The Federalist Society has posted a video of D.C. Circuit Judge A. Raymond Randolph's interview with Robert Bork, from last week's conference on Bork's work, at which I was a participant. The interview focuses mostly on Bork's life and career rather than on his scholarship and judicial philosophy. Still, I found it to be fascinating, as Bork was a participant in many key legal and political events from the 1960s up to the present. Among the highlights is the discussion of his role in the 1973 "Saturday night massacre," when Bork carried out President Richard Nixon's order to fire Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox after Attorney General Elliot Richardson and his No. 2 had refused to do so and resigned.

I found myself in somewhat rare total agreement with Bork's view that 1) Cox was right to demand that Nixon turn over the notorious tapes, but 2) that Cox - as an executive branch official - had to be fired after he refused a direct order from the president. Bork went on to note that he played a key role in the selection of Cox's successor Leon Jaworski, and that he instructed Jaworski to continue the investigation along the same lines as before. A self-serving account? Possibly. But Jaworski really did pursue the investigation aggressively, and in the end Nixon was harmed by the Cox firing far more than he benefited.

UPDATE: It is worth noting that Jaworski's own account of this episode in his memoir accords with Bork's. In that book (pp. 25-26), Jaworski notes that Bork "hinted" that he would resign as acting attorney general if Jaworski's investingation were "hobbled" by the White House.