On July 24, 1974, the United States Supreme Court ordered Nixon to surrender the White House tapes.
The decision of the court was unanimous, 8-0. Justice William Rehnquist did not sit on the case.
Nixon complied with the court’s order in United States v. Nixon.
One of the tapes he released came to be known as the “Smoking Gun Tape”. It revealed that just six days after the Watergate break-in Nixon and Haldeman had discussed the ways to obstruct the FBI’s investigation. This revelation directly led to a collapse in congressional support for Nixon and resulted in his resignation as president on August 9, 1974.