Mr. Reader
Impeachment
27 April 2015 After the Watergate scandal, former President Nixon was brought up on impeachment charges due to his involvement in the scandal. Many citizens called for the removal of Nixon from office, and he was brought up on impeachment charges, but resigned before there were any trials. According to the Constitution, a president “shall be removed from office for, and on conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” Under these terms, I believe that the accusations against President Nixon were impeachable crimes due to not having the interest of the citizens in full mind.
The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States that resulted from the break-in …show more content…
However, Nixon was aware that he needed to remove the three men from office in a way that would seem natural and not be related to the scandal in any way to protect himself. Nixon by being involved in the scandal he acted through his agents in violation of the constitutional rights of citizens. Nixon knowingly misused the executive power by interfering with agencies of the executive branch during the investigation of his administration. By doing this, he betrayed the trust of the government further than before. Off the tapes he had recorded in secret, eighteen minutes were missing raising further suspicion against Nixon and the others involved in the scandal. To increase Nixon’s wrongdoings, any member of his administration that would possibly incriminate him, he had them removed from office. Though these actions in themselves are not criminal and/or grounds for impeachment, they were considered an abuse of federal power. After the scandal had been exposed to the public and the charges were brought up against the Nixon administration, they went to to trail in front of a grand jury in Washington, D.C., Seven of Nixon’s associates, including those who were already removed from office were indicted. These seven became known as the "Watergate Seven". Between the initial crime, the discovered slush …show more content…
Nixon, by having a slush fund and the lengths he went to cover up the crimes where the aspects of the scandal that warranted the impeachment charges. Nixon’s involvement in the scandal came to light in a media frenzy that resulted in a massive betrayal of trust for the citizens of the United States. Nixon’s actions at Watergate put his desires above those the US citizens and did not have the interest of the country in mind while accepting bribes, committing treason and attempting to silence other members of his administration by removing them from office and bribing them to stay