John Dean, who served as White House counsel during Watergate under President Richard Nixon’s administration, offered some biting criticism of President Trump in response to a new New York Times report that revealed Trump once wanted to use his Justice Department to prosecute James Comey and Hillary Clinton.
During an interview on CNN Tuesday evening, Dean said Nixon would probably think Trump was going “too far” with his misuse of his own Justice Department, claiming Trump’s behavior is “what an autocrat does.”
“This is a level that Richard Nixon never went to, where you went after somebody’s personal wellbeing by a criminal prosecution. I’ve listened to all the tapes that are relevant. While I heard him break the law on some of those tapes, I never heard him do it by turning on his enemies and trying to put them in jail,” he said, referencing the infamous Nixon recordings. “This is really very, very heavy sledding.”
According to the Times report, while Trump wanted to use his own DOJ to prosecute his political opponent and his former FBI director, Don McGahn, former White House counsel, stepped in to persuade him against it.
John Dean: Nixon would say Trump is going "too far" pic.twitter.com/0ywFquBC4U
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) November 21, 2018
This is a level that Richard Nixon never imagined was even feasible under the immutable laws of physics. Only under Dante…
Well, John, as you may recall, there was that Enemies List…
But he’s right, essentially. Because Nixon was a lot smarter than tRump.
(For us old enough to recall, one of the great moments of reporting on Watergate was Daniel Schorr, reading the Enemies List on live TV when the story broke–only to come upon his own name on the list. Priceless.)
FFS again today, it is our DOJ or the DOJ, it is not nor will it ever be his DOJ
Please, either do better or do nothing.
This monster beast of a powerless potus, is by far AMERICA’s worst, ever!
I never imagined I’d see a day when Richard Freaking Nixon seems like the more reasonable choice in a comparison with the current “president.”