Richard Nixon Grand Jury Records Released to the Public

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has publicly released the transcripts of President Richard Nixon’s Watergate grand jury testimony.

Richard M. Nixon press conference releasing the transcripts of the White House Tapes., 04/29/1974 ARC Identifier: 194576 (Richard Nixon Library, Yorba Linda, CA).

In collaboration with the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), the collection has been released on FDsys.

This collection has been made public as a result of the July 29, 2011 order by Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia Royce C. Lamberth that the June 1975 transcript of Nixon’s testimony and the “Associated Materials” to that testimony be released to the public following the review of these documents for any information that must be redacted as required by law. It is rare for any grand jury testimony to be made public.

In May 1975, the Watergate Special Prosecution Force (WSPF) decided that it was necessary to question former President Richard M. Nixon in connection with various investigations being conducted by the WSPF. Mr. Nixon was questioned over the period of two days, June 23 and June 24, 1975, and the testimony was taken as part of various investigations being conducted by the January 7, 1974, Grand Jury for the District of Columbia (the third Watergate Grand Jury).

“GPO has a 75 year relationship with NARA in providing the public with Government information and GPO is honored to work with NARA to host this historically important, never before seen collection on FDsys,” said Public Printer Bill Boarman. “By providing access to these transcripts, GPO and NARA continue to increase transparency on the workings of the Federal Government.”

This is the first time the public will have access to this historic collection.