If only Nixon had had William Barr as his AG in spring/summer of 1973 instead of Elliot Richardson. If only he had had an advocate who was willing to bend the law to his needs instead of an AG who believed in the rule of law.
The Senate Watergate Committee Hearings and the ensuing investigations were highly formative political experiences for me. I already was a Dem who was raised in a Blue household. Watergate removed any last remaining vestiges of doubt about party affiliation.
The importance of these hearings in moving public opinion in favor of the impeachment of Nixon cannot be overstated. To this day, I still recall former WH counsel John Dean's jaw-dropping testimony. Millions of Americans saw him calmly and coolly state (in testimony televised on all 3 networks) that their president was, indeed, a crook. The cover of the next week’s issue of Time asked: “Can Nixon Survive Dean?”
Neither Nixon nor anyone in his WH considered trying to stop Dean from testifying then. It was never a question. Then again, Nixon, unlike Trump, learned about law at Duke, instead of learning it at the feet of Roy Cohn.
As venal, as corrupt, and as petty as Nixon was, there were lines he would not cross. His claims of Executive Privilege did not include barring testimony from his WH counsel, as damaging as that testimony proved to be to his political future. There are no lines that this president or his people will not cross. They will pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend and oppose any foe in order to assure the survival and success of their political fortunes.
At some point, impeachment moves from a need to an imperative. The ongoing attempt to prevent McGahan from testifying is one of those points. If a president and his enablers will thumb their collective noses at the very concept of checks and balances, their continued presence in high office becomes antithetical to a republican form of government. If that president and his enablers openly repudiate the very idea of accountability for their actions, then they must be made accountable by the one means that the Framers clearly gave Congress.
Quite bluntly, either Richard M. Nixon was unfairly hounded from office, or proceedings must be brought to remove Donald J. Trump from office. If Nixon’s proven obstruction of justice required him removal, then Trump’s proven obstruction requires at least an attempt to remove him.
The contrasting approaches as to allowing Congressional testimony from a former WH counsel brings this question into stark relief. This WH’s ongoing efforts to prevent McGahan from testifying removes any last lingering doubt about the need to initiate impeachment proceedings.