Leon Jaworski - Watergate

Watergate

Jaworski's greatest fame came from his tenure as Watergate Special Prosecutor, when he managed a protracted contest with President Richard Nixon in an attempt to secure evidence for the trial of former senior administration officials on charges relating to the Watergate cover-up. Initially believing that only Nixon's aides had committed misconduct, he learned that Nixon had discussed the Watergate cover-up with the accused on numerous occasions, and that these conversations had been recorded by the White House taping system. This discovery caused Jaworski to request tapes of sixty-four Presidential conversations as evidence for the upcoming criminal trial, but Nixon refused to release them, citing executive privilege.

After unsuccessful attempts by Nixon to reach a compromise acceptable to the special prosecutor's office, including supplying edited transcripts of some recordings, Jaworski subpoenaed the tapes. Nixon appealed on two grounds: first, that the office of Special Prosecutor did not have the right to sue the office of President; and second, that the requested materials were privileged presidential conversations. Aware that an important constitutional issue was at stake, and unwilling to wait any longer, Jaworski asked the Supreme Court to take the case directly, bypassing the Court of Appeals.

On July 24, 1974, the Supreme Court ruled that the Special Prosecutor did have the right to sue the President; and that "the generalized assertion of privilege must yield to the demonstrated, specific need for evidence in a pending criminal trial". Nixon was forced to give the unedited tapes to Jaworski, including the so-called Smoking Gun Tape which included a compromising discussion of June 23, 1972. The President's remaining support waned, and he resigned on August 9, 1974.

Jaworski resigned as special prosecutor on October 25, 1974, once the cover-up trial had begun, and a new special prosecutor was appointed. Jaworski was a close friend of Dean Ernest Raba of St. Mary's University School of Law where he taught as an Adjunct Professor for several years.

In 1977 Jaworski reluctantly agreed to serve as special counsel to a House Ethics Committee investigation to determine whether members had indirectly or directly accepted anything of value from the government of the Republic of Korea. The investigation, known as Koreagate or the Tongsun Park Investigation, potentially involved hundreds of members of Congress and their families and associates, and included charges of bribery and influence-peddling via envelopes stuffed with $100 bills.

Jaworski died on December 9, 1982 while chopping wood at the Circle J Ranch near Wimberley, Texas.