The White House may strip 9 former officials of their security clearances, and it's reminding people of Nixon's infamous 'Enemies List'
George T. Bell, Nixon's special assistant, wrote the list as a memo addressed to Nixon's White House Counsel John Dean, who would later reveal its existence during the Watergate trial. Bell wrote the purpose of the list was planning "how we can use the available federal machinery to screw our political enemies."
The list included the name, location, and a small description for each "enemy," which were listed in "priority order."
The list included free-wheeling descriptions of each subject, such as "first class S.O.B." for enemy #12, lawyer Sidney Davidoff. Bell also recommended a "scandal" to take down enemy #8, foreign policy specialist Morton Halperin.
Journalist Daniel Schorr was a covering the Watergate scandal with CBS, and only discovered his name was #17 on the list when he went to read it aloud on air. The list describes Schorr as "a real media enemy," which echoes Trump's oft-used description of the media as "the enemy of the people."
Source: The New York Times, Business Insider
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