Watergate: Then & Now | City Tavern
Conferences
Richard Ben-Veniste (Chief, Watergate Task Force, Office of the Special Prosecutor, 1973-1975) and Jill Wine-Banks (Assistant Watergate Special Prosecutor, 1973-1975) will discuss their respective roles investigating the Watergate break-in and the ongoing importance of the scandal on today
’
s current events
and whether the lessons from Watergate are dead and buried.
Scott Simon (NPR Host and Watergate resident) will moderate the session. Thank you to City Tavern and Kristin & John Cecchi and Friedman Capital for sponsoring this event.
Richard Ben-Veniste
is a highly respected litigator who focuses on complex civil litigation and white collar criminal cases. He also advises organizations and individuals involved in congressional investigations across a broad range of complex and sensitive areas.
Richard first achieved national prominence during the mid-1970s, when he served as one of the lead prosecutors on the Watergate Special Prosecution Force. Recognized as both a knowledgeable and experienced counselor and as a skilled and accomplished trial lawyer, he has been a key figure in some of the nation’s most significant governmental activities at the intersection of law and politics. From 1995 to 1996, for example, he acted as chief counsel (Minority) of the Senate Whitewater Committee; from 1976 to 1977, he was special outside counsel for the Senate Subcommittee on Governmental Operations; and from 1973 to 1975, he held the position of chief of the Watergate Special Prosecutor’s Watergate Task Force. From 2003 to 2004, Richard served as one of ten commissioners on the bipartisan 9-11 Commission. Since 2009, he has served as a member of the Aspen Security Group, a task force created by the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security to provide analysis and advice to the secretary. From 2015-17, Richard served on the NSA Advisory Board legal panel, providing advice to the director of NSA and its Office of General Counsel. Most recently, Richard served as a legal analyst for CNN from 2017-2019.
A graduate of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champagne and trained as an attorney at Columbia Law School,
Jill Wine-Banks
gained note between 1973 and 1975 as Assistant Watergate Special Prosecutor, about which she wrote in her book, The Watergate Girl: My Fight for Truth and Justice Against a Criminal President, She went on to become the first female General Counsel of the US Army, a partner in the firm of Jenner and Block, the first female executive director of the American Bar Association, and a senior officer of Motorola and Maytag. The recipient of awards from, among other institutions, the Department of Justice, the Department of the Army, the Girl Scouts, and the Women's Bar Association, she also holds a Lifetime Achievement Award from Who's Who in America. Currently, she appears frequently as a television and radio legal analyst, co-hosts #SistersinLaw (a Webby Award-winning podcast), and hosts “Just The Facts” on YouTube.
Information Source: Watergate Museum | eventbrite