In 1973, President Richard Nixon was linked to a break in and coverup of the 1972 break at the Democratic National Headquarters at the Watergate complex. Investigations led prosecutors to demand that Nixon hand over all audio tapes recorded in his office, believing that the conversations on the tapes would prove or disprove Nixon's involvement. The President refused, citing "executive privilege" and that releasing the recordings could endanger national security. The prosecution asked the Supreme Court to order Nixon to release all of the tapes, a case that became known as United States v. Nixon (1974) . A) Suffrage B) Federalism C) Checks and Balances D) Separation of Powers