t Nixon instructed the others to stonewall also. 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, the Senate established a Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities. 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. 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. 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 the orders to be carried out by Deputy Attorney General, William Ruckelhaus. He also refused to fire Cox and he too resigned. Robert Bork, third in the chain of command, followed Nixon’s orders and fired Cox but then he also resigned. After the “Saturday Night Massacre,” it was clear that Nixon was hiding involvement in the Watergat...
