Appointment of Archibald Cox

As more information continued to come out about the Watergate scandal, new nominee for Attorney General, Elliot Richardson appointed Archibald Cox, a former Harvard professor and form labor advisor to Senator John F. Kennedy. He was brought on to independently investigate not just Watergate, but "all offenses arising out of the 1972 election...involving the president, the White House staff, or presidential appointments." Cox was also given the sole responsibility to decide how much information to give to the Attorney General, given him a large degree of independence in the investigation. As an additional defense, Cox could only de fired by Richardson for "extraordinary improprieties," which would be extremely difficult to meet, making Cox extremely difficult to get rid of.

Nixon publicly supported the appointment of Cox, but was privately quite upset. He did not trust Cox, and did not trust him to clear his name. Richardson believed that his quality actually played to their favor. If Nixon could be acquitted by Cox, it would clear his name in the public eye, free of accusations of collusion. The rest of Washington disagreed, viewing Cox as not hard enough to fairly investigate Watergate.