disinfozone/The_Info_Web
1
0
Fork 0
Code Issues Pull requests Projects Releases Packages Wiki Activity Actions

vault backup: 2026-05-15 11:55:33

Browse source
This commit is contained in:
disinfo.zone 2026-05-15 11:55:33 -04:00
parent 4a52dbffdf
commit bd7d0cbfbe
120 changed files with 75 additions and 219 deletions
Download patch file Download diff file Expand all files Collapse all files

10
10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Elliot Richardson.md
View file

@ -14,25 +14,25 @@ born: 1920-07-20
died: 1999-12-31
location: "Boston, Massachusetts, USA"
---
Elliot Lee Richardson was born on July 20, 1920, in Boston, Massachusetts. He attended Harvard College (BA, 1941) and Harvard Law School (LLB, 1947, magna cum laude), then clerked for Judge [[Learned Hand]] on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and for Justice [[Felix Frankfurter]] on the U.S. Supreme Court. He served in the U.S. Army in World War II, participating in the Normandy landings, and was wounded at Omaha Beach. He died on December 31, 1999.[^1]
Elliot Lee Richardson was born on July 20, 1920, in Boston, Massachusetts. He attended Harvard University (BA, 1941) and Harvard Law School (LLB, 1947, magna cum laude), then clerked for Judge [[Learned Hand]] on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and for Justice [[Felix Frankfurter]] on the U.S. Supreme Court. He served in the U.S. Army in World War II, participating in the Normandy landings, and was wounded at Omaha Beach. He died on December 31, 1999.[^1]
### Government Career
Richardson served as a Special Assistant to the U.S. Attorney General under the Eisenhower administration (1957-1959), then as U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts (1959-1961). He was elected Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts in 1964 and Attorney General of Massachusetts in 1966.[^1]
Under President Nixon, Richardson held four successive cabinet or subcabinet positions in rapid succession: Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare (1970-1973), Secretary of Defense (January-May 1973), and Attorney General of the United States (May-October 1973). As Attorney General, he appointed [[Archibald Cox]] as Watergate Special Prosecutor. On October 20, 1973 — the event subsequently known as the Saturday Night Massacre — Nixon ordered Richardson to fire Cox. Richardson refused and resigned. Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus also refused and was dismissed; Solicitor General Robert Bork carried out the order. Richardson's resignation over the Cox firing established him as one of the prominent Republican figures of the Watergate era.[^1]
Under President [[Richard Nixon|Nixon]], Richardson held four successive cabinet or subcabinet positions in rapid succession: Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare (1970-1973), Secretary of Defense (January-May 1973), and Attorney General of the [[United States]] (May-October 1973). As Attorney General, he appointed [[Archibald Cox]] as [[Watergate]] Special Prosecutor. On October 20, 1973 - the event subsequently known as the Saturday Night Massacre - Nixon ordered Richardson to fire Cox. Richardson refused and resigned. Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus also refused and was dismissed; Solicitor General Robert Bork carried out the order. Richardson's resignation over the Cox firing established him as one of the prominent Republican figures of the Watergate era.[^1]
Under President Ford, Richardson served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom (1975-1976) and as Secretary of Commerce (1976-1977). He subsequently served as Ambassador-at-Large and head of the U.S. delegation to the Law of the Sea Conference under President Carter (1977-1980).[^1]
Under President [[Gerald R. Ford|Ford]], Richardson served as U.S. Ambassador to the [[United Kingdom]] (1975-1976) and as Secretary of Commerce (1976-1977). He subsequently served as Ambassador-at-Large and head of the U.S. delegation to the Law of the Sea Conference under President [[Jimmy Carter]] (1977-1980).[^1]
### INSLAW Representation
Richardson was retained as outside counsel by [[INSLAW]] and [[Bill Hamilton|Bill]] and [[Nancy Hamilton]] following the September 1987 bankruptcy court ruling in which Judge [[George Francis Bason, Jr.|George Bason]] found that the [[Department of Justice]] had "taken, converted, stole" INSLAW's enhanced [[PROMIS]] software "by trickery, fraud, and deceit." By March 1989, Richardson was writing to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Joe Biden requesting assurances that DOJ whistleblowers who cooperated with congressional investigators would face no reprisals; Biden responded through an aide, and Richardson challenged the dismissal. Richardson subsequently championed the House Judiciary Committee investigation led by Representative Jack Brooks, which ran from 1989 through September 1992 and produced House Report 102-857.[^2][^3]
Richardson was retained as outside counsel by [[INSLAW]] and [[Bill Hamilton|Bill]] and [[Nancy Hamilton]] following the September 1987 bankruptcy court ruling in which Judge [[George Francis Bason, Jr.|George Bason]] found that the [[Department of Justice]] had "taken, converted, stole" INSLAW's enhanced [[PROMIS]] software "by trickery, fraud, and deceit." By March 1989, Richardson was writing to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman [[Joe Biden]] requesting assurances that DOJ whistleblowers who cooperated with congressional investigators would face no reprisals; Biden responded through an aide, and Richardson challenged the dismissal. Richardson subsequently championed the House Judiciary Committee investigation led by Representative Jack Brooks, which ran from 1989 through September 1992 and produced House Report 102-857.[^2][^3]
In congressional testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, Richardson stated:
> "There is simply too much to be ignored. In the case of INSLAW, there is a spreading radius of circumstantial evidence, which, at its outer reaches, entails a far more sinister kind of conspiracy than anything revealed in Watergate."[^2]
On October 21, 1991 — ten weeks after journalist [[Danny Casolaro]]'s death in Martinsburg, West Virginia — Richardson published an op-ed in the *New York Times* titled "A High-Tech Watergate," in which he named [[Earl Brian]] as linked to the PROMIS theft and alleged a scheme connected to the [[October Surprise]]. The op-ed also stated:
On October 21, 1991 - ten weeks after journalist [[Danny Casolaro]]'s death in Martinsburg, West Virginia - Richardson published an op-ed in the *New York Times* titled "A High-Tech Watergate," in which he named [[Earl Brian]] as linked to the PROMIS theft and alleged a scheme connected to the [[October Surprise]]. The op-ed also stated:
> "I believe he was murdered, but even if that is no more than a possibility, it is a possibility with such sinister implications as to demand a serious effort to discover the truth."[^4]