United States Senate Watergate Committee

{{short description|1973 US Senate committee to investigate the Watergate scandal}} {{Use American English|date=December 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2025}} {{Infobox U.S. congressional committee | name = Senate Watergate Committee | type = special | chamber = senate | congress = 93rd | image = | image_size = | caption = | status = defunct | formed = {{start date|1973|02|7}} | disbanded = {{end date|1974|06|27}}<br />(abolished, when the committee's final report was published) | chair = [[Sam Ervin]] | chair_party = D | ranking_member = [[Howard Baker]] | rm_party = R | seats = 7 members | majority1 = D | majority1_seats = 4 | minority1 = R | minority1_seats = 3 | purpose = To investigate "illegal, improper, or unethical activities" conducted by individuals involved with a campaign, nomination, and/or election of any candidate for [[President of the United States]] in the [[1972 United States presidential election|1972 presidential election]], and produce a final report with the committee's findings. | subcommittees =  | chamber_rules = [https://www.congress.gov/bill/93rd-congress/senate-resolution/60 S.Res. 60, 93rd Cong. (1973).] | notes = }} {{Watergate|Congress}} The '''Senate Watergate Committee''', known officially as the '''Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities''', was a [[special committee]] established by the [[United States Senate]], {{USBill|93|S.Res.|60}}, in 1973, to investigate the [[Watergate scandal]], with the power to investigate the break-in at the [[Democratic National Committee]] (DNC) headquarters at the Watergate Hotel in the [[Watergate complex]] in [[Washington, D.C.]], and any subsequent cover-up of criminal activity, as well as "all other illegal, improper, or unethical conduct occurring during the controversial [[1972 United States presidential election|1972 presidential election]], including political espionage and campaign finance practices".

American print news media focused the nation's attention on the issue with hard-hitting investigative reports, while television news outlets brought the drama of the hearings to the living rooms of millions of American households, broadcasting the proceedings live for two weeks in May 1973. The [[public broadcasting|public television]] network [[PBS]] broadcast the hearings from gavel to gavel on more than 150 national affiliates.

Working under committee chairman [[Sam Ervin]], the committee played a pivotal role in gathering evidence that would lead to the indictment of forty administration officials and the conviction of several of [[Richard Nixon]]'s aides for obstruction of justice and other crimes. Its revelations later prompted the [[Impeachment process against Richard Nixon|impeachment process against Nixon]] himself, which featured the introduction of three articles of impeachment by the Democratic-led [[House Committee on the Judiciary]]. Watergate led to [[Richard Nixon's resignation speech|Nixon's resignation]] on August 9, 1974.

==Background== {{Main|Watergate scandal}} Shortly after midnight on June 17, 1972, five men were arrested inside the DNC offices.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.upi.com/Audio/Year_in_Review/Events-of-1973/Watergate-Scandal/12305770297723-4/ |title=Watergate Scandal, 1973 In Review |publisher=United Press International |date=September 8, 1973 |access-date=June 17, 2010}}</ref> The [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] launched an investigation of the incident, and the dogged reporting of two ''[[Washington Post]]'' journalists, [[Bob Woodward]] and [[Carl Bernstein]], raised questions and suggested connections between [[Richard Nixon]]'s controversial reelection campaign and the men awaiting trial. The [[White House]] denied any connection to the break-in, and Nixon [[1972 United States presidential election|won reelection in a landslide]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/investigations/Watergate.htm|title=Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities (''The Watergate Committee'')|publisher=Senate Historical Office|access-date=December 31, 2016}}</ref> Following confirmation that such a connection did in fact exist, the Senate voted 77–0 in February 1973 to create the Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Watergate_Investigation.htm|title=March 28, 1973: Watergate Leaks Lead to Open Hearings|publisher=Senate Historical Office|access-date=December 31, 2016}}</ref>

Before the election, the [[United States House Committee on Financial Services|House Banking Committee]] chaired by [[Wright Patman]] (D-TX) held hearings on Watergate but were stymied by Nixon Administration officials. A vote to issue subpoenas in October 1972 failed when several Democratic members joined all Republican members of the committee to oppose the vote.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kenworthy |first=E. W. |date=1972-10-13 |title=PATMAN BALKED ON WATERGATE; Fails Twice to Get Enough Democrats for Quorum |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/10/13/archives/patman-balked-on-watergate-fails-twice-to-get-enough-democrats-for.html |access-date=2023-02-06 |work=The New York Times |language=en}}</ref> The failure of the committee hearings formed an impetus for action in the Senate.

==Members== The members of the Senate Watergate Committee were:

{{col-begin|width=auto}} {{col-break}} {| class="wikitable" ! colspan=2 | [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic{{nbsp}}Party]]{{nbsp}}members ! State |- | {{party color cell|Democratic Party (United States)}} | [[Sam Ervin]], ''Chair'' | [[North Carolina]] |- | {{party color cell|Democratic Party (United States)}} | [[Daniel Inouye]] | [[Hawaii]] |- | {{party color cell|Democratic Party (United States)}} | [[Joseph Montoya]] | [[New Mexico]] |- | {{party color cell|Democratic Party (United States)}} | [[Herman Talmadge]] | [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] |} {{col-break}} {| class="wikitable" ! colspan=2 | [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican{{nbsp}}Party]]{{nbsp}}members ! State |- | {{party color cell|Republican Party (United States)}} | [[Howard Baker]], ''Ranking Member'' | [[Tennessee]] |- | {{party color cell|Republican Party (United States)}} | [[Edward Gurney]] | [[Florida]] |- | {{party color cell|Republican Party (United States)}} | [[Lowell Weicker]] | [[Connecticut]] |} {{col-end}}

The chief counsel of the Committee was [[Samuel Dash]], who directed the investigation. The minority counsel was [[Fred Thompson]]. Members of the Senate Watergate Committee's professional staff included: {{columns-list|colwidth=19em| * [[Scott Armstrong (journalist)|Scott Armstrong]] * David M. Dorsen (Assistant Chief Counsel) * [[Rufus L. Edmisten|Rufus Edmisten]] (Deputy Counsel) * [[Gordon Freedman]] * [[James Hamilton (attorney)|James Hamilton]] (Assistant Chief Counsel) * [[Terry Lenzner]]<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20081222065054/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,943658,00.html The $100,000 Misunderstanding], ''Time'', May 6, 1974</ref> (Assistant Chief Counsel)<ref>[https://archive.org/details/FinalReportOfTheSenateSelectCommitteeOnPresidentialCampaignActivities Senate Select Committee] ''Final Report of the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities'', by Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, USA, 1974, pages III and VII. Retrieved June 4, 2018.</ref> * Marc Lackritz * Robert Muse * [[Donald Sanders]] (Deputy Minority Counsel{{snd}}Republican) * [[Jill Wine-Banks]] (prosecutor's staff)<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kiernan |first1=Laura A. |title=A Watergate Lawyer Decides to 'Move On' |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1979/10/01/a-watergate-lawyer-decides-to-move-on/d096c9a4-8a76-4d12-ab0d-a25ed68596e9/ |access-date=3 February 2022 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=October 1, 1979}}</ref> }}

==Hearings== [[File:ThompsonWatergate.jpg|right|thumb|From left to right: minority counsel [[Fred Thompson]], [[ranking member]] [[Howard Baker]], and chair [[Sam Ervin]] of the Senate Watergate Committee in 1973.]] Hearings opened on May 17, 1973, and the Committee issued its seven-volume, 1,250-page report on June 27, 1974, titled ''Report on Presidential Campaign Activities''. The first weeks of the committee's hearings were a national political and cultural event. They were broadcast live during the day on commercial television; at the start, [[CBS]], [[NBC]], and [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] covered them simultaneously, and then later on a rotation basis, while [[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]] replayed the hearings at night.<ref name="museum">Ronald Garay, [http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/W/htmlW/watergate/watergate.htm "Watergate"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130925020622/http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/W/htmlW/watergate/watergate.htm |date=2013-09-25 }}, [[Museum of Broadcast Communications]]. Accessed June 30, 2007.</ref> Some 319 hours were broadcast overall, and 85% of U.S. households watched some portion of them.<ref name="museum" /> The audio feed also was broadcast, gavel-to-gavel, on scores of [[National Public Radio]] stations, making the hearings available to people in their cars and workplaces, and increased the profile of the fledgling broadcast organization.<ref>[https://americanarchive.org/exhibits/watergate/watergate-and-public-broadcasting "'Gavel-to-Gavel': The Watergate Scandal and Public Television", ''American Archive of Public Broadcasting''. Retrieved November 10, 2019.]</ref>

The hearings made stars out of both Ervin, who became known for his folksy manner and wisdom but resolute determination, and Baker, who appeared somewhat non-partisan and uttered the famous phrase "What did the President know, and when did he know it?" (often paraphrased by others in later scandals). It was the introduction to the public for minority counsel Thompson, who would later become an actor, senator, and presidential candidate.

Many of Watergate's most famous moments happened during the hearings. During former White House counsel [[John Dean]]'s four days before the committee, he testified about the cover-up, who was involved including himself and events related to it, including him telling Nixon on March 21 that there was a "cancer on the Presidency") . Dean confirmed to Inouye that the Nixon White House kept [[Nixon's Enemies List|a list of its enemies]] – including Weicker, who then called for added transparency in the executive branch. Meanwhile, [[Federal Aviation Administration|FAA]] chairman and former White House deputy assistant [[Alexander Butterfield]] revealed the existence of the secret [[Nixon White House tapes]] and Ervin sparred with former Nixon chief domestic policy advisor [[John Ehrlichman]] about whether constitutional law allowed a President to sanction such actions as the Watergate break-in and a break-in at the office of the psychiatrist to [[Daniel Ellsberg]], the former assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs who had leaked the [[Pentagon Papers]].<ref>[https://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip_512-mc8rb6ww1z ''Summer of Judgment: The Watergate Hearings'' (Part 1 of 2)] American Archive of Public Broadcast</ref>

== References == {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{Librivox author |id=12819}} *[https://americanarchive.org/special_collections/watergate Coverage of the Watergate Hearings] by the National Public Affairs Center for Television (NPACT) at the [[American Archive of Public Broadcasting]]

[[Category:Defunct committees of the United States Senate|Watergate]] [[Category:Select committees of the United States Congress|Watergate]] [[Category:United States national commissions]] [[Category:Investigations and hearings of the United States Congress]] [[Category:Watergate scandal]] [[Category:1973 establishments in the United States]] [[Category:1974 disestablishments in the United States]] [[Category:93rd United States Congress]]