United States Senate Watergate Committee

United States Senate Watergate Committee

The Senate Watergate Committee was a special committee convened by the United States Senate to investigate the Watergate burglaries and the ensuing Watergate scandal after it was learned that the Watergate burglars had been directed to break into and wiretap the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee by the Committee to Re-elect the President, President Richard Nixon's re-election campaign fund raising organization. The formal, official name of the committee was the Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities.

The Committee played a pivotal role in gathering evidence that would lead to the indictment of forty administration officials and the conviction of several of Nixon's aides for obstruction of justice and other crimes. Its revelations prompted the introduction of articles of impeachment against the President in the House of Representatives, which led to Nixon's resignation.

The members of the Senate Watergate Committee were:

Majority party (Dem.) State
Sam J. Ervin, Chairman North Carolina
Daniel K. Inouye Hawaii
Joseph M. Montoya New Mexico
Herman E. Talmadge Georgia
Minority party (Rep.) State
Howard H. Baker, Jr., Ranking Member Tennessee
Edward J. Gurney Florida
Lowell P. Weicker, Jr. Connecticut

The Committee had two chief counsels, Sam Dash and Fred Thompson, who advised the Democratic and Republican members of the committee, respectively. Hearings opened on May 17, 1973, and the Committee issued its seven-volume, 1,250-page report on June 27, 1974, entitled Report on Presidential Campaign Activities.

The members of the Senate Watergate Committee’s staff investigators were:

  • Donald Sanders (Deputy Minority Counsel - Republican)
  • Terry Lenzner, chief investigator
  • Scott Armstrong
  • Robert Muse
  • Marc Lackritz
  • Gordon L. Freedman

Read more about United States Senate Watergate Committee:  Hearings

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