Political drama that unfolded around Thanksgiving in Washington DC

Thanksgiving typically slows down the news when Americans gather with family and friends. But the holiday usually amplifies the political drama and surprises in Washington, D.C.

Americans are no strangers to controversies and scandals, including a handful over the decades when citizens gathered around the dinner table for Thanksgiving or went shopping on Black Friday.

Fox News Digital takes a look at the biggest scandals and political events rocking Washington, D.C. this fall break.

“I’m not a fraud”

On the Saturday before Thanksgiving in 1973, then-President Richard Nixon held a news conference in Orlando, Florida, where he famously said he was not a “crook” as the Watergate scandal came to light.

At the heart of the scandal were Nixon’s efforts to obstruct justice by covering up the break-in at the Watergate office complex, including suppressing the FBI investigation, paying for hush money and abusing federal agencies to shield his administration from scrutiny.

As the scandal surrounding the break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters intensified, Nixon defended himself in a televised question-and-answer session with newspaper editors gathered at Walt Disney World for a conference.

“Let me just say this, and I want to say this to the television audience: I’ve made my mistakes, but in all the years of my public life, I’ve never taken advantage, I’ve never taken advantage of public service — I’ve earned every cent,” Nixon said, initially answering questions about his personal financial situation. “In all my years of public life, I have never obstructed justice.”

He continued, “And I also think I can say that in my years of public life, I welcome this kind of scrutiny, because people should know whether their president is a crook or not. Well, I’m not a crook. I earned everything I got.”

Nixon eventually resigned in August 1974, as the impeachment process was underway and a grand jury prepared to indict him on charges of bribery, conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and obstruction of the criminal investigation related to the Watergate cover-up.

Nixon was later pardoned and never faced a federal trial in the matter.

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President Ronald W. Reagan speaks to the press during the Iran-Contra hearings. (Diana Walker/Getty Images)

Iran-Contra explodes

Details surrounding the Iran-Contra affair unfolded in the early days of November 1986 before Thanksgiving week reached its climax, including then-President Ronald Reagan’s firing of Lt. Col. Oliver North and the announcement of the resignation of National Security Advisor John Poindexter two days before the holiday.

News began leaking abroad in early November 1986 that the United States had secretly sold weapons to Iran to secure the release of American hostages held in Lebanon, with American officials later revealing money from the deal had been used to fund an anti-communist rebel group in Nicaragua called the Contras.

Two days before Thanksgiving, Reagan announced that he had removed North from the National Security Council, with Poindexter resigning on the same day. On Thanksgiving Eve, Reagan announced the creation of a special review board to review the National Security Council’s role in the deal, later known as the Tower Committee.

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The fallout from the report continued through the holiday and even into the George H.W. Bush administration, when the then-president granted pardons to a handful of individuals involved on Christmas Eve 1992.

Then-President Bill Clinton answered the House Judiciary Committee’s 81 questions as part of the impeachment inquiry the day after Thanksgiving in 1998. (Diana Walker HC/Contour via Getty Images)

Escalation of Clinton impeachment proceedings

While many Americans were shopping on Black Friday in 1998, the Clinton White House delivered written responses from then-President Bill Clinton to 81 House Judiciary questions related to his relationship with intern Monica Lewinsky, as part of the impeachment inquiry.

Clinton had already announced to the nation that he “did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky” in January 1998, and the House authorized an impeachment inquiry in October, which intensified as the Thanksgiving holiday approached. The judiciary had sent Clinton 81 questions that focused on his relationship with Lewinsky, based on the report of independent lawyer Kenneth Starr, which included evidence related to the allegations of the case.

Clinton returned the 81 questions on Black Friday, which included questions about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky and his conduct in the case of Paula Jones, who accused him of sexual harassment in 1994. Judicial Republicans accused Clinton of playing “word games” in his responses, which included denying Clinton had committed perjury or obstruction of justice, and the impeachment inquiry continued.

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Ultimately, the House impeached Clinton on charges of grand jury perjury and obstruction of justice related to his efforts to conceal the relationship with an intern, while the Senate voted to acquit Clinton on both counts of impeachment.

President George W. Bush traveled to Iraq in 2003 to meet with troops without the public’s knowledge. (Tim Sloan/AFP/Getty Images)

Bush’s secret trip to Iraq on Thanksgiving

In a more politically subtle Thanksgiving event, former President George W. Bush quietly traveled to Iraq in 2003 to meet with troops stationed in Baghdad. The visit – which was completely secret until his arrival there – was the first time a sitting president had visited Iraq.

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“Our planners worked to answer every question,” Bush said at the time regarding the extensive planning for the trip. “I had a lot of questions.”

Bush remained on the ground for more than two hours before making his return flight to the United States. The trip sparked some allegations that the president was working for political gain ahead of the 2004 elections, while the administration brushed off such allegations while stressing that the Commander-in-Chief’s visit focused on supporting troops amid the war.

President Donald Trump pardoned former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn the day before Thanksgiving in 2020. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Trump pardons Michael Flynn

Just after 4 p.m. on Thanksgiving Eve 2020, Trump announced that he had issued a full pardon to his former national security adviser, retired Army Gen. Michael Flynn.

The White House later in the day sent a statement saying that Flynn “should never have been prosecuted” and that the pardon ends “the relentless partisan pursuit of an innocent man.”

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The statement continued: “While today’s action corrects the injustice done to an innocent man and an American hero, it should also serve as a reminder to all of us that we must remain vigilant toward those in whom we place our trust.”

The pardon ended a years-long legal battle stemming from then-Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the presidential election. 2016 elections. Flynn’s pardon was preceded by his guilty plea in 2017 to lying to the FBI about contacts with Russia. He also admitted to filing papers under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. But his sentence was suspended due to his cooperation with the authorities.

In 2019, Flynn claimed innocence in the case and sought to withdraw his guilty plea, citing alleged government misconduct.

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The Justice Department was in the midst of moving to dismiss the case when Trump pardoned Flynn.