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The nation's Democratic Governors, meeting in Huron, Ohio, voted unanimously to demand that the Watergate investigation be turned over to an impartial prosecutor outside the administration.
Rep. John Moss (D-Cal.) raised the issue of possible impeachment action in the aftermath of yesterday's developments. He said he would ask that a special committee of the House be appointed to inquire into the possibility of presidential involvement in the Watergate scandal.
"I am not saying we should move to impeach. I am merely saying we should be prepared. The House has the responsibility to set up the machinery so that if there is a move to impeach we should be ready." He added that "before we even suggest impeachment, we must have the most uncontroverted evidence."
The President announced that he will meet with the Democratic and Republican leadership of Congress this morning at the White House, presumably in an effort to begin to repair his ragged relationships with Capitol Hill.
Mr. Nixon used warm words of praise for Kleindienst, Haldeman and Ehrlichman in announcing their departures.
He said Kleindienst's decision to leave because of close ties to individuals implicated in the Watergate inquiry was "in accordance with the highest standards of public service and legal ethics." The individuals to whom Kleindienst alluded presumably included former Attorney General John N. Mitchell, who was in charge of Mr. Nixon's re-election campaign at the time of the Watergate bugging incident.
The President spoke of Haldeman and Ehrlichman as "two of my closest friends and most trusted assistants in the White House."
Mr. Nixon stressed that "neither the submission nor the acceptance of their resignations at this time should be seen by anyone as evidence of any wrongdoing by either one. Such an assumption would be both unfair and unfounded."
By contrast the firing of Dean was revealed in one coolly phrased sentence. "Finally, I have today requested and accepted the resignation of John W. Dean III from his position on the White House staff as counsel."
Dean served notice on April 19 that he would not become a scapegoat for the Watergate scandal. Word was also passed by associates of Dean that he was ready to implicate Ehrlichman and Haldeman in the case.
Besides the resignations announced yesterday, at least five other high administration or campaign officials have quit in the wake of revelations about the Watergate: Mitchell, presidential appointments secretary Dwight Chapin, special counsel to the president Charles W. Colson, deputy campaign director Jeb Stuart Magruder and acting FBI Director L. Patrick Gray III.
The massive shake-up of the White House command and the ensuing personnel reshuffling threw the administration into a state of disarray if not temporary immobility.
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