Referenced Documents
All of the documents referenced in the play really exist and are available
online for those interested in learning more about the Watergate scandal.
Scene 12, Clyde’s of Georgetown, at p. 34. Secret man leaves document on Geoff’s briefcase. This is the Special Prosecutor’s 6/28/74 Prosecutive Memo on Richard Nixon, drafted by George Frampton. https://www.archives.gov/files/research/investigations/watergate/roadmap/docid-70106088.pdf. The first three pages of this exhibit show how the document was secretly shared with the House Judiciary Committee.
Scene 15, Impeachment Trial, Day Two, at p. 37. Geoff cites New York Times article on Dean’s disbarment.
- This is the NYT link: https://www.nytimes.com/1974/02/07/archives/dean-disbarred-in-virginia-for-unethical-acts.html?searchResultPosition=2.
- This is the play’s website link: http://trialonthepotomac.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Trial-On-The-Potomac-Supporting-Evidence-G.pdf
Scene 16, Special on Dean, at p. 38. Shepard accuses Dean of changing his story, citing a memo by prosecutors. This is the Denny/Rient memo of November 15, 1973, included as Appendix U in my 2008 Watergate book, The Secret Plot to Make Ted Kennedy President, https://shepardonwatergate.com/documents/RN004-U.pdf
Scene 16, Special on Dean, at p. 38. Shepard accuses Dean of destroying evidence, citing another memo by prosecutors. This is the Frampton memo of November 2, 1973, included on our play’s website, http://trialonthepotomac.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Trial-On-The-Potomac-Supporting-Evidence-R.pdf
Scene 16, Special on Dean, at p. 39. Shepard introduces the transcript of the tape recording of the Nixon/Dean meeting of March 21, 1973. This is an 81 page transcript, posted by the National Archives at https://www.archives.gov/files/research/investigations/watergate/roadmap/docid-70105908.pdf The actual transcript begins at p. 4
Scene 21, St. Clair’s Office, Midnight, at p. 47. The Secret Man leaves Geoff a full copy of the Special Prosecutor’s infamous Road Map. The Road Map outline is posted as “Grand Jury Report and Recommendation to the House of Representatives (Road Map)” at https://www.archives.gov/research/investigations/watergate/roadmap?_ga=2.167750586.560868982.1627475936-1128273301.1626805564, along with Grand Jury Attachment 1.1 through 51.3. The Road Map itself prints out to 62 pages. Printing all the attachments will consume two reams of paper.
Scene 23, Watergate Lead Prosecutor Leon Jaworski Takes the Stand, at p. 53. Geoff cites Jaworski’s own memo as proof of his secret meeting with Judge Sirica. This is posted on our own website at http://trialonthepotomac.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Trial-On-The-Potomac-Supporting-Evidence-H.pdf
Scene 24, Jury Bench – Judge Sirica’s Courtroom, at pp. 53-55. While not specifically cited, this scene is based on Documents H and I posted on our play’s website at http://trialonthepotomac.com/supporting-evidence/
Scene 24, Jury Bench – Judge Sirica’s Courtroom, at p. 56. St. Clair states Jaworski wrote that his staff’s approach would be like knifing Nixon on the back. While not produced in the scene itself, this assertion is based on two memos.
- One is Document E on our play’s website: http://trialonthepotomac.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Trial-On-The-Potomac-Supporting-Evidence-E.pdf.
- The other is cited on my own website https://shepardonwatergate.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/AD-5-1.pdf, at p. 4.
Scene 24, Jury Bench – Judge Sirica’s Courtroom, at p. 57. Geoff hands St Clair a copy of the Road Map outline (without attachments). https://www.archives.gov/files/research/investigations/watergate/roadmap/docid-70105890.pdf
Scene 24, Jury Bench – Judge Sirica’s Courtroom, at p. 57. St. Clair hands Jaworski a copy of LaRue’s grand jury testimony and asks him to read the part where LaRue says he spoke with Mitchell in the afternoon. What he actually hands Jaworski is a compilation of four documents, all from the National Archives website, https://www.archives.gov/research/investigations/watergate/roadmap?_ga=2.167750586.560868982.1627475936-1128273301.1626805564.
- Item 7 of the Road Map itself (at p. 12),
- (ii) its cited attachment, at Grand Jury Attachment 7.1,
- (iii) Item 10 of the Road Map itself (at p. 15), and
- (iv) its cited attachment at Grand Jury Attachment 10.1.
This is because prosecutors chose to cite LaRue’s grand jury testimony in two parts – intentionally obfuscating the thrust of his testimony.
Scene 24, Jury Bench – Judge Sirica’s Courtroom, at p. 59. Geoff asserts LaRue testified during the later Watergate Cover-up Trial that his conversation with John Mitchell had occurred in the morning and not in the afternoon, holding up a file. That trial transcript is quoted in The Nixon Conspiracy, Watergate and the Plot to Remove the President (Post Hill Press, 2021), at pp. 307-312.