COMPLETE STATIC READING EDITION

Newer releases, 2011–2026

What has come out recently, and what is still closed.

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The strongest version of this theory

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The files keep changing the story.

Each release has added something the official story left out. The 2026 pages showed Nixon telling prosecutors about the Joint Chiefs’ spy ring, and prosecutors cutting him off. A memo posted by Geoff Shepard and cited by Blackman shows a prosecutor, Philip Lacovara, telling Jaworski in September 1974 that Ford’s pardon might break the special prosecutor’s rules. [1]

Parts are still closed, including the stenographer’s tape of Nixon’s deposition. [2] The final tapes were not released until 2013, nearly forty years later. [3] On this view, the history is still being written, and each release has made Nixon’s opponents look less like neutral defenders of the law.

The sources

  1. Josh Blackman: February 8, 2026 commentary on Rosen’s seven-page testimony report ↗

    A law professor’s commentary quoting and linking James Rosen’s New York Times opinion essay. This site checked that account against the earlier official documentary history; it did not independently inspect the newly reported seven pages. The deep-state interpretation is the writers’ argument.

  2. National Archives: Nixon Grand Jury Records, page last reviewed 9 February 2026 ↗

    Lists the released Watergate Special Prosecution Force folders, including the 18½-minute gap folders, and notes that the stenographer’s tape of the deposition remains closed.

  3. National Archives: final Nixon tape release, 21 August 2013 (nr13-122) ↗

    The last 340 hours of Nixon White House recordings, April to July 1973, opened by the Nixon Library.

What the record shows

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What each release added.

2013: the Archives released the last 340 hours of tapes, from April to July 1973, with about 140,000 pages of documents. They cover the months after the aides resigned. They did not overturn the earlier tapes. [1]

2011 and 2018: the grand-jury testimony and the Road Map showed how prosecutors questioned Nixon and what they sent the House. [2][3] The grand-jury page lists the released folders on the 18½-minute gap and notes that the stenographer’s tape is still closed. [4]

2024–2026: the Nixon Library’s release log shows declassified national-security files, not new Watergate recordings. Anyone claiming a “new Watergate tape” in these years should be asked for the conversation number. [5]

2026: the seven pages, as quoted by Blackman, add Nixon’s own account of the Radford affair. [6] They are a real addition on military spying. They say nothing about who ordered the break-in, and the 2011 notes examination found nothing new about the erased conversation. [7]

What we can’t tell you. The 2026 pages were checked through Blackman’s published quotations, not the original. The Lacovara memo is cited as Blackman describes it.

The sources

  1. National Archives: final Nixon tape release, 21 August 2013 (nr13-122) ↗

    The last 340 hours of Nixon White House recordings, April to July 1973, opened by the Nixon Library.

  2. National Archives: Nixon grand-jury records released, November 10, 2011 ↗

    Release announcement for testimony from 1975. A modern publication date must not be mistaken for the date of the events described.

  3. National Archives: October 31, 2018 Road Map release and redaction limits ↗

    Explains what was released in 2018, what had already been public, and which grand-jury information remained redacted.

  4. National Archives: Nixon Grand Jury Records, page last reviewed 9 February 2026 ↗

    Lists the released Watergate Special Prosecution Force folders, including the 18½-minute gap folders, and notes that the stenographer’s tape of the deposition remains closed.

  5. Richard Nixon Presidential Library: New releases, 2024–2026 ↗

    The library’s release log. Its 2024, 2025 and 2026 openings were declassified national-security files, not new Watergate tapes.

  6. Josh Blackman: February 8, 2026 commentary on Rosen’s seven-page testimony report ↗

    A law professor’s commentary quoting and linking James Rosen’s New York Times opinion essay. This site checked that account against the earlier official documentary history; it did not independently inspect the newly reported seven pages. The deep-state interpretation is the writers’ argument.

  7. National Archives: results of the forensic examination of H. R. Haldeman’s notes, 2011 (nr11-142) ↗

    Reports the 2009–2011 attempt by NARA with the ATF, TIGTA and the Library of Congress to recover writing from Haldeman’s notes of 20 June 1972.

WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT THIS FILE

The claims, rated.

2 claims people make about this file, each rated documented, partly true, disputed, unproven or false. Think a rating is wrong? Use Dispute or Support, or join the Discussion.

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