Photo via The Independent

Trump team is now looking to see if DOJ committed misconduct in investigating Richard Nixon’s Watergate

Read the original at The Independent ↗
Cite

Dobkin, R. (2026, October 1). Trump team is now looking to see if DOJ committed misconduct in investigating Richard Nixon’s Watergate. The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-doj-watergate-nixon-b3060133.html

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

The Independent · collected 2026-10-01 · by Rachel Dobkin

Quick Summary

The Department of Justice under President Trump is examining whether special prosecutors during the Nixon era committed misconduct in their investigation of the Watergate scandal. Geoff Shepard, a former Nixon aide, presented allegations at the DOJ's Office of Professional Responsibility that special prosecutor teams violated defendants' due process rights by secretly meeting with judges and withholding evidence. While this presentation does not automatically initiate an investigation, it underscores recent efforts to draw parallels between historical political scandals and current events.
Written by AI on 2026-10-02, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

In June 1972, an early morning burglary at the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters in the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., uncovered widespread corruption inside President Richard Nixon’s White House, ultimately leading to his resignation two years later.

Over 50 years after the scandal, Geoff Shepard, a former Nixon aide who has written books on Watergate, was invited last month to give a two-hour presentation to the DOJ’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR). The OPR is an internal watchdog created in response to the Watergate scandal. Shepard presented allegations that the special prosecutor’s office investigating the break-in may have committed misconduct during their investigation.

A DOJ spokesperson confirmed Shepherd's presentation but clarified it does not imply an official investigation has been initiated.

Written for “DOJ Misconduct Investigating Nixon Wa…” on 2026-11-02, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 DOJ Misconduct Investigating Nixon Wa…
Politics · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans right and hedges 8% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Fox News
⚖️ Leans left further left than this Hedges 0 of 31 claims Outlet record 69/100
“The articles discuss different time periods and investigations: Article A refers to the Watergate scandal of the early 1970s, while Article B discusses a current FBI investigation into the Trump family.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
13
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
8%
1 of 13 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans right
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
59/100
The Independent's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-02 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Independent · 3519 article(s) · 8 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 8 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Rachel Dobkin
100 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 “And you could hear it slowly getting closer to our position, like it was coming in to check us out.
🔮 While Trump may have been busy Thursday, he just cleared out his weekend rally schedule.
🔮 Local officials have placed strict restrictions on water usage because of the drought — and now they may enlist more than a dozen people to make sure residents are following the rules.
🔮 The heat on Trump was turned up when The Wall Street Journal released an article in July 2025 about a bawdy birthday letter Trump reportedly wrote to Epstein in 2003, that read: “May every day be another wonderful secret.”
🔮 Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has announced that he will allow the widespread use of unapproved peptide injections despite the Food and Drug Administration previously advising people not to use them.
🔮 Donald Trump’s favorite pollster, Harry Enten from CNN, has predicted that Democrats will win big in next Tuesday’s midterm elections and have a substantial majority in the House of Representatives.
🔮 He will be in Ohio Wednesday to campaign with Vivek Ramaswamy and Sen. Jon Husted, whose body he has taken to admiring lately.
🔮 Log in President Donald Trump has revealed the one condition that will get him to accept the results of the upcoming midterm elections, even if his party loses races.
🔮 Trump has insisted throughout the war that it would be a quick operation, but it has now dragged on for nearly eight months.
🔮 Trump has said it will cost about $400 million to build his dream ballroom and promised he and other donors would pay for it.
Also by Rachel Dobkin
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 100 articles by Rachel Dobkin →

Topics

DOJ Independent Journal OPR Watergate

Subjects

Nixon PERSON · 6× DOJ ORG · 3× Donald Trump PERSON · 3× OPR ORG · 3× Cox PERSON · 2× Journal ORG · 2× Richard Nixon PERSON · 2× Shepard PERSON · 2× Shepherd PERSON · 2× Vance PERSON · 2×

Narrative

An early morning burglary at the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters in the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., in June 1972 would become a two-year affair, uncovering corruption inside the White House that would ultimately lead to Republican President Richard Nixon’s resignation. More than 50 years later, Geoff Shepard, a former Nixon aide who has written books on Watergate, was invited last month to give a two-hour presentation to the DOJ’s Office of Professional Responsibility, an internal watchdog created out of the Watergate scandal, on allegations that the special prosecutor’s office that investigated the break-in committed misconduct, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal. A DOJ spokesperson confirmed to The Independent that Shepherd gave a presentation to the Office of Professional Responsibility, but said it does not mean an investigation has been opened. "
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-02
🔮 An early morning burglary at the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters in the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., in June 1972 would become a two-year affair, uncovering corruption inside the White House that would ultimately lead to Republican President Richard Nixon’s resignation. More than 50 years later, Geoff Shepard, a former Nixon aide who has written books on Watergate, was invited last month to give a two-hour presentation to the DOJ’s Office of Professional Responsibility, an internal watchdog created out of the Watergate scandal, on allegations that the special prosecutor’s office that investigated the break-in committed misconduct, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal. A DOJ spokesperson confirmed to The Independent that Shepherd gave a presentation to the Office of Professional Responsibility, but said it does not mean an investigation has been opened. "

Claims (13 extracted, 1 hedged)

President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice is now looking to see if Nixon-era special prosecutors committed misconduct in investigating the Watergate scandal. asserted
prosecutors → look → scandal
An early morning burglary at the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters in the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., in June 1972 would become a two-year affair, uncovering corruption inside the White House that would ultimately lead to Republican President Richard Nixon’s resignation. More than 50 years later, Geoff Shepard, a former Nixon aide who has written books on Watergate, was invited last month to give a two-hour presentation to the DOJ’s Office of Professional Responsibility, an internal watchdog created out of the Watergate scandal, on allegations that the special prosecutor’s office that investigated the break-in committed misconduct, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal. A DOJ spokesperson confirmed to The Independent that Shepherd gave a presentation to the Office of Professional Responsibility, but said it does not mean an investigation has been opened. " asserted
investigation → become → Responsibility
OPR declined Mr. Shepherd's request to open an investigation in 2022 under the previous administration. asserted
OPR → decline → administration
Given his expertise and scholarship on Watergate, he was recently invited to give a presentation to OPR, but that presentation does not constitute an investigation,” the spokesperson said. asserted
spokesperson → give → investigation
“OPR remains focused on ensuring that Department attorneys meet the highest professional standards. asserted
attorneys → remain → standards
" Shepard showed DOJ officials internal documents from the Watergate Special Prosecution Force, the Journal reported. asserted
Journal → show → Force
Special prosecutor Archibald Cox first led the team and then Leon Jaworski after Nixon demanded Cox be fired. asserted
Cox → lead → team
Shepard claims Cox and Jaworski violated defendants' due process rights in the Watergate investigation by secretly meeting with judges overseeing their cases and suppressing evidence from their legal teams, according to the Journal. uncertain
Cox → claim → Journal
Nixon resigned in August 1974 while facing impeachment for allegations of obstruction of justice, abuse of power and contempt of Congress — mostly in relation to accusations that his administration tried to cover up its involvement in the Watergate break-in. asserted
administration → resign → in
Speaking at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library in California in June, Vice President JD Vance drew parallels between Nixon and President Donald Trump, who has been indicted multiple times and claimed it was the result of a witch hunt. “If you look at the story of how the deep state took down Richard Nixon, it’s not all that different from what the same groups of people, the same institutions tried to do to Donald Trump in the first Trump administration,” Vance said. asserted
Vance → speak → administration
He also theorized that if the Watergate scandal were to happen in today’s media landscape, it wouldn’t impact the White House as greatly as it did in Nixon’s time. asserted
it → theorize → time
“If Watergate happened tomorrow, it would be like a 12-hour news story. asserted
it → happen → story
The idea that it would have taken down a presidency is crazy,” Vance said. asserted
Vance → take → presidency
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support