The hesitance around that time to prosecute political leaders who were obviously breaking the law is, I think, a big part of what lead to our current era of political leaders who are now, in effect, entirely above the law. James Clapper's "not wittingly" testimony[1], where he plainly and purposely lied under oath during a congressional hearing and received zero consequences, is another example where we showed we will not hold political leaders accountable for their actions. It became clear during that decade that the law has no teeth, so why should political leaders not break the law at every opportunity if it serves them? And here we are.

[1] https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/07/02/198118060...