Ex-Nixon White House counsel: Mueller report ‘more damning’ than Watergate
John Dean, the former White House counsel for President Nixon, said Thursday that special counsel Robert Mueller’s report was “more damning” than the Watergate report.
“I looked on my shelf for the Senate Watergate Committee report, I looked at the Iran Contra report. I also looked at the Ken Starr report,” Dean said on CNN’s “The Lead.”
“In 400 words, this report from the special counsel is more damning than all those reports about a president, this is really a devastating report.”
Former WH counsel John Dean: “I looked on my shelf for the Senate Watergate Committee report, I looked at the Iran Contra report. I also looked at the Ken Starr report … In 400 words, this report from the special counsel is more damning than all those reports about a President.” pic.twitter.com/9WuUaicKvt
— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) April 18, 2019
The Department of Justice on Thursday released a redacted copy of Mueller’s report on his investigation into possible collusion between President Trump’s campaign and Russia.
{mosads}The report did not uncover evidence to conclude that Trump’s 2016 campaign coordinated with Russia in efforts to interfere in the presidential election.
Mueller was also unable to “conclusively determine” that no criminal conduct occurred in regard to obstruction of justice.
“While this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him,” the report states.
While the Justice Department concluded that the evidence in the report was insufficient to establish obstruction of justice, Dean said Thursday that he thought the violation was clear.
“As far as obstruction goes, this is clear obstruction,” Dean said. “The obstruction statute is an endeavor statute … if you endeavor to obstruct you’ve violated the obstruction statute.”
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