President Nixon's lawyer tried to argue that he had executive privilege and that this allowed him to keep the tapes for himself. This is another illustration of a president misusing his powers. The Senate committee, Sirica and Archibald Cox were very determined to obtain these Nixon recordings. They knew that once they had these tapes, they could prosecute Nixon for what he had done. Cox was so determined that Nixon eventually fired him because he constantly demanded the tapes. Several Justice Department officials did not approve of the decision and resigned in protest. These events all happened on one night, October 20, 1973, now known as the Saturday Night Massacre. After everyone's determination, Nixon had enough and agreed to return some of the tapes. It reaches some but not all