Hello everyone,
President Donald Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey this evening is currently dominating the news cycle, and we have already noticed a decided uptick in questions related to the way that previous Presidents have attempted to influence investigations against them, such as Nixon's attempts to fire special prosecutor Archibald Cox during the Watergate scandal. As we have done a few times in the past for topics that have arrived suddenly, and caused a high number of questions, we decided that creating a Megathread to "corral" them all into one place would be useful to allow people interested in the topic a one-stop thread for it.
As with previous Megathreads, keep in mind that like an AMA, top level posts should be questions in their own right. However, while we do have flairs with specialities related to this topic, we do not have a dedicated panel on this topic, so anyone can answer the questions, as long as that answer meets our standards of course (see here for an explanation of our rules)!
Additionally, this thread is for historical, pre-1997, questions about the way Presidents have dealt with investigations against them, so we ask that discussion or debate about Trump and Comey be directed to a more appropriate sub, as they will be removed from here.
To get things started, I'd add two answers that I think are relevant to the questions folks are asking right now:
From /u/meme_streak: Did Richard Nixon have apologists in the press throughout the Watergate scandal? If so, did those journalist lose credibility after Nixon resigned?
From /u/TheLordHighExecu: Why didn't Nixon immediately destroy his recordings once reporters first started investigating Watergate?
Can someone summarize the dynamic between the Warren Harding administration and the Justice Department during/after the Teapot Dome Scandal?
Were there any attempts by the Harding administration to obstruct the investigation?
If a president resigns instead of being impeached can legal action still be taken against him outside of office? Maybe I'm confusing definitions, I'm just asking if the president/ex-president can still be punished outside of office.
There have been reports that Nixon expressed an early desire to remove J. Edgar Hoover from office, but that Nixon was too scared of reprisals to do it. Two questions - first, how reliable are such reports? and second, were there attempts by presidents or attorneys general to remove Hoover or significantly curtail his individual power and influence in the executive?
What is the highest ranking position the Soviets succeeded in placing a spy, or recruit as a spy while in that position?
What are the arguments in support of Nixon firing Cox? Were there pundits and news reports in favor of Nixon as there are supporting Trumps decision?
What is the origin of the position of Special Prosecutor?
What historical precedents are there with regards to the president interfering with law enforcement investigations? Has something like this ever happened before?
How far does the President's power extend in the DOJ? Could a president fire anyone involved in an investigation of him? If a President interferes in an investigation, are there federal law enforcement agencies outside the executive branch that have the authority to investigate and prosecute the President and other high-level executive members? Has this ever occurred?
Meta question; is Lewinskigate and the subsequent Ken Starr investigation of President Bill Clinton up for conversation here?
It seems Whitewater is far enough in the past to fulfill discussion requirements, just wondering if we get to learn anything in regards to the Clinton impeachment investigation here. It seems Mr. Starr investigated President Clinton several times.
Is there any point in the past where a person under investigation has fired their investigator? Also, has there ever been a large investigation like Watergate that didn't end in prosecution?
What was the timeline of the public understanding of the Nixon scandals like? Were there murmurs about things going on? Did the average American know there was something fishy? Did they believe the rumors?
Today we see Congressional hearings with circumstantial evidence presented suggesting there is controversy. Many news agencies are regularly reporting on the latest relevant information. I'd like to understand if the Congressional/media/public response and actions today parallel those in the time of Watergate.
I'd be very interested to learn more about the context and process surrounding the creation of the system we currently have for appointing, confirming, and removing the FBI Director. I know it can be perilous to start talking about motives or rationale, but why did Congress arrive at the system that we have, what was the rationale for it, and if there were competing ideas of how the office should be filled (and as necessary vacated), what were they?
I understand (perhaps incorrectly) that the current system was devised at least in part to depoliticize the office of FBI Director in a post-Hoover Beauro, but that's the extent my knowledge there. Lastly, I don't know if this is even possible to answer without a time machine and some device capable of reading minds, but if Congress was motivated by a need to end politicization why did they permit the President to dismiss the Director at will?
What kind of criminal charges/sentences was Nixon likely facing before he was pardoned by Ford?
Didn't US Grant fire a special prosecutor during the investigation of the Whisky Ring scandal of 1875?
The term "Nixonian" is being thrown around to describe the current situation; was there a similar pre-Nixon term that would have been understood to refer to a certain (paranoid) style of governing?
Can anyone recommend a good list of books about Watergate? A coworker asked me today, but since it's beyond my general areas of focus I don't know which books are the best.
What was the FBI's involvement in investigating Watergate?
What was the republican party response to watergate before the very end when they turned on Nixon? Was it like they are acting today? Most defended him and called Watergate a witchhunt?