Nixon’s Lawyer Looks Back at Watergate, Describes It As ‘A Coup’ 50 Years Later

As the 50th anniversary of President Richard Nixon’s resignation approaches, Geoff Shepard, who served as the youngest lawyer on Nixon’s Watergate defense team, offers a candid reflection on the scandal that brought down the 37th president. In an exclusive interview with The New American magazine’s Unrestricted podcast, Shepard described the legal actions against Nixon as part of what he now views as a “coup.”

Shepard played a crucial role during the Watergate crisis, transcribing the Nixon tapes and overseeing the White House document room. “I was right there on stage as it all happened,” Shepard told interviewer Andrew Muller, emphasizing his close involvement in the events that led to Nixon’s resignation on August 9, 1974. Despite the legal turmoil, Shepard stands out as the only member of Nixon’s team to receive a letter of clearance from the special prosecutor.

Years later, in 2003, Shepard’s interest in Watergate was reignited when he accessed records from the Watergate special prosecution force stored at the National Archives. His research uncovered a “secret cabal” of government officials who were allegedly meeting in secret to coordinate their efforts against Nixon. According to Shepard, these meetings included federal prosecutors and judges like John Sirica and Gerhard Gesell, who were central figures in the Watergate trials.

Shepard’s discoveries, which he documents in The Real Watergate Scandal, reveal that the prosecution team engaged in unethical practices, holding at least ten secret meetings with judges to ensure convictions. Shepard argues that these actions set a dangerous precedent, one that he sees being repeated today in the legal battles faced by former President Donald J. Trump.