{
  "id": 16,
  "slug": "1971-nixon-white-house-compiles-enemies-list",
  "title": "United States: Nixon White House \"enemies list\" naming journalists, September 1971",
  "occurred_on": "1971-09-09",
  "occurred_on_precision": "day",
  "ended_on": null,
  "jurisdiction": "US",
  "country": "US",
  "continent": "north-america",
  "level": "national",
  "type": "other",
  "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas",
  "leader_slug": "richard-nixon",
  "issue_of_the_day": null,
  "outcome": "unknown",
  "outcome_on": null,
  "outcome_note": "No ruling or formal rescission applies; the lists became public during the Watergate investigations of 1973 to 1974.",
  "granularity": "anchor",
  "era": "1970s",
  "summary": "On September 9, 1971, the office of Charles Colson, special counsel to the president of the United States, Richard Nixon, sent White House Counsel John Dean, the president's lawyer on official matters, a memorandum naming 20 people as an initial \"enemies list.\" The list named political opponents, including journalists, for possible action through federal agencies, such as tax audits by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the United States federal tax agency. The IRS commissioner, Donald C. Alexander, refused to launch audits of the people on the list. The lists became public during the Watergate investigations into Nixon's White House.{c:59}",
  "what_happened": "On September 9, 1971, the office of Charles Colson, special counsel to the president of the United States, Richard Nixon, sent White House Counsel John Dean a memorandum, drafted by the aide George T. Bell, naming 20 people as an initial \"enemies list.\" A longer master list of hundreds of names was compiled over the following years.{c:59}{c:60}{c:61}{c:62}\n\nOn August 16, 1971, Dean had written a memo about \"how we can use the available federal machinery to screw our political enemies,\" including through tax audits, denial of federal grants and contracts, and litigation.{c:59}{c:60}{c:61}{c:62}\n\nJournalists were among the people named on the versions of the list, including the CBS News correspondent Daniel Schorr. The IRS commissioner, Donald C. Alexander, refused to launch audits of the people on the list. The lists became public during the Watergate investigations.{c:59}{c:60}{c:61}{c:62}\n\nStatus as of 2026-09-22: Ended. The lists became public during the Watergate investigations and are part of the historical record.{c:62}",
  "stated_justification": "No public justification was issued. An internal White House memo by Dean described the purpose as \"how we can use the available federal machinery to screw our political enemies.\"{c:60}",
  "effect_on_reporting": "Journalists named on the list faced possible federal scrutiny, including tax audits. The IRS did not carry out the audits on the people listed.{c:61}",
  "unknowns": "The sources cited do not give the complete roster of journalists on every version of the list, or whether any individual reporter was audited because of it.",
  "status": "in_effect",
  "status_updated_on": "2026-09-22",
  "external_ids": {},
  "illustration_key": null,
  "pub_state": "published",
  "published_at": "2026-09-22T20:41:41Z",
  "reviewed_on": "2026-09-22",
  "next_review_on": "2026-12-22",
  "revision": 18,
  "created_at": "2026-09-22T20:41:36Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-09-22T22:30:53Z",
  "country_name": "United States",
  "tactics": [
    "surveillance_and_subpoenas"
  ],
  "leader": {
    "slug": "richard-nixon",
    "name": "Richard Nixon",
    "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/richard-nixon"
  },
  "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1971-nixon-white-house-compiles-enemies-list",
  "page_meta": {
    "published": "2026-09-22T20:41:41Z",
    "reviewed": "2026-09-22",
    "sources": 2,
    "status": "in_effect",
    "statusAsOf": "2026-09-22",
    "unknowns": "The sources cited do not give the complete roster of journalists on every version of the list, or whether any individual reporter was audited because of it."
  },
  "actors": [
    {
      "slug": "charles-colson",
      "name": "Charles Colson",
      "kind": "person",
      "role": "ordered",
      "role_at_time": null,
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/actors/charles-colson"
    },
    {
      "slug": "richard-nixon",
      "name": "Richard Nixon",
      "kind": "person",
      "role": "other",
      "role_at_time": null,
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/actors/richard-nixon"
    }
  ],
  "outlets": [],
  "journalists": [],
  "cases": [],
  "related": [],
  "events": [],
  "claims": [
    {
      "id": 59,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 16,
      "field": "occurred_on",
      "value": "1971-09-09",
      "statement": "Colson's office sent the initial enemies-list memorandum to John Dean.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 41,
      "evidence_quote": "sent in memorandum form to John Dean on September 9, 1971",
      "evidence_date": null,
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-22T20:41:37Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 41,
        "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixon's_Enemies_List",
        "final_url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixon's_Enemies_List",
        "title": "Nixon's Enemies List",
        "publisher": "Wikipedia",
        "published_on": null,
        "link_state": "live",
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      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/59"
    },
    {
      "id": 60,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 16,
      "field": "stated_justification",
      "value": "Not stated in the sources reviewed",
      "statement": "No public justification was issued; internal memos described the intent privately.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 41,
      "evidence_quote": "how we can use the available federal machinery to screw our political enemies",
      "evidence_date": null,
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-22T20:41:38Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 41,
        "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixon's_Enemies_List",
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        "title": "Nixon's Enemies List",
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      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/60"
    },
    {
      "id": 61,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 16,
      "field": "effect_on_reporting",
      "value": "Journalists named for potential federal scrutiny",
      "statement": "Journalists were among the political opponents named for potential tax audits and other federal action.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 41,
      "evidence_quote": "Daniel Schorr, journalist",
      "evidence_date": null,
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-22T20:41:39Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 41,
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        "final_url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixon's_Enemies_List",
        "title": "Nixon's Enemies List",
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      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/61"
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    {
      "id": 62,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 16,
      "field": "status",
      "value": "Historical; documented via Watergate investigations",
      "statement": "The lists are part of the public historical record from the Watergate era.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 41,
      "evidence_quote": "sent in memorandum form to John Dean on September 9, 1971",
      "evidence_date": null,
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
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    {
      "id": 42,
      "url": "https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/article/richard-m-nixon/",
      "final_url": "https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/article/richard-m-nixon/",
      "title": "Richard M. Nixon",
      "publisher": "The Free Speech Center, MTSU",
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  "revisions_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1971-nixon-white-house-compiles-enemies-list/revisions",
  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
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  "cite_as": "United States: Nixon White House \"enemies list\" naming journalists, September 1971. The War On News, thewaronnews.com. https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1971-nixon-white-house-compiles-enemies-list. Retrieved 2026-09-22."
}