Nixon and Public Opinion – Some love, but not much.
Since June 8th came on a Sunday in 1974, all media outlets were overwhelmed with news of the previous week.
To no one’s surprise, the news about Watergate and revelations around the Nixon Whitehouse were as relentless as they were horrifying.
Judge John J. Sirica lifted his secrecy order Friday and said that a list of unindicted Watergate cover -up co-conspirators containing President Nixon’s name may be made public if the Supreme Court decides to do so. But the highest court had not received formal word of Sirica’s order several hours after it was delivered orally in court and there was no immediate indication of when the court would act. Supreme Court Clerk Michael Rodak has the sealed documnts in his office. They were filed two weeks ago when Special Watergate Prosecutor Leon Jaworski asked the court to decide whether Nixon could withhold tapes and documents about 64 Watergate-related conversations on grounds of executive privilege. Rodak’s office sald it had not received formal notice of Sirica’s order, and that the justices would decide whether to release the materials’ only when such an order WAS received. The President’s Watergate lawyer, James D. St. Clair, said it was “regrettable, and we think inappropriate” for the first Watergate grand jury to name Nixon in its indictment. It was disclosed Thursday that the sealed materal included a grand jury citation of Nixon as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Watergate cover-up, and publication of that citation could fill in many of the blanks surrounding the grand jury decision. It would, for example, disclose whether the grand jury named anyone besides Nixon In • the “unindicted co-conspirator”? category, and it might explain also what the grand jury thought Nixon had done to warrant the nomination. There was no indication Friday of what details the list might contain.
Specifically, Sirica announced in U.S. District Court he was lifting the protective order that had sealed the transcripts of discussions he had with Jaworski and White House lawyers in May and briefs filed by both sides about the same time. Assistant Special Prosecutor Richard Ben- made clear the unsealed material included the secret list of unindicted co-conspirators when he told Sirica, “the only grand jury material In the appendix (to a Jaworski memo among the papers) refers to action taken by the grand jury concerning the President,” Opposed by White House lawyers, Jaworski had argued privately before Sirica in May that Nixon’s nomination as an unindicted co-conspirator increased the need to obtain the subpoenaed White House documents. “Sirlca today unsealed all’ the arguments and briefs related to this• debate, justifying :his original decision to keep’ them secret by saying: “All of these were scaled in the Interest of fairness to the President in the impeachment proceedings.”.
With no let-up in sight, that was what went on this week, the one ending on June 8th 1974 from CBS Radio’s Washington Week.
