Subpoenas issued by the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities to President Nixon, July 23, 1973
These two subpoenas were the foundation for what would become a year-long fight for the release of the White House tapes and other materials relevant to the Senate investigation. The knowledge of those tapes was the result of Alexander Butterfield’s revelation of a White House taping system on July 13, 1973. The Senate Watergate Committee and Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox subpoenaed Nixon for the recordings of materials between him and John Dean as well as the materials connected to the 1972 Presidential election from 25 individuals. Rufus Edmisten and Terry Lenzner—Deputy Chief Counsel and Assistant Chief Counsel for the Senate Watergate Committee—served the subpoena to Leonard Garment—Counsel to the President—on behalf of Nixon.
The first subpoena requests all original electronic tapes and recorded phone messages of the listed conversations or oral communications, telephonic or personal, between President Nixon and John Dean at the dates and times included on page two. The conversation topics targeted were alleged crimes connected to the 1972 Presidential election and the ensuing break-ins of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters, the surveillance of DNC offices, and efforts to conceal information or grant clemency, pardons, or immunities to defendants or attorneys related to the previously stated matters. The time frames on page two are specified as personal and are as follows: September 15, 1972, 5:27-6:17 pm; February 28, 1973, 9:12-10:23 am; March 13, 1973, 12:42-2:00 pm; March 21, 1973, 10:12-11:55 am and 5:20-6:01 pm.
The second subpoena requests all records or copies of records (e.g., documents, logs, records, memoranda, correspondence, news summaries, datebooks, notebooks, photographs, recordings, etc.) as it related to the following list of 25 people (pages six and seven). The information requested specifically targeted documents that related directly or indirectly to their activities, participation, responsibilities, or involvement in the 1972 Presidential election and the ensuing DNC break-ins, the surveillance of DNC offices, and efforts to conceal information or grant clemency, pardons, or immunities to defendants or attorneys related to the previously stated matters. The alphabetical list of individuals on pages six and seven are as follows: Patrick J. Buchanan, Alexander P. Butterfield, John Campbell, Jack Caulfield, Dwight Chapin, Charles Colson, John Dean, John Erlichman, Fred Fielding, H. Robert Haldeman, Larry Higby, Richard Howard, E. Howard Hunt, Bruce, Kehrli, Egil Krogh, Frederick LaRue, G. Gordon Liddy, Jeb Stuart Magruder, John Mitchell, Richard A. Moore, DeVan Shumway, Gordon Strachan, William Timmons, David Young, and Ron Ziegler.
The first page of each subpoena features the all-caps, typewritten heading: “United States of America // Congress of the United States // Subpoena Duces Tecum.” A subpoena duces tecum, also know as a “documents subpoena,” is a court order requiring the person subpoenaed to produce documents or other tangible items pertinent to a proceeding (NC Prosecutors’ Resource Online, 2020). Both subpoenas required that the information requested be made available to the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities on Thursday, July 26, 1973, at 10 am at their committee room (318 Old Senate Office Building).
References:
NC Prosecutors’ Resource Online. (2020, November 16). 210.1 Subpoena to Produce Documents. Retrieved September 9, 2023, from https://ncpro.sog.unc.edu/manual/210-1
