Truth and the Politics of Deception: An Insider’s View of Washington’s Political-Journalistic Complex

Abstract

The Watergate and January 6 investigations link to debates that the constitutional framers had over the powers of the chief executive, constraints on the press, and notions of truth as a core issue in managing the democratic republic. The framers left the Congress, the press, and the electorate to police presidential abuse. All these entities must act in concert to constrain any president operating outside the law, in an elaborate choreography aimed at engaging and enraging the public and empowering the judiciary, congressional, and executive branches to act. Critical to this process is a vigorous, vigilant, and diligent press.

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Gordon Freedman

Gordon Freedman Gordon Freedman served as staff assistant on the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities from May 1973 through August 1974. The Select Committee investigated the 1972 presidential election, including the infamous break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate office complex. Freedman investigated and authored Chapter III of the Select Committee’s Final Report, entitled “Uses of the Incumbency – Responsiveness Program,” which outlined the Nixon White House’s effort to put the federal government to work re-electing the president. Freedman was part of two more congressional investigations before serving as a stringer for the Washington Post and as a Washington correspondent for the Atlanta Journal. Later, while a producer for ABC News’ 20/20, Freedman discovered the proposed criminal indictment of President Nixon drafted by the Watergate grand jury, which aired on ABC on the tenth anniversary of the Watergate break-in. As a result of his interest in Watergate and its political currency, Freedman and colleagues are working on a new nonprofit news organization, the Watergate Press, at www.Watergate.org.