Bernstein: Russia Scandal Feels ‘Worse Than Watergate In Many, Many Ways’

The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who helped break the Watergate story that led to former President Richard Nixon’s resignation, said the Russia scandal could be “worse than Watergate.”

Carl Bernstein, who reported the story with his Washington Post colleague Bob Woodward, made the comments about the “orange haired president” to a crowd of University of Chicago students Wednesday night, calling the current political climate much worse than that of the 1970s, according to the Chicago Tribune.

“Just as the Russians in the current instance case tried to undermine our electoral system, here was the President of the United States trying to do the same thing, and if the allegations about Trump are true, that he colluded with Russia, then you have the President again willing to undermine the most basic part of our modern democratic system, which is free elections,” he said.

While Bernstein was quick to advise caution — “we’ve got to see where this goes” — he said regardless of the results of the investigation, Trump’s habits of lying to the public are troubling.

“We also know that we’re dealing with a situation that appears to be a real feeling that is worse than Watergate in many, many ways, in the sense that we have a President of the United States who lies about almost anything,” he said.

Bernstein’s comments follow a seminal moment this week in the sprawling probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election and whether Trump’s campaign colluded with the foreign power to win. Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his business associate pleaded not guilty to charges of money laundering, among other crimes, some of which occurred while the two were working for the campaign.

Another campaign adviser pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russia, according to new court documents that were unsealed this week.

h/t The Hill.