The newly released Nixon tapes hold a particularly poignant personal memory for an NYPD sergeant.
In March 1973, city cop Michael Devine was still in diapers as he crawled around the Oval Office while President Richard Nixon presented his hero DEA-agent father with an award for “valor and heroism” after he was severely injured in the line of duty.
At one point, the giggling 1-year-old Devine — now also an actor who has appeared on TV’s “Law & Order’’ and in Martin Scorsese’s “The Wolf of Wall Street’’ — brushed against a microphone under Nixon’s desk.
Two weeks later, news of the Watergate scandal would break and the American public would learn that the president recorded his every move.
To mark the 40-year anniversary of Nixon’s eventual resignation Aug. 9, 1974, his presidential library released many of those tapes — including the one from March 12, 1973, when Devine’s dad was honored.
“I could clearly hear my father’s voice,” Devine, 42, told The Post of the emotional experience.
He said his late father can be heard telling Nixon, “Thank you, sir.’’
“I haven’t heard his voice in 32 years,” Devine said of his beloved father.
Devine’s dad, Thomas, was shot several times at a buy-and-bust operation in Hell’s Kitchen in October 1972. He was left paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair until his death from his injuries 10 years later.
Thomas’ partner, Frank Tumillo, was killed in the shooting. He also was posthumously honored by Nixon that day.
Devine, who works in the NYPD’s Chief of Detectives Office, found the recording of his dad by scouring the tapes.
The treasured snippet features the young voices of Devine and his older brother, Thomas Jr., now an investigator for the New York Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor, running around “acting their ages.
“You could hear us running and screaming and laughing,” Devine said. “I wish someone would have told us to shut up.
“I was crawling under the table, and I started to touch a microphone. My uncle reached under the table and grabbed me,” Devine said, adding that the sound of a mic being touched can be heard in the recording.
“Not too many people get recognized in the White House by the president. It’s a proud moment and I still get goosebumps thinking about it.”
- Michael Devine
Last week, Devine, at his mother Jean’s urging, shared his story on Facebook.
The third-generation law-enforcement official — his grandfather, William, was an NYPD detective — said the post got more likes and shares than any of his acting accolades.
Devine has appeared in TV shows including “House of Cards,” “Law & Order” and “Blue Bloods.” He recently got the opportunity to shoot a scene with Leonardo DiCaprio for “Wall Street.”
Devine studied acting at Montclair State University, but despite a successful start, he said, “Law enforcement is in my blood.”
He is now married with a daughter.
Before leaving the White House that day, Devine said, the president gave him and his brother gold tie clips embossed with his signature and the presidential seal, saying they would both “wear a tie one day.”
The infamous president was not wrong about that.
Devine, who’s worked with the NYPD for 16 years, has occasionally sung the national anthem at venues like Madison Square Garden and Lincoln Center.
He calls his father his inspiration and said the family patriarch still makes the whole family proud.
“Not too many people get recognized in the White House by the president,” Devine said. “It’s a proud moment, and I still get goosebumps thinking about it.”