Watergate Scandal
After the June 17th break-in, Watergate became a scandal.ThNixon’s former administration was implicated in the 1972 scandal. This scandal saw President Nixon’s involvement in several unethical issues like abuse of office, corruption, and interference with state investigations. Title 5 was January 2017, the code of federal regulations. The scandal revealed the following:
- Howard Hughes donated funds to Nixon for construction of his Florida house in 1969. Nixon was elected to office that year. Title 5, CFR Number 3,7, and 9.
- Nixon directed that the intrusions be made personally by Jeb Majruder, who is a member his Committee to Reelect America Staff. The violation of Title 5 CFR Number 4 was a crime.
- Howard Hunt was the White House’s “plumber”, and he sought to undermine his political opponents. This violation was evident in the 1972 Democratic Primaries. Title CFR Number 13-14 was also violated.
- John Mitchell, the ex-CRP Head and Attorney General was able to use secret slush money for investigations of the Democrats. This is a violation Title 5 CFR Numbers 4, 3 and 1.
- Bernard Barker was a complicit in Watergate’s break-in. He received a 25000 US dollar check meant for the Presidential Campaign. It was also a violation of Title 5 CFR 2.4.
- John Dean was the acting FBI director. He testified that he had been provided files related to FBI investigations into Watergate. Title 5 CFR number 1,6,5,8 and 11. This violation was a breach Ehrlichman gave Hunt through Colson clemency in exchange for his silence. Title 5 CFR Number 3,4,5 was broken.
- The Watergate scandal, despite being marred with many issues and controversy, also produced some sound ethical performances. The refusal by the CIA to stop an investigation into the break-in of President Nixon, and also the unanimous decision by the Supreme Court to subpoena Nixon to get the Smoking gun records. Richardson and Ruckelshaus, each subsequent attorney general, refused to fire Cox the special prosecutor under President Nixon’s orders. Instead, they resigned. Three articles which could impeach Nixon were finally approved by the House Jud
The White House tried to persuade co-conspirators that they were guilty of the Watergate scandal’s most serious case of bad public ethics. Dean recorded this conversation and demonstrated how many legal personnel were involved with covering up the Watergate leak-in.
Watergate was an important moment in ethics and public service. This occurred August 8, 2008.Th1973 when Nixon was elected president. With the words, “I have never been one who quits,” he resigned. It’s a horrible feeling that I will be leaving office before the end of my term. This is against my best instincts. But, America’s needs must always be my number one priority, as president. This is the quotation from Bush’s 2017 speech. This moment served as a stark reminder about the importance of ethics in public administration. The moment showed President Bush had violated several ethics codes which were in the public’s interest, and he should be fired.