Who will hold the SNP to account?

Everyone forgets the third article of impeachment. The charge sheet against Richard Nixon, adopted by the House judiciary committee following the Watergate burglary and a conspiracy to impede its investigation, famously accused the president, first, of obstruction of justice and, second, of violating citizens’ constitutional rights. Thirteen days later, on August 9, 1974, and with impeachment all but certain, Nixon became the first president to resign the Oval Office.

What did for him as much as what could be heard on the Nixon tapes was his refusal to hand them over until forced to by the Supreme Court. This formed the basis of Article III of the indictment: that the president ‘failed without lawful cause or excuse to produce papers and things as directed’ and was ‘substituting his judgment as to what materials were necessary for the inquiry’. Not only was he delaying the progress of the congressional inquiry, Nixon was essentially usurping the committee’s power by trying to limit its evidence base to what he deemed appropriate.