Editing James Eastland (section)

=== Nixon resignation ===
On February 14, 1974, Special Prosecutor for the U.S. Department of Justice [[Leon Jaworski]] wrote to Eastland complaining that President Nixon had refused to give him material that he needed for his [[Watergate]] investigation including 27 tapes relating to the Watergate cover‐up in addition to political donations of milk producers and the activities of the plumbers unit of the White House. The contents of the letter to Eastland were disclosed to the public by Jaworski the following month.<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 22, 1974 |title=A Subpoena Seeks More Nixon Files |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/03/22/archives/a-subpoena-seeks-more-nixon-files-jaworski-reports-writ-was-served.html}}</ref> In May, the House Judiciary Committee opened impeachment hearings against President Nixon after the release of 1,200 pages of transcripts of White House conversations between him and his aides and the administration. That month, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed a resolution supporting Jaworski observing that he was "acting within the scope of the authority conferred upon him". Eastland's support for the resolution was seen by observers as part of a pattern of Nixon backers turning against him in light of the Watergate scandal.<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 22, 1974 |title=Senators Back Jaworski On Interference by Nixon |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/05/22/archives/senators-back-jaworski-on-interference-by-nixon-senate-panel-backs.html}}</ref> In August, ''[[Newsweek]]'' magazine released Eastland's name as one of thirty-six senators who the White House believed would support President Nixon remaining in office in the event of impeachment. The article mentioned the White House believing some of the supporters were shaky and that thirty-four of them would need to remain firm to override a potential conviction.<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 5, 1974 |title=36 Senators Seen as Nixon Backers |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/08/05/archives/36-senators-seen-as-nixon-backers-magazine-says-7-democrats-may.html}}</ref> Within days of the article's release, President Nixon announced his resignation in the face of near-certain impeachment.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Nixon Resigns |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/watergate/part3.html |access-date=July 16, 2011 |series=The Watergate Story}}</ref>