Legal question: Spiro Agnew was indicted while still in office

[TheBaldyMan]

and had to resign in Oct. '73.

I had thought that the VP had to be impeached first before he could be charged with any offence, I'm obviously wrong. Why didn't he have to be impeached first ?

I'd be grateful if any legal eagle could explain this to me. Maybe it's one for the Plaid Adder.

[MADem]

1. A Spiro refresher

http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/usa/spiro-t-agnew/

Fun fact! The letters Spiro Agnew may be rearranged to spell grow a penis. This is surely no coincidence. ...


Interview with Lester Matz (Justice Department transcript):
"Sometime in 1970, or early 1971, Matz received a telephone call from Jones who advised him that there was an upcoming federal job that the Vice-President would control. This job would generate something in the order of $100,000 in fees, and Jones advised Matz that a payment would be necessary. This job was the (blacked out) and Matz wanted it to go to (blacked out). The job was awarded to (blacked out) He then approached his partner in ( blacked out) for the purpose of advising him that he (Matz) had committed them to make a 5% payment to Mr. Agnew, (blacked out) finally agreed to contribute $1,000. Matz arranged an appointment with Mr. Agnew and Jones in the Vice-President's office in Washington. He then arranged to meet with (blacked out) in Washington just before his appointment with the Vice-President. Matz met with ( blacked out)across the street from the EOB (Executive Office Building) and there received from (blacked out) $1,000 in cash. Matz added $1,500 in cash and placed the entire sum in an envelope which he took with him to his meeting with Jones and the Vice-President. (blacked out) has been interviewed and confirms Matz's recollection of these events. We have the check by which he generated the $1,000.

Matz met with Jones and the Vice-President and placed the envelope on the Vice-President's desk saying that this was the money for the job. By the time Matz left this meeting, neither Jones nor the Vice-President had removed the envelope from the desk.

EOB logs show that Matz met with the Vice-President on April 20, 1971, and this date corresponds with the date on the check that (blacked out) used to generate his share of the payment. To the extent that we understand the EOB logs, however, they do not confirm that Jones met with the Vice-President on this date. (blacked out) is attempting to obtain clarification of some of the documents supplied to us by the Secret service, and we are pursuing the matter."
This never went to trial. But it's a safe bet that Agnew was even more crooked than his boss Richard M. Nixon.

[0007]

2. BTW call Karl and pick up your brand new Spiro Agnew watch.

Agnew was forced to resign in 73, after a Justice Dept. investigation uncovered evidence of corruption during his years in Maryland politics; he continued to accept bribes while Vice President. He pleaded no contest to a charge of federal income tax evasion, was sentenced to three years' probation and fined $10,000, and was disbarred (1974) in Maryland.

[TheBaldyMan]

3. was it because the criminal activity began b4 he was VP ?

sorry, but I don't know enough about US law to tell why he was charged while still serving as VP. I already knew what the charges were for but though there was some form of immunity for the President and the VP and they had to be impeached (ie removed from office) first before charged could be laid.

[pnwmom]

4. Perhaps that was what happened. Maybe the evidence that came out

forced his resignation. . . back in the old days, apparently even people like Agnew had SOME integrity. And THEN he was indicted.

[DoYouEverWonder]

5. Agnew resigned first

before he was indicted.

Scooter Libby is the only WH official in the last 100 years or so to get indicted before he resigned.

Of course, the legal question of whether or not you can indict a sitting Pres or VP was avoided when Clinton made a plea deal on his last day in office thereby avoiding indictment.

[onenote]

6. agnew resigned, was indicted, and pled nolo pretty much simultaneously

Agnew argued that as a sitting VP he was immune from a grand jury investigation and indictment, but ultimately, he decided to resign. His letter of resignation was delivered concurrently with his appearance in court, where as a part of a plea settlement, he pled nolo contendre to a tax evasion charge. I suppose as a technical matter, an indictment was handed up by the Grand Jury, but if so, it was essentially simultaneous with the plea. The Justice Department, by the way, took (and as far as I know still takes) the position that a President can't be indicted but a VP can. The DOJ explanation is provided here: http://www.justice.gov/olc/sitting_president.htm

onenote

[TheBaldyMan]

7. thanks for the link

I'm going to read it now. :)

[TheBaldyMan]

8. Ooh! my head, thats a very interesting article & thanks again

for the link.

[onenote]

9. i should've warned you!