Tim Baker: The Investigation, Prosecution, and Resignation of Vice-President Spiro Agnew

On October 10, 1973, in the midst of Watergate, Spiro Agnew resigned and pled to a tax felony based on over $250,000 in bribes and kickbacks he had received as County Executive, Governor, and Vice President. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Barney Skolnik, Tim Baker, and Ron Liebman developed and prosecuted the case under George Beall, the U.S. Attorney for Maryland. Tim Baker’s talk will detail how the investigation began and progressed and how Elliot Richardson, the U.S. Attorney General, conducted the plea bargaining which achieved his overriding objective: the corrupt Vice-President’s removal from his position a heartbeat away from the Presidency.