and that's where robert dixson came in because that fall as head of the olc it was dixson's job to figureut what exactly the policy on this, what the justice department position was can you indict a sitting president and 40 count felony indictment against the president simmering on the stove on the u.s. attorney's office in maryland ready to be served up at any time. was he in fact immune from such federal charges? could that indictment be filed against him? legally they needed to know. also, practically. with nixon teetering because of watergate, with the threat with the guy that would succeed nixon was a known and active criminal and the attorney general elliott richardson needed to know if he would use at least the threat of being able to indict agnew to force him out of office there by protecting the line of succession. robert dixson was a law professor before he was head of the olc and respected legal voice on voting rights and election law but now being asked to figure out if it was constitutional to indict a sitting vice president. and what robert dixson ultimately concluded back i