White House denies Watergate tape erasures

The Rhodesia Herald,

17 January, 1974

THE White House fighting to recover from the latest Watergate bombshell, stated flatly yesterday that President Nixon did not make any erasure in a crucial tape recording either accidentally or deliberately.

The denial of tampering was the only comment by President Nixon’s spokesman in response to a barrage of questions about evidence from electronics experts on Tuesday that an 18-minute gap оn a

Watergate tape resulted from at least five separate, hand-caused erasures.

The White House was clearly on the defensive, refusing to issue any substantive comment, and appealing to the American people to avoid premature judgments.

The consensus of many Congressmen and major newspapers was that the experts’ report suggested the erasures were deliberate.

The six experts, chosen by the White House and the Watergate Prosecutor’s

Office, said the gap in a conversation between President Nixon and former White House Chief of Staff, Mr H. R. (Bob) Haldeman, came about from five and possibly nine manual erasures.

The White House said yesterday that it was studying the experts’ report, that other technical testimony before Mr Justice John Sirica had yet to be heard, and that “further discussion would be improper while this matter is in court”.

But White House spokesman, Mr Gerald Warren, broke the silence once, when he was bluntly asked, “Did the President erase the tape?” His reply was “No” and said his response covered both deliberate and accidental erasure. — Iana-Reuter.

LESSONS FOR TODAY

◆ The Watergate case was a major political scandal that cost Richard Nixon his presidency. ◆ Impeachment proceedings against President Richard Nixon started in May 1974. The impeachment process showed that no-one is above the law.

◆ Other American leaders that have been impeached are President Bill Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky love affair, and President Donald Trump, who was impeached twice. Unlike Nixon, Clinton and Trump were not forced to resign.

◆ The United States prides itself as a democratic nation with well-established oversight mechanisms in place. One wonders why its leaders are always found on the wrong side of the law.

◆ This leadership challenge is not unique to the US. Other countries worldwide have had their Watergate-like scandals.