doar (age 52). Doar had been a lawyer in the Justice Department and had been on the front lines of the Civil Rights Movement. For example, Doar did his best to protect the Freedom Riders in 1961, and in 1962, he accompanied James Meredith at Ole Miss.
Doar didn’t hesitate in saying yes when Rodino asked if he was interested in being the special counsel for the impeachment inquiry. When the two met a couple of days later, Rodino asked Doar what his thoughts were on impeachment, and Doar said he hadn’t yet made up his mind, which only furthered Rodino’s certainty that he had selected the right lawyer. Doar’s first day was 20 December 1973, and the first thing he did was to make sure that no unauthorized personnel could enter the second floor of the Congressional Hotel, where over 100 people were working on behalf of the House Judiciary Committee. Windows were barred, doors were reinforced by steel, special locks and motion detectors were installed, and many guards were posted.
Doar didn’t trust computers, so he used a colored 3x5 card system that could tell the accurate story. Eventually 30 typists were hired to generate the cards, letters, and legal briefs. Pink cards were only for the investigators and lawyers, yellow cards provided the chronological sequence of events, green cards had information on people, and blue cards were for relevant general information. Any nugget of information could be cross-referenced with information from any other color card(s), especially for those with access to pink cards. Eventually, over 500k index cards were created, and the floor where they were stored had to be reinforced.
Doar didn’t trust computers, so he used a colored 3x5 card system that could tell the accurate story. Eventually 30 typists were hired to generate the cards, letters, and legal briefs. Pink cards were only for the investigators and lawyers, yellow cards provided the chronological sequence of events, green cards had information on people, and blue cards were for relevant general information. Any nugget of information could be cross-referenced with information from any other color card(s), especially for those with access to pink cards. Eventually, over 500k index cards were created, and the floor where they were stored had to be reinforced.
Very soon after the first color card was completed, Rodino received word from the Speaker of the House confirming that $1m had been deposited in a House account for the impeachment inquiry, which meant the impeachment process was officially underway. Adding insult to Nixon’s woes was that Time magazine named Judge Sirica its “Man of the Year”, which far outsold the previous year’s edition that named Nixon. There were factors that were not self-inflicted that negatively affected Nixon, such as the first Arab Oil Embargo in 1973, which markedly increased the price of gas and reduced supply, and inflation reached 8.5% late in the year.
On New Year’s Eve 1973 in San Clemente, Nixon grappled with which path to follow: fight it out or resign. Nixon didn’t yet seriously entertain the idea of resignation, so his decision was to fight the battles out to some sort of stalemate, or to go down swinging. In order to do so, Nixon knew he needed more help, and with Haig’s assistance, James St. Clair was brought on board, who was one of the most experienced and respected trial lawyers in the nation. St. Clair had to deal with the Watergate Committee, the impeachment inquiry, Jaworski’s investigation, and basically a difficult client. St. Clair eased out Leonard Garment, and he tasked Buzhardt to focus only on the tapes and the documents.
On New Year’s Eve 1973 in San Clemente, Nixon grappled with which path to follow: fight it out or resign. Nixon didn’t yet seriously entertain the idea of resignation, so his decision was to fight the battles out to some sort of stalemate, or to go down swinging. In order to do so, Nixon knew he needed more help, and with Haig’s assistance, James St. Clair was brought on board, who was one of the most experienced and respected trial lawyers in the nation. St. Clair had to deal with the Watergate Committee, the impeachment inquiry, Jaworski’s investigation, and basically a difficult client. St. Clair eased out Leonard Garment, and he tasked Buzhardt to focus only on the tapes and the documents.