[Barbara Jordan Scrapbook, July - September, 1974] Page: 75 of 236
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THE HOUSTON POST Page 17/A
TUESDAY, JULY 30, 1974
2nd article
OKd; charges
agency misuseSFrom pge1)
ing a President," said Rep.
Jack Brooks, D-Tex., but "It
is essential to remove from
the body politic any president
who threatens to destroy our
system."
Rep. David Dennis, R-Ind.,
one of Nixon's staunchest de-
fenders, said the second ar-
ticle, if supported by the
facts, would be more impor-
tant than the first. "But here
you just don't really have the
evidence," he declared.
"I just don't believe we're
going to impeach the Presi-
dent of the United States
without the facts," said Den-
nis.
But Rep. Joshua Eilberg,
D-Pa., said activities of the
so-called plumbers unit and
the Presdent's manipulation
of other agencies demonstra-
ted that "The Nixon White
House made the secret police
a reality in t h e United
States."
The second article chrges
t h a t Nixon personally or
t h r o u g h subordinates at-
tempted to obtain secret In-
ternal Revenue Service files
and to audit political 'foes,
wiretapping government em-
ployes and private citizens,
misused such agencies as the
FBI and Secret Service, and
created the special White
House unit, the Plumbers,
which engaged in illegal ac-
tivities.
In urging Nixon's removal
from office, the article said
the President, using the pow-
ers of his office "in violatiion
of his constitutional oath .. .
has repeatedly engaged in
conduct violating the con-
stitutional rights of citizens,
impairing the due and proper
administration of justice and
conduct of lawful inquiries or
contravening the laws govern-
ing agencies of the executive
branch and the purposes of
these agencies."
The sponsor of the first ar-
ticle, Rep. Paul Sarbanes, D-
Md., summed up in advocating
adoption of the second: "We
came perilously close to los-
ing our basic freedom and it
is for that reason we must
act affirmatively tonight."
H o u r s before Monday
night's vote, the committee's
ranking Republican said in an
interview that he now believes
the full House probably will
vote impeachment.
The comments of Rep. Ed-
ward Hutchinson of Michigan,
one of the President's fore-
most defenders on the panel
of lawyers, contrasted sharp-
ly with Nixon's prediction he
will win vindication from the
House.
A majority House vote
would place Nixon on trial in
the Senate, where a two-
thirds margin is required to
convict and remove him from
office.As they had done during de-
bate on the first article, the
anti-impeachment bloc argued
that there was no proof that
Nixon knew of the illegal ac-
tivities of his subordinates.
Again leading the fight in
Nixon's defense was Rep.
Charles Wiggins, R-Calif.,
who opened the debate by at-
tempting to have the entire
article thrown out on a point
of order - that it did not
directly involve "impeach-
able" offenses. That com-
plaint was immediately, re-
jected without a formal vote.
Then Wiggins offered amend-
ments aimed at narrowing
the charges.
By a vote of 28 to 9, the
committee rejected Wiggins'
motion to include in the spe-
cific allegations the words
"acting with his (Nixon's)
knowledge and pursuant to
his instructions" where they
refer to actions by presiden-
tial aides.
The impeachment bloc op-
posed the proposed change on
ground it could eliminate ac-
tions which the President ap-
proved after the fact even if
he had no prior knowledge.
In a procedure parallel to
that used in the consideration
of the first article, Rep. Wil-
liam L. Hungate, D-Mo., of-
fered a revamped version of
the abuse of power article,
first proposed last Wednesday
night by Rep. Harold Do-
nohue, D-Mass.
It included five numbered
paragraphs containing specif-
ic allegations:
* That the President act-
ing personally and through
subordinates sought to obtain
confidential information from
the Internal Revenue Service
and also attempted to get the
agency to audit the tax re-
turns of political opponents of
the administration.
* That the President mis-
used the FBI and the Secret
S e r v i c e by directing the
agencies to wiretap govern-
ment employes and private
citizens.
* That he authorized for-
mation of the White House
special investigations unit
known as the plumbers which
engaged in illegal activities.
* That he failed to adhere
to his constitutional oath to
take care that the laws be
faithfully executed after he
learned of the involvement of
White House and campaign
aides in the Watergate cover-
up.
* That he misused the
power of his office to inter-
fere with t h e investigations
of the FBI, Justice Depart-
ment, special Watergate pros-
ecutor and the Central In-
telligence Agency.3
p
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[Barbara Jordan Scrapbook, July - September, 1974], book, 1974; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth616583/m1/75/: accessed May 22, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Southern University.