IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
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IN RE: PETITION OF
BENJAMIN WITTES
P.O. Box 33226
Washington, D.C. 20033;
JACK GOLDSMITH
1563 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138;
and
STEPHEN BATES
269 Canyon Spirit Dr.
Henderson, NV 89012.

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) Misc. Case No. ____________
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PETITION FOR ORDER DIRECTING RELEASE OF THE “ROAD MAP”
TRANSMITTED BY THE WATERGATE GRAND JURY TO THE HOUSE JUDICIARY
COMMITTEE IN 1974
Benjamin Wittes, Jack Goldsmith, and Stephen Bates (hereinafter, collectively,
“Petitioners”) hereby petition this Court to order disclosure of the impeachment referral report
known as the “Road Map” that the Watergate grand jury transmitted to the House Judiciary
Committee in 1974. Specifically, Petitioners seek an order disclosing the Road Map pursuant to
this Court’s inherent supervisory authority to release grand jury materials or, alternatively,
pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e)(6). The Road Map is located at the National
Archives and Records Administration in College Park, Maryland, as part of Record Group 460,

 Records of the Watergate Special Prosecution Force, Special Prosecutor’s File, Records Relating
to Richard Nixon.
PETITIONERS
1. Benjamin Wittes is a journalist, focusing on issues of national security and American
law. Mr. Wittes is Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Lawfare.1 Mr. Wittes is also a
Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution.
2. Jack Goldsmith is the Henry L. Shattuck Professor at Harvard Law School, Co-Founder
of Lawfare, and Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution. Professor Goldsmith served as
Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel from 2003-2004, and Special
Counsel to the General Counsel of the Department of Defense from 2002-2003.
3. Stephen Bates is Associate Professor in the Hank Greenspun School of Journalism and
Media Studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. From 1995 to 1999, he served on
the staff of the Office of Independent Counsel under Independent Counsel Kenneth W.
Starr, where he helped to draft the Office’s Referral to the House of Representatives
regarding President Bill Clinton.
FACTS
4. More than 40 years ago, a group of five men broke into the Democratic National
Committee headquarters with the intent to secretly record conversations and steal
documents. The result lead to the first and only resignation of a U.S. president. The
break-in and its subsequent coverup became known as the “Watergate scandal.”
5. In 1973, during the burglary trial of the five men, it was alleged that President Richard
Nixon and members of his staff were suspected of involvement in the break-in as well as
1

Lawfare is devoted to the discussion of U.S. national security law and policy. LAWFARE,
https://www.lawfareblog.com.

 obstruction of justice. Leon Jaworski was appointed as Special Prosecutor to investigate
the allegations after the dismissal of his predecessor, Archibald Cox.
6. In 1974, a grand jury in Washington, D.C., indicted several former aides of President
Nixon, for conspiring to hinder the Watergate investigation. The grand jury secretly
named President Nixon as an unindicted co-conspirator.
7. The Watergate grand jury submitted the Road Map and accompanying materials to Chief
Judge Sirica of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on March 1, 1974,
along with a two-page transmittal letter recommending that the materials be submitted to
the House Judiciary Committee for its consideration and decision on what action, if any,
might be warranted in the circumstances. Chief Judge Sirica approved the transmission of
the Road Map and its accompanying documents to the Judiciary Committee of the House
of Representatives. See In re Report & Recommendation of June 5, 1972 Grand Jury
Concerning Transmission of Evidence to the House of Representatives, 370 F. Supp.
1219, 1221 (D.D.C. 1974).
8. The 55-page Road Map identified the evidence relevant to President Nixon’s alleged
involvement in a criminal conspiracy, without explicit accusation, accompanied by a
package of 800 pages of documents and thirteen tape recordings comprising the evidence
itself. The Road Map served as an index “to the evidence [that] could avoid the drawing
of formal conclusions by the jury.” RICHARD BEN-VENISTE AND GEORGE FRAMPTON, JR.,
STONEWALL: THE REAL STORY OF THE WATERGATE PROSECUTION 242 (1977). As Special
Prosecutor Jaworski stated, “There were no comments, no interpretations, and not a word
or phrase of accusatory nature. The ‘road map’ was simply that – a series of guideposts if

 the House Judiciary Committee wished to follow them.” LEON JAWORSKI, THE RIGHT
AND THE POWER: THE PROSECUTION OF WATERGATE

102 (1976).

9. Between March and August of 1974, a series of events transpired that led to the
resignation of the President and the conclusion of the Watergate investigations: (i) the
Road Map and accompanying records were delivered to the House Judiciary Committee,
(ii) the House Judiciary Committee initiated impeachment hearings, (iii) the White House
tapes were released, (iv) the House Judiciary Committee voted for three articles of
impeachment against President Nixon, (v) President Nixon announced his resignation,
(vi) the House Judiciary Committee released its final report, and (vii) the Senate and the
Watergate Special Prosecution Force also issued reports.
10. The grand jury investigation of President Nixon and the Watergate scandal was the
subject of widespread public interest and substantial media coverage at the time. Four
decades later, Watergate continues to capture the interest of historians, legal scholars, the
press, and the public. The Road Map is one of the last major elements of the Watergate
story that remains under seal, though its contents were publicly disclosed through a
variety of sources over the years. And it has particular resonance now, at a time when
Special Counsel Robert Mueller is investigating potential unlawful conduct by President
Donald Trump and is reportedly considering writing a report on obstruction.
11. This petition seeks the release of the Road Map only, without the underlying grand jury
material that accompanied it.
12. Submitted in support of this petition are a memorandum of law and the declarations of
Stephen Bates, Richard Ben-Veniste, John Dean III, Jack Goldsmith, Philip Lacovara,
and Benjamin Wittes.

 l3. WHEREFORE, petitioners respectfully request that this Court order the release of the

Road Map.

Dated: September 14, 2018

Respectfully submitted,



LAURENCE (D. D. C. No. MA0007)
org

DEANA 


The Protect Democracy Project, Inc.

10 Ware Street

Cambridge, MA 02138

Telephone: (202) 599-0466

Fax: (929) 777-8428

CAMERON KISTLER (D.C. Bar No. 1008922)

JUSTIN FLORENCE (D.C. Bar No. 988953)


The Protect Democracy Project, Inc.

2020 Avenue NW, #163
Washington, DC. 20006

Telephone: (202) 599?0466

Fax: (929) 777-8428

STEPHANIE 

The Protect Democracy Project, Inc.
222 Broadway, 19th Floor

New York NY 10038

Telephone: (202) 599-0466

Fax: (929) 777-8428

pro hac vice application forthcoming

Attorneys for Petitioners