dants to commit perjury. (Sirica 222) These allegations drew national attention to the scandal. Instead of revealing what he knew and when he knew it, Nixon attempted to deny all knowledge and cover up everything, a technique he called “stonewalling.” In a CREEP meeting, President Nixon instructed the others to stonewall also. (Sirica 222) Despite his attempt of stonewalling, new information was revealed that not only had the defendants in the break-in been pressured to plead guilty, they had also been paid hush money that had been approved by the President himself. In February, 1973, a Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities was established by the Senate. On May 17, 1973, the Senate Committee opened hearings to investigate the Watergate cover-up. Dean, the Counsel to the President testified that the President knew of the break-in and organized the cover up himself. (Westerfeld 43) The testimony of the deputy assistant to the President, Alexander Butterfield, was the turning point of the investigation. On July 16, 1973, he disclosed the existence of listening devices in the Oval Office, which recorded every conversation in order to help preserve all documents. On July 23, Archibald Cox, the special prosecutor subpoenaed the tapes but Nixon refused to turn them over, citing executive privilege. (Sirica 67) This claim began a lengthy legal battle over the tapes that lasted more than a year and went all the way to the Supreme Court. Nixon knew that the Senate Watergate Committee was getting dangerously close to the truth and on October 20, 1973, he ordered what is now known as the infamous “Saturday Night Massacre.” That night, Nixon ordered Cox to not subpoena any more tapes, although Cox said he would. President Nixon was beyond furious and then ordered Attorney General Elliott Richardson to dismiss Archibald Cox, Special Prosecutor. Richardson refused to fire Cox and he resigned, leaving...
