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Presidential Records Act (PRA) of 1978
The Presidential Records Act (PRA) of 1978, 44 U.S.C. ß2201-2209, governs the official records of Presidents and Vice Presidents that were created or received after January 20, 1981 (i.e., beginning with the Reagan Administration). The PRA changed the legal ownership of the official records of...
www.archives.gov
"The United States shall reserve and retain complete ownership, possession, and control of Presidential records; and such records shall be administered in accordance with the provisions of this chapter."
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Looking back: The Supreme Court decision that ended Nixon’s presidency | Constitution Center
It was on this day in 1974 that the U.S. Supreme Court dealt a fatal blow to President Richard Nixon’s presidency, in a decision that led to the release of the Watergate tapes.
constitutioncenter.org
Nixon argued that the concept of executive privilege gave him the power to withhold sensitive information, such as the tapes, from other government branches in order to maintain confidential communications within the executive branch and to secure the national interest.
On July 24, 1974, a unanimous Court (with Justice Rehnquist not taking part due to a prior role in the Nixon administration) ruled against the President. Chief Justice Warren Burger said that the President didn’t have an absolute, unqualified privilege to withhold information.
“We conclude that when the ground for asserting privilege as to subpoenaed materials sought for use in a criminal trial is based only on the generalized interest in confidentiality, it cannot prevail over the fundamental demands of due process of law in the fair administration of criminal justice. The generalized assertion of privilege must yield to the demonstrated, specific need for evidence in a pending criminal trial,” Burger said.
As the Supreme Court drama was unfolding, the House Judiciary Committee worked on three articles of impeachment against President Nixon. The evidence on the tapes was critical to the impending House impeachment proceedings against Nixon.
The Court ordered the tapes released as soon as possible after a judge had listened to the tapes to decide they were relevant to the trial of the former Nixon aides. About two weeks after the Supreme Court’s decision, President Nixon resigned from office.
Sense trump is a former President he can no longer be impeached or resign from the office of trust; however, him being a citizen he can be indicted.