Legendary journalist Carl Bernstein warned President Donald Trump’s attacks on special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation could have very real ― and very dangerous ― implications for the United States.
Bernstein, who broke the infamous Watergate scandal in the early 1970s with his partner Bob Woodward, discussed the matter during a Sunday appearance on CNN:
“I think we can look at a big picture now with some real definition,” Bernstein said, “in which [it’s a] perilous moment for our country right now.”
“It’s a question of whether lies, authoritarianism and the character of the president of the United States are going to take us to an authoritarian place where we have never been,” he continued, “in which he will bury a duly constituted and legal investigation that will determine whether or not the president is above the rule of law.”
Trump has repeatedly attempted to smear the credibility of Mueller and his investigation into Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Trump mourned on Sunday the “young and beautiful” lives “destroyed” by the “phony” Russia probe, tweeting that many of them “went back home in tatters.” It’s unclear who Trump was referring to in his tweet, but at least 19 people, including several of Trump’s former campaign associates, have been charged in the investigation.
“What we are seeing, and what Donald Trump understands and the reasons he wants to bury, demean, undermine and put this investigation out of business for all time, is he knows Mueller has the ability and the facts to reveal him ... in a really terrible light,” Bernstein said Sunday.
“Mueller has enough to show Donald Trump and his lies in a way that definitely the American people, including a lot of Fox viewers perhaps, may be convinced that we are seeing a false narrative by the president of the United States,” he continued. “Trump does not want this story told. That’s the bottom line.”