South Bend, July 16, 1973
The Tapes
The Watergate hearings have recently been dragging on so that one is tired of listening. However, when a surprise witness testified today that since 1971 the White House has been equipped with electronic listening devices, which recorded every telephone call and conversation with the President without the knowledge of the participants, listeners were for a moment breathless.
[In May 1973 the Department of Justice appointed Archibald Cox Independent Special Prosecutor. Cox was a respected constitutional lawyer from Harvard University. Given far-reaching legal authority, he was charged to independently investigate wrongdoings in the Watergate affair and take the matter to court. Immediately following the testimony on the tapes, Cox demanded their release for examination. Thereby, the Watergate affair came dramatically to a head.]