In an exclusive interview with The New American magazine, Geoff Shepard, the youngest attorney to serve on President Richard Nixon’s Watergate defense team, reflected on the events surrounding Nixon’s resignation, which occurred 50 years ago on August 9, 1974. Shepard, who played a critical role in transcribing the Nixon tapes and managing the White House document room, described the legal assaults on Nixon as part of what he now views as a “coup.”
Shepard, who was deeply involved in the unfolding of the Watergate crisis, shared his insights with Andrew Muller, the host of the magazine’s Unrestricted podcast. “I wasn’t just watching from the sidelines,” Shepard said. “I was on stage, witnessing the downfall as it happened.” Despite the intense scrutiny and prosecution faced by many of Nixon’s colleagues, Shepard remains the only member of the Nixon White House staff to have received a letter of clearance from the special prosecutor.
After leaving Washington, D.C., Shepard transitioned to a successful career in the insurance industry. It wasn’t until 2003, when he gained access to the records of the Watergate special prosecution force at the National Archives, that he uncovered what he described as a “secret cabal” involving high-ranking officials from all three branches of government. Shepard discovered evidence of illegal secret meetings between federal prosecutors and the judges overseeing the Watergate cases, including Judge John Sirica and Judge Gerhard Gesell.
Shepard’s findings, detailed in his book The Real Watergate Scandal, suggest that the prosecutors and judges were so determined to bring down Nixon that they were willing to “cheat” to achieve their goal. Shepard argues that the tactics used against Nixon bear striking similarities to those employed against former President Donald J. Trump, raising concerns about the use of lawfare in modern American politics.
Shepard’s reflections on Watergate serve as a cautionary tale, offering lessons that he believes are still relevant today as the nation navigates its current political challenges.
