Banzhaf filed a motion requesting that the federal government appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the role of the White House in what became known as the Watergate scandal. American University history professor Allan Lichtman stated that Banzhaf "was the first to seriously raise the issue in a public way. He certainly put it in the minds of members of Congress and was a contributing factor," despite that the motion was denied, in establishing a path for the appointment of future special prosecutors, which then led to the resignation of Richard Nixon.