Washington: President Richard Nixon agreed today to comply in full with the U.S. Court of Appeals ruling directing him to give the White House tapes to a federal judge.
The announcement came as the House of Representatives began a preliminary investigation into whether the President should be impeached.
Mr Nixon’s surprise announcement was made to the US district court judge, Mr John Sirica, by Mr Charles Alan Wright, a lawyer for the President.
Mr Wright said the President had hoped that the compromise he announced on Friday would end the constitutional crisis. “Events over the week-end made it very apparent it did not,” he said.
A resolution was introduced today in the House of Representatives calling for the impeachment of President Nixon.
California Democrat Jerome Waldie introduced the measure which charged Mr Nixon with obstructing justice aby dismissing Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox on Saturday.
House Judiciary Committee chairman Peter Rodino said that his group was to determine first of all whether Mr Nixon was guilty of an offense calling for impeachment.
Earlier, former Attorney-General Elliot Richardson had said the very integrity of the governmental process was at stake in the crisis over President Nixon’s handling of the Watergate tapes.
{{/usCountry}}Earlier, former Attorney-General Elliot Richardson had said the very integrity of the governmental process was at stake in the crisis over President Nixon’s handling of the Watergate tapes.
{{/usCountry}}Mr Richardson denied a report that he had been ordered a week ago to fire Mr Cox.
Mr Richardson, who resigned on Saturday, told a Press conference that it was now up to the American people to judge the facts.
On the fairness with which it was done, he said, might well rest the country’s future well-being and security.
Mr Richardson declined to say whether he felt the President should be impeached. ‘1’he decision, he said, must be made by the American people themselves.
Mr Richardson said he felt compelled to resign on Saturday rather than to carry out Mr Nixon’s instruction to fire Mr Cox because “at stake was the very integrity of the governmental process I came to the department to restore.”