March 6, 1974

Press Guilty Of Watergate High Crime

Political jackals are circling the President once again hoping for an opening to the jugular.

Grand jury accusations of cover up have been made against several of Richard Nixon's former aides.  From this, his critics are trying mightily to equate "charge" to "proof" and extend judgment beyond those in the dock.

In the face of irresponsible speculation by the press that a "secret" letter to Judge John Sirica implicates the President, Nixon declares he is innocent.  He told a recent TV press conference that he could be impeached "only for a crime" and therefore the House of Representatives would not do so.

Not so! shriek the Nixon haters.  Any kind of misconduct by the President is impeachable.

Even Vice-president Gerald Ford is quoted that "an impeachable offense is whatever the House decides it to be."  He was speaking, of course, about judges with lifetime appointments who cannot be removed via the ballot.  Yet, this facetious remark recognizes the hypocrisy inherent in impeachment proceedings.

Americans, in the majority, revere the law and demand substantial proof before condemning an accused person.

A recent public opinion poll discloses that only 23 percent approve of Nixon, but 60 percent oppose his impeachment.  That the public sees political partisanship in the over blown Watergate mess is indicated by the finding only 21 percent approve Congress.

If unpopularity is the criteria for deposing public officials, perhaps we should impeach the Congress rather than the President!

Senator Sam Ervin, once lionized by the liberals for his role as chairman of the Special Watergate Committee, agrees with the White House.

The North Carolina Democrat is regarded as an expert on the U.S. Constitution.  He told his hometown newspaper last week that he believes the Founding Fathers considered only "specific criminal charges" to - be grounds for impeachment.

The Constitution is brief on the subject:

"The President ... shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors."  (Art.  II Sec.  4)

"The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jury."  (Art.  III Sec.  2)

There have been 12 impeachments in the history of our nation - nine judges, one cabinet member, one senator and one president (Andrew Johnson).  Only four, all judges, have been convicted.

However, this sparse precedent has established several significant clarifications of Constitutional intent:

Crimes and misdemeanors are synonymous.

The word "high" indicates a crime of a gravity equal to treason and bribery.

Impeachment of a President can be ONLY for HIGH crimes.

The writers of the Constitution foresaw clearly the problems of impeachment.  We can follow their thinking in the Federalist Papers written by several members of the Constitutional Convention of 1786 as newspaper articles explaining the unique document.

In Paper 65, Alexander Hamilton wrote: "The prosecution of impeachments will seldom fail to agitate the passions of the whole community, and to divide it into parties more or less friendly or inimical to the accused.  In many cases it will connect itself with the pre-existing factions and will enlist all their animosities, partialities, influence and interest on one side or on the other.  In such cases there will always be the greatest danger that the decision will be regulated more by the comparative strength of parties than by the real demonstrations of innocence or guilt."

Hamilton said the Convention members advocated caution to avoid three principal difficulties:

"Injury to the innocent, from the procrastinated determination of the charges which might be brought against them.

"Advantage to the guilty, from the opportunities which delay would afford to intrigue and corruption.

"Detriment to the state, from the prolonged inaction of men whose firm and faithful execution of their duty might have exposed them to the persecution of an in-temperate or designing majority in the House of Representatives."

The Federalist Papers do not define "high crimes and misdemeanors."  However, the language used to emphasize the seriousness of impeachment clearly indicates the process was not intended to be employed for ordinary misconduct.

"The awful discretion which a court of impeachments must necessarily have to doom to honor - or to infamy - the most confidential and the most distinguished characters of the community forbids the commitment of the trust to a small number of persons."

There is no question that Nixon has made some mistakes of judgment in dealing with Watergate.  For one thing he was incredibly remiss in delegating too much authority to subordinates.

Yet, no one - after nearly two years of intense scrutiny - has accused the President of planning, encouraging or knowing about the Watergate break-in before hand.

It would not be surprising to learn that Nixon subsequently tried to cover up Watergate - just as President Lyndon Johnson covered up his Vietnam escalation with the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, as President John Kennedy glossed over his failure to adequately support the Bay Of Pigs landing in Cuba, and as President Dwight Eisenhower lied about spying on Russia with U-2 planes.

All of these are grievous short comings.

But they are not high enough "crimes" to warrant impeachment.

The authors of the Constitution went to great lengths to provide a secret ballot as a ready means of removing incompetent and petty tyrants.

Certain newspapers and television net-works, bedazzled by assessments of their own moral and intellectual superiority, seek to substitute their judgment for that of the voter.

Who says?

Archibald Cox, former special Watergate prosecutor fired by Nixon, for one.  He told an audience in Concord, N.H., recently that he worries about press coverage of Watergate.

"The news media are turning gradually to a more active role in shaping the course of events through their news columns and commentaries as well as on their editorial pages," said Cox.

"The selection of news items often reflects a sort of notion that the press is the fourth branch of government and should play a major role in government," he said.

To another audience at Amherst College, Cox said impeachment is "radical surgery" that must not become "a partisan substitute for a premature election.  Political opposition, emotion, dislike, distrust and lack of public confidence ... are not enough."

After two years, the courts have dealt effectively with the real culprits of Watergate.  The partisan effort to restructure their guilt into a presidential high crime has failed.

Those who persist in keeping the country in a turmoil after all this time - in hopes of yet discovering a means of destroying the President - are committing a high crime themselves.

Author: Lindsey Williams