Samuel A. Garrison III, 65; defended Nixon in impeachment hearings
Samuel Alexander Garrison III, 65, who defended President Nixon in impeachment hearings in 1974 and later became a gay activist, died Sunday at Friendship Healthcare Center in Roanoke, Va., after a long battle with leukemia, said Mark Harris, his partner of 17 years.
Garrison was the deputy minority counsel for the House Judiciary Committee and later also was the chief Republican counsel.
After Watergate, Garrison returned to Roanoke to practice law. He was disbarred and served four months in prison for embezzling $46,000 from a bankruptcy account in 1980. The Supreme Court of Virginia reinstated his law license in 1993.
In recent years he was active in the gay, lesbian and transgender movement.
A native of Roanoke, Garrison earned bachelor’s and law degrees from the University of Virginia.
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