tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post6484226408061104699..comments2023-10-16T07:13:12.123-05:00Comments on A plain blog about politics: February 16, 1973Jonathan Bernsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15931039630306253241noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-34995363115511906732013-02-18T09:39:12.453-06:002013-02-18T09:39:12.453-06:00It's a great question. It sure looks like an u...It's a great question. It sure looks like an unforced error. And, yeah, it's hard to imagine why they wouldn't have coached him very carefully for his confirmation hearing.<br /><br />On the other hand, they did have to appoint someone, I suppose. And what if they put someone in there with, you know, integrity? He might have pushed the investigation a lot harder than Gray was likely to.<br /><br />Another possibility: Gray was just not very bright at all, even worse than Nixon thought. I don't really have the details (maybe I'll research more when we get to it, maybe not), but they might have just assumed he'd lie to protect himself, and he didn't realize that he needed to.Jonathan Bernsteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15931039630306253241noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-34630485564430931112013-02-18T09:07:18.512-06:002013-02-18T09:07:18.512-06:00I am surprised that they didn't realise that N...I am surprised that they didn't realise that Nixon and his crew would be vulnerable in the confirmation hearing of Gray. Considering how well they coached the witnesses for the first Watergate investigation (with Dean) I am surprised they didn't coach Gray about what to say. I am sure Nixon would've known that Democrats would've been gunning for him, looking to land a scalp (like Republicans today with Hagel) after losing the election and despising the methods that Nixon used. Seems like a massive blunder here, or maybe there weren't any other 'clean' Nixon loyalists (someone with no knowledge at all of Watergate and the Plumbers) they could've put at the FBI?Yaramah Zhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11545126290793710143noreply@blogger.com