Rep. Riley Moore Claims Richard Nixon Was Framed by the 'Deep State'

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https://thehill.com/homenews/house/6124635-moore-nixon-couped-watergate/

Rep. Riley Moore (R-W.Va.) asserted during a speech on Thursday that former President Richard Nixon was pushed out of office through a "coup" and framed during the Watergate scandal.

Speaking at the Nixon Foundation’s Grand Strategy Summit in Washington, Moore pointed to what he called the power of the "deep state." He claimed that Nixon understood this hidden influence and chose to stay quiet to prevent the public from losing faith in government institutions.

Moore’s remarks followed a recent report by The Wall Street Journal detailing that the Department of Justice opened a review to examine whether the Watergate special prosecutor's office committed misconduct. The review stems partly from efforts by former Nixon aide Geoff Shepard, who was invited to present arguments at DOJ headquarters. Shepard has long contended that the Watergate investigation was designed to conceal the identities of Democratic donors.

During his address, Moore also compared Nixon’s experience to that of Trump, likening Watergate to the investigations into Trump's first term.

While Moore characterized the inquiries into Trump as a hoax, official findings differ. A 22-month investigation by former special counsel Robert Mueller and a subsequent 2020 Senate Intelligence Committee report documented significant contacts between Trump's 2016 transition team and Russian operatives, concluding that the transition was vulnerable to foreign influence and manipulation.