Let him twist slowly, slowly in the wind. Those words were famously uttered in the early days of the Watergate scandal, which led to Richard Nixon’s resignation in the face of imminent impeachment. They were uttered in 1973 by John Erlichman, a top Nixon aide, about L. Patrick Gray, Nixon’s nominee to become Director of the FBI.
As Acting Director of the FBI, Gray had been complicit in the White House’s efforts to conceal Nixon’s connection to the Watergate break-in. Congress was only just beginning to sniff out evidence of such a connection and the Senate’s confirmation hearings for Gray afforded Congress its first opportunity to start digging deeper. Gray tried to stonewall but ultimately made several damaging revelations. The White House soured on on his nomination, but instead of withdrawing the nomination, Erlichman thought Gray should undergo a period of public embarrassment. “I think we ought to let him hang there. Let him twist slowly, slowly in the wind.”
That’s what Congress should do with Trump: Let him twist slowly, slowly in the wind.
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