DOJ: Watergate Wiretap Records Should Remain Sealed

Mike Scarcella
Blog of Legal Times
June 4, 2012

The U.S. Justice Department has asked a federal judge in Washington to keep sealed illegal wiretap recordings rooted in the Watergate scandal.

Responding to a Nixon historian’s request for the wiretap information, DOJ lawyers in Washington said there is no First Amendment or public right of access to illegally obtained wiretaps.

The historian, Luke Nichter, is seeking access to information that was sealed in the 1972 prosecution of G. Gordon Liddy in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Nichter’s request encompasses grand jury records, too. He is exploring the motive behind the break-in at the Watergate hotel in Washington.

Read full article

Court papers PDF filed by DOJ lawyer Elizabeth Shapiro urged judge not to release wiretap information.

This article was posted: Monday, June 4, 2012 at 11:47 am

Tags: domestic news, domestic spying

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