"WASHINGTON—For the first time, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is providing public access to the transcripts of President Richard Nixon’s Watergate grand jury testimony. NARA and the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) have a long-standing collaborative relationship in publishing the Federal Register and in keeping with this relationship, will be supporting NARA in providing electronic access to the transcripts of the Nixon grand jury testimony on GPO's Federal Digital System (FDsys). GPO will be one of the sites that host the transcripts.
NARA is opening 26 files from its Records of the Watergate Special Prosecution Force collection including transcripts of President Nixon’s grand jury testimony of June 23-24, 1975. This is as a result of the July 29, 2011 order by Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia Royce C. Lamberth
that the transcript of Nixon’s testimony and the “Associated Materials” to that testimony be released to the public following the review of these documents for any information that must be redacted as required by law. This is the first time the public will have access to this historic collection..."
direct link to GPO site
direct link to NARA site
Showing posts with label Nixon_Richard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nixon_Richard. Show all posts
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Archive Publishes Treasure Trove of Kissinger Telephone Conversations
"...Kissinger never intended these papers to be made public, according to William Burr, senior analyst at the National Security Archive, who edited the collection, Kissinger Telephone Conversations: A Verbatim Record of U.S. Diplomacy, 1969-1977. “Kissinger’s conversations with the most influential personalities of the world rank right up there with the Nixon tapes as the most candid, revealing and valuable trove of records on the exercise of executive power in Washington,” Burr stated. For reporters, scholars, and students, Burr noted, “Kissinger created a gift to history that will be a tremendous primary source for generations to come.” He called on the State Department to declassify over 800 additional telcons that it continues to withhold on the grounds of executive privilege.
The documents shed light on every aspect of Nixon-Ford diplomacy, including U.S.-Soviet détente, the wars in Southeast Asia, the 1969 Biafra crisis, the 1971 South Asian crisis, the October 1973 Middle East War, and the 1974 Cyprus Crisis, among many other developments. Kissinger’s dozens of interlocutors include political and policy figures, such as Presidents Nixon and Ford, Secretary of State William Rogers, Governor Nelson Rockefeller, Robert S. McNamara, and Soviet Ambassador Anatoli Dobrynin; journalists and publishers, such as Ted Koppel, James Reston, and Katherine Graham; and such show business friends as Frank Sinatra. Besides the telcons, the Kissinger Telephone Conversations: A Verbatim Record of U.S. Diplomacy, 1969-1977 includes audio tape of Kissinger’s telephone conversations with Richard Nixon that were recorded automatically by the secret White House taping system, some of which Kissinger’s aides were unable to transcribe."
"...Kissinger never intended these papers to be made public, according to William Burr, senior analyst at the National Security Archive, who edited the collection, Kissinger Telephone Conversations: A Verbatim Record of U.S. Diplomacy, 1969-1977. “Kissinger’s conversations with the most influential personalities of the world rank right up there with the Nixon tapes as the most candid, revealing and valuable trove of records on the exercise of executive power in Washington,” Burr stated. For reporters, scholars, and students, Burr noted, “Kissinger created a gift to history that will be a tremendous primary source for generations to come.” He called on the State Department to declassify over 800 additional telcons that it continues to withhold on the grounds of executive privilege.
The documents shed light on every aspect of Nixon-Ford diplomacy, including U.S.-Soviet détente, the wars in Southeast Asia, the 1969 Biafra crisis, the 1971 South Asian crisis, the October 1973 Middle East War, and the 1974 Cyprus Crisis, among many other developments. Kissinger’s dozens of interlocutors include political and policy figures, such as Presidents Nixon and Ford, Secretary of State William Rogers, Governor Nelson Rockefeller, Robert S. McNamara, and Soviet Ambassador Anatoli Dobrynin; journalists and publishers, such as Ted Koppel, James Reston, and Katherine Graham; and such show business friends as Frank Sinatra. Besides the telcons, the Kissinger Telephone Conversations: A Verbatim Record of U.S. Diplomacy, 1969-1977 includes audio tape of Kissinger’s telephone conversations with Richard Nixon that were recorded automatically by the secret White House taping system, some of which Kissinger’s aides were unable to transcribe."
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Presidential Claims of Executive Privilege: History, Law, Practice and Recent Developments
"Presidential claims of a right to preserve the confidentiality of information and
documents in the face of legislative demands have figured prominently, though
intermittently, in executive-congressional relations since at least 1792. Few such
interbranch disputes over access to information have reached the courts for
substantive resolution, the vast majority achieving resolution through political
negotiation and accommodation. In fact, it was not until the Watergate-related
lawsuits in the 1970’s seeking access to President Nixon’s tapes that the existence
of a presidential confidentiality privilege was judicially established as a necessary
derivative of the President’s status in our constitutional scheme of separated powers.Of the eight court decisions involving interbranch or private information accessdisputes, three have involved Congress and the Executive but only one of
these resulted in a decision on the merits. The Nixon and post-Watergate cases established the broad contours of the presidential communications privilege. Under those precedents, the privilege, which is constitutionally rooted, could be invoked by the President when asked to produce documents or other materials or information that reflect presidential decisionmaking and deliberations that he believes should remain confidential. If the President does so, the materials become presumptively privileged.The privilege, however, is qualified, not absolute, and can be overcome by an adequate showing of need..."
"Presidential claims of a right to preserve the confidentiality of information and
documents in the face of legislative demands have figured prominently, though
intermittently, in executive-congressional relations since at least 1792. Few such
interbranch disputes over access to information have reached the courts for
substantive resolution, the vast majority achieving resolution through political
negotiation and accommodation. In fact, it was not until the Watergate-related
lawsuits in the 1970’s seeking access to President Nixon’s tapes that the existence
of a presidential confidentiality privilege was judicially established as a necessary
derivative of the President’s status in our constitutional scheme of separated powers.Of the eight court decisions involving interbranch or private information accessdisputes, three have involved Congress and the Executive but only one of
these resulted in a decision on the merits. The Nixon and post-Watergate cases established the broad contours of the presidential communications privilege. Under those precedents, the privilege, which is constitutionally rooted, could be invoked by the President when asked to produce documents or other materials or information that reflect presidential decisionmaking and deliberations that he believes should remain confidential. If the President does so, the materials become presumptively privileged.The privilege, however, is qualified, not absolute, and can be overcome by an adequate showing of need..."
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