President Donald Trump’s Justice Department is taking a fresh look at allegations of misconduct by prosecutors involved in the Watergate investigation that brought down President Richard Nixon more than half a century ago.
Former Nixon White House aide Geoff Shepard recently delivered a two-hour presentation to the DOJ’s Office of Professional Responsibility outlining his case that Nixon and other Watergate defendants were denied fair treatment.
The 78-page presentation, titled “Watergate as Lawfare,” alleged that special prosecutors Archibald Cox and Leon Jaworski improperly communicated with judges and withheld evidence from defendants.
Shepard previously sought a DOJ investigation into his allegations, but the Biden regime declined to pursue it further back in 2022.
A DOJ spokesman stressed that the latest development does not yet constitute a formal investigation.
“Given his expertise and scholarship on Watergate, he was recently invited to give a presentation,” the spokesman said.
Exclusive: More than 50 years after Watergate, the Justice Dept. is reaching back into history to consider whether Richard Nixon was treated unfairly https://t.co/vyVyyMTQoa
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) October 1, 2026
The reassessment comes amid growing interest among Republicans in challenging the conventional account of Nixon’s downfall.
Vice President J.D. Vance drew a direct comparison between Nixon and Trump during an appearance at the Nixon Presidential Library in June.
“If Watergate happened tomorrow, it would be like a 12-hour news story,” Vance said, arguing that it was “crazy” that the scandal destroyed Nixon’s presidency.
Vance added that the deep state targeting of Nixon was comparable to to the efforts to undermine President Trump during his first administration.
Rep. Riley Moore (R-WV) went further Thursday, declaring at the Nixon Foundation’s Grand Strategy Summit that Nixon was “absolutely couped out of office” and “framed.”
“We now know more about the deep state and its power and ability to literally change things at the top,” Moore said.
.@RepRileyMoore (R-WV) on the Watergate scandal: “Richard Nixon was absolutely couped out of office and was framed. All of this was fake.” pic.twitter.com/IzqktCPKie
— CSPAN (@cspan) October 1, 2026
Nixon resigned in August 1974 after the House Judiciary Committee approved articles of impeachment over obstruction of justice, abuse of power and contempt of Congress stemming from Watergate.
In the decades after his resignation, Nixon’s presidency underwent significant historical reappraisal, with more attention paid to his foreign policy achievements and broader record in office.
Whether the DOJ’s renewed examination develops into a full investigation remains unclear.
