The Senate Watergate investigation of 1973-1974 made a national hero of a “country lawyer” from North Carolina, Sam Ervin.
A current North Carolina senator, Richard Burr, has a chance to step into a similar role.
Ervin — a Harvard-trained constitutional expert who had served as a justice on the N.C. Supreme Court before joining the U.S. Senate in 1954 — was selected to head a special committee looking into a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington’s Watergate complex and the crime’s possible connection to Republican President Richard Nixon’s White House. The episode, and its attempted cover-up, led to Nixon’s resignation on Aug. 9, 1974.
Ervin, a conservative Democrat, was folksy, charming and intently focused on getting to the truth. He was supported by senators from both parties, notably Republican Howard Baker of Tennessee. Steering the Watergate investigation was the crowning achievement of Ervin’s long public career.
Burr, a three-term Republican from Winston-Salem, chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is charged with investigating Russian influence in the 2016 presidential election.
While Russian cyber-attacks on Democrats, which intelligence agencies believe were meant to aid Donald Trump’s campaign, would alone far exceed the impact of the inept Watergate burglary, there’s much more that cries for investigation.
President Trump demanded the resignation of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn Monday for misleading administration officials about Flynn’s December conversation with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. Flynn had denied they discussed sanctions imposed on Russia by then-President Barack Obama. The action was taken in response to Russian interference in the election.
Tuesday, The New York Times, citing intelligence sources, reported that there were many contacts between Trump campaign figures and senior Russian intelligence officers throughout 2016.
Burr’s committee should look deeply into all this. What did the Russians do to tilt the election toward Trump? What did the Trump campaign know about Russian activities? What did Flynn talk about with the Russian ambassador, and what did Trump know about the conversation? Were any promises made about lifting sanctions? Are there hidden connections between the White House and Kremlin?
Some observers doubt the Republican-led Congress wants to find answers. Lawrence Wilkerson, who was chief of staff for Secretary of State Colin Powell, told MSNBC Tuesday: “I’m not confident that the legislature has the political will or the skill to do this kind of investigation.” He added that Burr “seems to want to bury things under the table like he did the torture report,” referring to the Intelligence Committee’s full report on CIA interrogation operations during the Bush administration.
Yet, Burr’s committee colleagues — as Burr’s press office pointed out Wednesday — say they believe he will lead a strong investigation.
While Burr was an unabashed supporter of Trump during the campaign, he can prove his independence now. If an unfriendly foreign government tried to sway a U.S. presidential election, all the questions of how, why and to what effect must be answered. If there are improper relations between that government and ours, that also must be revealed no matter the political consequences.
Trump vows to punish “low-life leakers” in the intelligence community who tipped the media about the Flynn case. But Burr has a bigger job. If he fails, he will let the country down. If he succeeds, he may be remembered as another Sam Ervin.
