The Justice Department is conducting a preliminary review of allegations that the Watergate special prosecutor’s office mistreated former President Richard Nixon and his associates, The Wall Street Journal reported on October 1. The review follows a presentation at Justice Department headquarters by Geoff Shepard, a former Nixon White House aide who has argued that the prosecutors acted improperly.
The allegations concern the conduct of the Watergate prosecution team, including claims about contacts with judges and the handling of evidence. They remain allegations, not findings. The department described the step as preliminary rather than a formal investigation, and no determination of misconduct has been announced.
The Watergate Special Prosecution Force investigated offenses tied to the 1972 break-in at Democratic National Committee headquarters, the presidential campaign and alleged abuses of presidential power. Archibald Cox and later Leon Jaworski served as special prosecutor; the Supreme Court unanimously upheld a subpoena for White House tapes in July 1974, and Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974.
The Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility is responsible for reviewing allegations of professional misconduct by department attorneys. OPR was created in 1975 after Watergate-era ethics abuses, but its consideration of information does not by itself establish that a formal investigation or disciplinary case is underway.
