水门事件(1972～1974年)

Watergate scandal

指尼克森政府进行非法活动的政治丑闻。水门是华盛顿特区的一座综合大厦。1972年6月17日有五个人因闯入大厦内的民主党全国总部被捕。白宫否认与此事有关，而尼克森亦竞选连任成功。1973年1月美国哥伦比亚特区地方法院首席法官赛里卡（J. J. Sirica）主持审讯，他质疑证人霍尔德曼、埃利希曼、迪安等人隐瞒事实。4月司法部长克兰丁斯特辞职。新的司法部长理查生（E. L. Richardson）指定哈佛大学法学教授考克斯（A. Cox）为特别检察官。後来一个由参议员小欧文（Sam J. Ervin）领导的委员会举行电视转播的听证会，欧文委员会根据证词判定白宫和竞选委员会成员有罪。然而只有迪安一个人证明尼克森总统有直接卷入掩盖活动。後来一位前白宫工作人员揭露︰在总统办公室的谈话都录了音。考克斯和欧文委员会立即（7月23日）票传录音带。尼克森拒绝交出，并在10月20日解除考克斯的职务。理查生辞职以示抗议。赛里卡法官命令尼克森向特别检察官贾瓦斯基（Leon Jaworski）提交录音带。7月27～30日期间众议院司法委员会通过弹劾案。8月5日总统提交三卷录音带的文字本，这些文字本清楚表明总统与掩盖活动有关。他於8月8日宣布辞职。一个月後继任总统福特给予尼克森以无条件的赦免，不受进一步惩处。

English version：

1972～1974年

Watergate scandal

Political scandal involving illegal activities by Pres. Richard Nixon's administration. In June 1972 five burglars were arrested after breaking into the Democratic Party's national headquarters at the Watergate Hotel complex in Washington, D.C. The White House denied any connection to the burglary, and Nixon was reelected. In January 1973 the trial of the burglars was held before Judge John Sirica, whose direct questioning of witnesses revealed details of a cover-up by H.R. Haldeman, John D. Ehrlichman, and John W. Dean. They and Attorney General Richard G. Kleindienst resigned in April. The new attorney general, Elliot L. Richardson (1920-1998), appointed Archibald Cox (born 1912) as special prosecutor. A Senate committee under Samuel Ervin held televised hearings and learned of the existence of tapes of conversations in the president's office. Cox and Ervin subpoenaed the tapes, but Nixon refused to relinquish them and ordered Cox fired (October 20). Richardson resigned in protest, and the public outcry, Sirica's order to provide the tapes, and the new special prosecutor, Leon Jaworski, forced Nixon to surrender the tapes (December 8), which revealed clear signs of his involvement. The House of Representatives began inquiry into impeachment, and in July its judiciary committee passed three articles of impeachment. On August 5 Nixon supplied three tapes that clearly implicated him in the cover-up. While insisting he had not committed any offenses, he resigned on August 8, 1974. He was pardoned a month later by his successor, Gerald Ford.