▁the ▁historian ▁Stanley ▁K ut ler , ▁who ▁has ▁written ▁several ▁books ▁about ▁N ixon ▁and ▁Water gate ▁and ▁had ▁successfully ▁su ed ▁for ▁the ▁ 1 9 9 6 ▁public ▁release ▁of ▁the ▁N ixon ▁White ▁House ▁t apes , ▁su ed ▁for ▁release ▁of ▁the ▁trans cript s ▁of ▁the ▁N ixon ▁grand ▁j ury ▁testim ony . ▁ ▁On ▁July ▁ 2 9 , ▁ 2 0 1 1 , ▁U . S . ▁District ▁Judge ▁Roy ce ▁Lam ber th ▁granted ▁K ut ler ' s ▁request , ▁saying ▁historical ▁interests ▁tr ump ed ▁priv acy , ▁especially ▁considering ▁that ▁N ixon ▁and ▁other ▁key ▁figures ▁were ▁dece ased , ▁and ▁most ▁of ▁the ▁surv iving ▁figures ▁had ▁test ified ▁under ▁o ath , ▁have ▁been ▁written ▁about , ▁or ▁were ▁interview ed . ▁The ▁trans cript s ▁were ▁not ▁immediately ▁released ▁pending ▁the ▁government ' s ▁decision ▁on ▁whether ▁to ▁appeal . ▁They ▁were ▁released ▁in ▁their ▁entire ty ▁on ▁November ▁ 1 0 , ▁ 2 0 1 1 , ▁although ▁the ▁names ▁of ▁people ▁still ▁alive ▁were ▁red act ed . ▁ ▁Texas ▁A & M ▁University – Cent ral ▁Texas ▁professor ▁Luke ▁Nich ter ▁wrote ▁the ▁chief ▁judge ▁of ▁the ▁federal ▁court ▁in ▁Washington ▁to ▁release ▁hundreds ▁of ▁pages ▁of ▁se aled ▁records ▁of ▁the ▁Water gate ▁Seven . ▁In ▁June ▁ 2 0 1 2 ▁the ▁U . S . ▁Department ▁of ▁Justice ▁wrote ▁the ▁court ▁that ▁it ▁would ▁not ▁object ▁to ▁their ▁release