Watergate scandal

The Watergate scandal was a political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's attempts to cover up its involvement in the June 17, 1972 break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C. at the Watergate Office Building. After the five perpetrators were arrested, the press and the Department of Justice connected the cash found on them at the time to the Committee for the Re-Election of the President. Further investigations, along with revelations during subsequent trials of the burglars, led the House of Representatives to grant the U.S. House Judiciary Committee additional investigative authority—to probe into "certain matters within its jurisdiction", and led the Senate to create the U.S. Senate Watergate Committee, which held hearings. Witnesses testified that Nixon had approved plans to cover up his administration's involvement in the burglary, and that there was a voice-activated taping system in the Oval Office. Throughout the investigation, Nixon's administration resisted its probes, and this led to a constitutional crisis. The Senate Watergate hearings were broadcast "gavel-to-gavel" nationwide by PBS and aroused public interest. Several major revelations and egregious presidential actions obstructing the investigation later in 1973 prompted the House to commence an impeachment process against Nixon. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Nixon had to release the Oval Office tapes to government investigators. The Nixon White House tapes revealed that he had conspired to cover up activities that took place after the burglary and had later tried to use federal officials to deflect attention from the investigation. The House Judiciary Committee approved three articles of impeachment against Nixon for obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and contempt of Congress. With his complicity in the cover-up made public upon release of the tapes, Nixon's political support completely eroded.