When “Worse Than Watergate” Is Really Worse Than Watergate by David Corn August 3, 2021 
On April 29, 1974, President Richard Nixon said he would turn over transcripts of the White House tapes to congressional impeachment investigators. But this set didn’t include the “smoking gun” tape. AP In the past five decades, “worse than Watergate” has become the go-to cliché for every political scandal of the day. Iran-Contra, George W. Bush lying the United States into the invasion of Iraq, Donald Trump aiding and abetting Moscow’s attack on the 2016 election—or his mismanagement of the COVID-19 crisis that led to about 400,000 preventable American deaths. In terms of loss of life or undermining our political institutions, all these were greater misdeeds than Watergate. But the latest revelation about Trump’s brazen attempt to abuse the power of his office to stay in the White House has a decidedly worse-than-Watergate quality. It is the kind of move that even the 37th president of the United States—who resigned in disgrace 47 years ago this week—would not have had the audacity to dream of.
Let’s start with Watergate. The essence of that scandal was that Nixon ordered a cover-up of the 1972 break-in at Democratic Party headquarters that was mounted by a secret dirty-tricks unit assembled by his White House. At first, this clumsy operation did not appear to be all that significant. Nixon denied any knowledge of the caper. The initial months of the Watergate scandal did not dominate the front pages or prevent Nixon from trouncing Democratic candidate George McGovern and achieving a landslide reelection.
But the investigations continued, various revelations emerged in drip-drip-drip fashion, a secret White House taping system was disclosed, and a battle ensued over investigators’ access to those tapes. What finally doomed Nixon was the “smoking gun” tape, which was made public on August 5, 1974, after the Supreme Court ordered its release. It showed that days after the break-in Nixon tried to shut down the Watergate probe by instructing the CIA to tell the FBI to end the investigation because the matter involved sensitive national security issues. Kaboom. Here was cut-and-dry obstruction of justice. Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee who had voted against impeaching Nixon declared they would reverse their votes. Three days after the tape’s release, Nixon resigned.
On Friday, the New York Times revealed evidence of presidential wrongdoing that is far more serious than the criminal act exposed by the smoking gun tape. It was notes from a conversation that Trump had on December 27 with then–acting attorney general Jeffrey Rosen and his deputy, Richard Donoghue. Trump was pressuring them to declare the 2020 election corrupt, even though the Justice Department had found no instances of consequential fraud. When Donoghue said that the department could not undo the election results, Trump replied, according to the notes Donoghue took, “Just say that the election was corrupt [and] leave the rest to me and the R congressmen.” (R stands for Republican.) 
Here is direct evidence that an American president pushed the Justice Department to conspire with him and his GOP allies on the Hill to make a fraudulent claim that could somehow help him overturn an election. Trump was pressing federal officials to defraud the public; he tried to use his office to sabotage an election. Former US attorney Barbara McQuade called Trump’s order “illegal.” What Nixon did was minor compared to this. Nixon leaned on the Justice Department to impede an investigation that might taint his reelection effort. Trump was muscling the department to fundamentally threaten American democracy.
Rosen and Donoghue wouldn’t join Trump’s scheme, but that doesn’t diminish the gravity of Trump’s request. (The CIA and FBI didn’t go along with Nixon’s illegal conspiracy to kill the Watergate inquiry.) Though it was already common knowledge that Trump had been scheming to reverse the election results—remember his call to the Georgia secretary of state, now the subject of a state criminal investigation?—this bombshell showed how Trump endeavored to enlist top Justice officials to attempt a soft coup that would involve GOP legislators. (Note to congressional investigators: Key witnesses may be in the House and Senate.)
The news of the Donoghue notes was well covered in much of the media, but why didn’t this revelation generate a political detonation like the one that followed the release of the smoking gun tapes? Therein lies the huge difference between then and now. Once upon a time, Republicans were willing to responsibly react to politically inconvenient facts. When Nixon’s abuses of power became undeniable, congressional Republicans acknowledged that and acted. With Trump...forget about it. COVID, Russia, the Big Lie, January 6—Republican leaders and the rest of the party, with a few notable exceptions, refuse to hold him accountable for his misconduct, no matter how egregious. How many Republicans have uttered a peep about these notes? You don’t need to Google to answer that.
Days later, this revelation—like most disclosures of Trump’s perfidy—has become part of the never-ending, same-old story of Trump malfeasance. There is no shock, little lasting outrage. It’s just yet another item on the long list of Trump transgressions. Much of the media absorbs the revelation and moves on. Republicans, forever in service to the cult of Trump, ignore it and continue to profess loyalty to Dear Leader. Trump’s skullduggery endangered American democracy more than Nixon’s attempt to thwart the Watergate investigation. But these days a greater crime yields a weaker reaction. And that’s what’s truly worse than Watergate. 
If you’re enjoying This Land, please help spread the word by forwarding this to your pals, colleagues, and family, and let them know they can sign up for a free trial of This Land here. What to Read, Watch, and Listen To Physical. On Apple TV+'s list of its original comedy series, Physical, a new show finishing its first season this week, is included with Ted Lasso. This is a mistake. Ted Lasso is a charming and deft-touch comedy. Physical is not—in that it is not a comedy. It is compelling, finely written, and well-acted. But it’s not funny. It’s not even a dark comedy. But this mislabeling is no reason to skip past it.
The series focuses on Sheila Rubin, a stay-at home mom in early 1980s San Diego. Her quasi-schlubby husband, Danny, a former Berkeley radical with ridiculous but era-appropriate sideburns, has lost his teaching job at a local college and is running for state assembly. And Sheila, who has suppressed her own life desires, is lost in a world of domesticity and conventionality. Until she discovers aerobics. She becomes obsessed with this soon-to-be-a-fad. (Remember leg warmers?) Due to a flash-forward in the first episode, we know she is on her way to celebrity as a fitness star. But at the start, Sheila and Danny are a low-rent version of Jane Fonda and her onetime husband Tom Hayden, the antiwar radical who became a California state legislator. And there’s this: Sheila has an eating disorder she hides from everyone. It leads her to lie, cheat, and steal, as she wrestles with severe body image issues.
Rose Byrne does a tremendous job portraying these challenges, as she voices Sheila’s acerbic and often self-denigrating internal monologues throughout each episode. As engaging as the show is, it’s sometimes hard to watch Sheila wade through her pit of psychological quicksand. Which brings me back to my original point: There’s not much comedy here. Physical nails this slice of 1980s culture. It has an entertaining Perils of Pauline quality: Sheila keeps getting into jams (for instance, getting caught embezzling campaign funds to support her binges), and she must deploy her considerable wiles to escape. The series presents her eating disorder straight-on, examines the gender inequities of the Reagan years without being heavy-handed, and joyfully plays with the tropes of that decade. It’s a good watch. And you can leave the laughs to Lasso.
Got any recommendations of what I should be reading, watching, or listening to? Send them to thisland@motherjones.com. This Land in Photos 
I spotted this sign outside Moorefield, West Virginia. There was no indication who put it up. But it got me thinking. Maybe there should be more public policy billboards. How about one that points out that universal preschool gives kids and families a boost that will enhance their long-term financial prospects? Or that providing health care to employees is a good deal for businesses? Or that offering family and medical leave has significant economic benefits? The possibilities are endless.
About 100 yards down the road, I spotted another political message: 
Perhaps the owner of this tattered and threadbare Confederate flag did not know that West Virginia broke away from Virginia in 1861 so it could secede from the Confederacy. The state’s regiments then repelled the military force commanded by Gen. Robert E. Lee, and West Virginia subsequently became the target of Confederate raids. So, this particular flag-waver was celebrating an invading force. Maybe we need billboards displaying basic historical facts.
Got any photos showing the best, the worst, or the unexpected of our land? Send them to thisland@motherjones.com. Read Previous Issues of This Land July 31, 2021: Can you still watch your favorite movies?; Dumbass Comment of the Week; Mailbag (more on Lennon versus McCartney); MoxieCam™; and more.
July 29, 2021: Is a country music star encouraging more January 6-like violence?; a civil rights hero more people should know; and more.
July 27, 2021: Are Republicans going to sabotage police reform that doesn’t even go far enough?; how to put a senseless murder to good use; how sober is Liz Phair?; and more.
July 22, 2021: My bizarre encounter with Rep. Jim Jordan—and why Speaker Pelosi was right to bounce him from the 1/6 committee; celebrating and grieving with musician Steve Earle; and more.
July 20, 2021: The time a Republican president did the right thing to stop an epidemic; Trump’s big narcissism fail; Nelson Algren and Norman Podhoretz; a new psychedelic Beatles-esque tune; and more.
July 17, 2021: Why the Guardian’s Trump-Russia bombshell—dud or not—doesn’t fully matter; Dumbass Comment of the Week; why Bosch works in spite of Bosch; MoxieCam™; and more.
July 15, 2021: Does President Joe Biden really stand with the Cuban people?; the time I really pissed off the Cuban regime; J. Edgar Hoover vs. MLK; one of the best movie reviews of all time; and more.
July 13, 2021: A coming referendum on Donald Trump; a suggestion for Hunter Biden; a new book on how the super-rich screw us all; and more.
July 10, 2021: Why the Republicans are right to be terrified of the new House committee investigating the 1/6 attack; Dumbass Comment of the Week; Joni Mitchell’s Blue 50; and more.
July 7, 2021: How The Summer of Soul counters the GOP’s season of hate; a debate on the recent UFO report; Garry Trudeau, American Dostoyevsky; MoxieCam™; and more.
July 3, 2021: Donald Rumsfeld, Christopher Hitchens, the Iraq War, and me; the perils of taking a home DNA test; Dumbass Comment of the Week; a Springsteen story; and more.
July 1, 2021: Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and perjury; Adam Serwer’s new book; Cézanne’s crime scene; and more.
June 29, 2021: How the new UFO report is bad news for UFO believers; my own UFO tale; HBO Max’s Hacks; an anti-racist anthem; and more.
June 26, 2021: Is Josh Hawley dumb or evil? (The answer is not both); Dumbassery that encourages mass “executions” in the United States; renowned guitarist and songwriter Richard Thompson’s new tour and new book (and his claim regarding the best strings arrangement ever on a popular song); MoxieCam™ (before and after photos!); and more.
June 24, 2021: How an alleged 1/6 conspirator who called for executing Trump’s foes hooked up with a prominent Republican Party official; new Los Lobos; and more.
June 22, 2021: Why the GOP is pushing “political apartheid”; Ted Cruz wins Dumbass Comment of the Week; recommendations for an Apple TV+ series and a book on the curious origins of the universe; the first Clash tour of the United States (and being trapped in a van driven by a punk on acid); MoxieCam™; and more.
Got suggestions, comments, complaints, tips related to any of the above, or anything else? Email me at thisland@motherjones.com.
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