Attorney general in the united states. He says mr. Nixon says i pledge you that our general attorney will launch a war against organized crime in this nation. Respect from law can come only from people who take it into their hearts and minds and not into their hands. I believe in a system necessity which the appropriate cabinet officer gets credit for what goes right. I believe any 70 of government providing besful change. Mr. Mix nixon said the only way attack crime in america is the way crime attacks our people without pity. Mr. Nixon said . Final one, you tell you what happens when you go to a police state. You cant talk why your bedroom. You ha hear about going out and talk in front of the garden. You cant even talk in front of a shrub. Im simply saying there are Police States and we dont want that to happen in america. Adds long as im in office make sure no one engages in that activity. To become congressman and woman we took the same oath to uphold the constitution that Richard Nixon took. If we have to be careful, we must sign this. Secretary William Cohen you were a member of congress in the 1973. Explain what happened . Republicans demanded of our chief counsel and minority counsel at that point was bert jenner, a terrific trial lawyer from chicago. I believe it was congressman wig inns who really took the case. They said quote iryoure allegi abuse of power and obstruction of justice. Where are the specifics so he went point by point. They had a point. I think it rocked the committee back a bit. There was very broad gauged language that doesnt have a lot of specifics. I think the chit ee thought they were on their heels. We went back to our offices and i did receive a call with the meeting with Tom Railsback and others. They said why dont you like to write, bill, so why dont you see if you can put these things these facts together in a way that can be persuasive so i was charged with organizing arguments for the articles of impeachment and then had to that case the next day. I would answer specifically why this charge is included specifically, specifically, specifically. So that was a legitimate for those supporting the president. Who were some of the key players in the committee . Who did you work with . Well, i didnt work with anyone until that moment that i met with Tom Railsback and the seven who met in his office. I didnt work with anyone until they came back and said you have to argue these issues and that was the only interaction i had with any of my colleagues at this point. At what point did you think that president nixon was going to be impeached and forced out. I could tell by the oepening statement where it was going to go. I was surprised by some. For examplexample, the congress from wisconsin and congressman maryland also voted for impeachment because they were prap perhaps two of the more critical questioners behind closed doors. I wasnt surprised by any of the other kill r about as i had been telli telling x about a. Did all of that work in the summer of 1974. You have to remember what the country was going through. In a ten year period of time, basically a decade we had the assassination of president kennedy, the assassination of bobby kennedy. At sa asse aassassination and water gate. It was a heavy load that the American People are being asked to show. It showed in the expressions of the members. Tom railsback was under enormous stretch because he was a strong supporter of president nixon. He lost his voice and never regained it. Congressman flowers was suffering from bleeding ulsers. Those who would come to public sessions, he would come with an individual named rabbi korve and made it known they were opposed to where the committee was going. Were there a lot of personal things that were going on in the lives of individuals that perhaps were never known to the public but in the committee. Did you have a sense of how riveting the events were and how much americans were watching. Before we opened it up to the public, no. We had been meeting day after day after day, of course the press is trying to get information. It was pretty closed. I know i would brief members of the press from time to time on context or removing in the right direction in terms of getting evident. There were never any breaches of confidentiality in materials of what was going on in the committee. Series of sessions. I dont think any of us had the any notion of what the impact was going to be that way. A month later Richard Nixon resigns. Did you have a sense it was going to happen that quickly . No. I thought it would go to the house. The house would vote to recommend articles of impeachment and the senate would have a trial. Looking at the clock, looked like it was a way for the president to run out the clock because it was summer time. Congress is out in the summer timelected, looking at it from a gaming perspective, the president may have tried to run the clock out on the impeachment process. A very key missing tape was disclosed. That shifted opinion on the part of the republicans who were his staunchest defenders. I will never forget the book that Theodore White had written, breach of faith. It was had white had a beautiful way of describing how you can take a french man, take him out of the context, his dna is french or dna is chinese but every country having its myth, they said the myth that binds america together is that were all equal under the law. If you take that maj lou, you basically unravel the knitting together of so many different ethnic secular groups in this country. That myth that you described it was that everybody is bound by the law and nobody is above it. When you say the president is above it it unraveled. It was basically a breach of faith. You believe you will not abuse it. He will not take his position to interfere with the flow of justice and to use neutral ib strewents of the government like the irs that any way interferes with the due process. I think the country being able to here all the evidence and then come to the conclusion saying were persuaded that
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