Evan A. Davis records on the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary Impeachment Inquiry
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Abstract
Pursuant to House Resolution 803 (H.Res.803 — 93rd Congress (1973-1974), an Impeachment Inquiry task force was formed to conduct an investigation as to whether sufficient grounds existed to impeach U.S. President Richard M. Nixon. This collection includes the copies of materials held by one of the inquiry staff members, counsel Evan Davis, that were compiled during the House Judiciary Committee's investigation. The bulk of the materials include the "statements of information" relevant to the investigation that were developed by the staff, with copies of the underlying supporting documentation
Biographical / Historical
In June 1972, during the Presidential election campaign between incumbent Richard M. Nixon and George S. McGovern, a group of five supposed burglars were caught breaking into the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate building complex in Washington, D.C. In time it was determined that the "burglars" were actually attempting to wiretap the Committee, tying the break-in to the Committee to Re-elect the President, and eventually through other disclosures of a wider scale of illegal actions, to the White House and President Nixon himself.
Faced with indications of presidential crimes and abuse of power, in February 1974 the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.Res.803 — 93rd Congress (1973-1974) by a vote of 410-4, "providing appropriate power to the Committee on the Judiciary to conduct an investigation of whether sufficient grounds exist to impeach Richard M. Nixon, President of the United States."
Immediately an Impeachment Inquiry staff was formed by the Judiciary Committee, headed by Special Counsel John Doar. Among the many attorneys on the staff was Evan A. Davis, the donor of this set of documents from the inquiry. Davis was a graduate in 1969 of the Columbia University Law School. He clerked for Judge Harold Leventhal of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, and for Justice Potter Stewart of the United States Supreme Court. In the early 1970s, before joining the Impeachment Inquiry staff, Davis was General Counsel for New York City's Budget Bureau and chief of the consumer protection division of New York's Law Department. The Impeachment Inquiry moved quickly, as the related events of that time did generally, completing its work in a few months, and the Judiciary Committee moved ahead with impeachment hearings. With the special task force's work done, Davis returned to New York and private law practice.
(The above note was based primarily on various on-line sources and on documents in the collection.)
Arrangement
The bulk of the collection is arranged in its original numerically sequenced order. Opening the collection are overview materials, including indexes to the sequenced binders. Closing the collection are printed/published materials and other related documents.
Scope and Contents
The collection includes inquiry staff attorney Evan Davis's copies of materials compiled during the House Judiciary Committee's Impeachment Inquiry in 1974. The bulk of the materials include the "statements of information" relevant to the investigation that were developed by the staff, with copies of the underlying supporting documentation, such as portions of transcripts of public statements or witness testimony. These materials were in well-ordered binders, arranged around particular themes, such as election campaign contributions, domestic surveillance, and others. The container list below includes reference to these themes as the staff described them in its list of contents.
In addition to the detailed statements of information and supporting documentation, the collection holds summaries of the information, lists of relevant parties, objectives for witness interviews, transcripts and printed material concerning tapes of White House conversations, and a booklet of clippings and other documents about the inquiry itself and the staff.
Subjects
Access Restrictions
Open to qualified researchers. Materials are stored offsite and advance notice is required for use. Please contact manuscripts@nyhistory.org prior to your research visit to coordinate access. Keep in mind that it will take between two (2) and five (5) business days for collections to arrive, and you should plan your research accordingly.
Use Restrictions
Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff. Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.
Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions
Preferred Citation
The collection should be cited as: Evan A. Davis records on the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary Impeachment Inquiry, MS 458, New-York Historical Society.
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Evan A. Davis, 1987.
About this Guide
Processing Information
Processed by archivist Larry Weimer, September 2021. The bulk of the documents in the collection were originally in binders, and those are referred to in the container list. However, when the collection was processed in 2021, most of the plastics-based binders were deteriorating, and so all documents were moved to archival folders and the binders discarded. Labels from the binders were retained with the documents and their titles are shown in "quotations" in the container list. [Bracketed] titles were determined by the processing archivist.