OPINION:
During the 1970s Senate hearings into the Watergate burglaries and cover-up, Sen. Howard Baker, Tennessee Republican, asked, “What did the president know, and when did he know it?”
The answer to that resulted in the 1974 resignation of President Nixon. It left a stain on the Oval Office with which Nixon’s successor had to deal.
The same question arises now more than 50 years later with the allegations and possible (if not probable) criminal charges coming for former Rep. Eric Swalwell, California Democrat. What did the Democratic congressional hierarchy pyramid know, and when did it know it?
At the top of that pyramid is Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi. Mr. Swalwell was one of Mrs. Pelosi’s pet proteges, as evidenced by her selection of him for the Jan. 6 committee. Because of Mrs. Pelosi’s defiance of custom and tradition, that group did not allow the minority leaders to select members of their choosing. The practice had been done in the aforementioned Senate Watergate Committee.
So let us ask now: What did Nancy Pelosi know about Mr. Swalwell’s behavior and actions, and when did she know it?
As a constituent of the speaker emerita, I want the answer to that question.
MIKE MCADOO
San Francisco, California
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