The great breakthrough in Watergate scandal cane when Richard Nixon fired CIA Director after he refused to allow his agency to interfere withe the FBI's investigation of Watergate. When Waters told of how White House Chief of Staff Bob Halderman had pressured him to bock the FBI, this inspired the grand jury to supena the White House tapes of Halderman's meetings with Nixon ( The other POD in this TL is the Oval Office taping system not becoming public knowledge before 1972.) The Supreme Court took the case of US vs Nixon and ruled on July 28, 1972 that executive privilege did not apply in evidence in criminal cases , On August 7, 1972 the Nixon White House turned over the Smoking Gun tape of Nixon and Halderman plotting to obstruct justice. o On August 10, 1972 Nixon left office. President Agnew won the Republican nomination but his unpopularity and his pardon of Nixon lowered his margin of victory. The Agnew Rockefeller ticket narrowly defeated McGovern and Shriver. After Agnew's promise of a pardon become public Agnew resigned on February 22. 1973.