Trump Looking into Richard Nixon's Infamous Watergate for Possible DOJ Misconduct — More Than 50 Years After Prez Was Impeached Over Scandal
Donald Trump's DOJ heard a presentation about Richard Nixon's Watergate scandal.
Oct. 2 2026, Published 4:55 p.m. ET
President Donald Trump's Department of Justice is reportedly taking a closer look at the Watergate investigation as a GOP member recently claimed Nixon was "framed," RadarOnline.com has learned.
A former aide of President Richard Nixon, who was at the center of the scandal, spoke with DOJ officials about his concerns.
DOJ Hears Argument About Watergate
Nixon's former aide tossed speculation toward the Watergate investigation.
The aide, Geoff Shepard, alleged the investigators committed misconduct, jeopardizing the integrity of the investigation. Shepard presented his claims during a two-hour presentation to the DOJ’s Office of Professional Responsibility in September.
However, the DOJ claimed that giving Shepard's story a chance to be heard did not inherently mean they were opening a case. Instead, they were merely rehearing claims previously made to the Biden administration, allowing Trump's team to make their own choice.
Aide Alleges Due Process Violation
Watergate resulted in a full pardon for Nixon.
Watergate was a major political scandal under the Nixon administration, which exposed a degree of government corruption. In June 1972, a group of burglars, speculated to have ties to the president's re-election campaign, broke into the Democratic National Committee headquarters.
Reporters discovered the connection by following a money trail, and a special prosecutor blew the case open by exposing illegal spying and political sabotage. These secret recordings included those from within the Oval Office.
However, Nixon refused to hand over the tapes or cooperate with the investigation. The Supreme Court, upholding the American ideal of government transparency, ordered Nixon to release the tapes, which ultimately proved Nixon was involved in the break-in.
Shepard, though, alleged special prosecutors Archibald Cox and Leon Jaworski violated defendants' due process rights. He alleged, per internal documents presented to the OPR, they secretly met with judges and suppressed evidence from the defendants' legal teams.
Regardless of the Watergate investigation's outcome, Nixon received a full pardon from President Gerald Ford following his resignation.
DOJ Hasn't Opened a Case
Joe Biden's administration dismissed the presentation previously.
A spokesperson said, "OPR declined Mr. Shepherd's request to open an investigation in 2022 under the previous 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.
"OPR remains focused on ensuring that Department attorneys meet the highest professional standards."
The OPR did not indicate whether they plan to open a case, though, merely that one has not yet been opened based solely on Shephard's claims.
JD Vance Compares Trump to Nixon
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Vance claimed Watergate would only be a '12-hour news story' today.
The Trump-backed DOJ's interest in the case comes as Vice President JD Vance suggested there were parallels between the sitting president and Nixon.
"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 while at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library in California in June 2026, just months before Shepard's claims were reconsidered.
He further minimized the severity of Watergate, measuring its impact up against modern–day scandal standards.
"If Watergate happened tomorrow, it would be like a 12-hour news story. The idea that it would have taken down a presidency is crazy," Vance added.
