John Dean — the so-called Watergate “master manipulator” — on Tuesday explained why he believes Democrats have made a “more compelling” case for obstruction in the impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump than was ever presented against President Richard Nixon.
Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee, who released their detailed report earlier in the day, pointed out that “the abuse of Congress here and the obstruction of Congress is much more compelling than it was in the Nixon case,” Dean told CNN’s Anderson Cooper in video shared online by Raw Story.
“They have built that in this report as they take it to the Judiciary [Committee] where they already have that report,” added Dean, who served as White House counsel to Nixon before turning on him to help bring him down.
“It’s more compelling?” asked Cooper.
Dean replied: “It’s more compelling than the case that was made against Nixon.”
“You’re saying this White House went farther in terms of obstruction of justice than Nixon?” Cooper asked.
“Yes, they did, and that’s noted in the report,” Dean responded.
CNN’s chief legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin said Dean had made “a really important point” because both Nixon and President Bill Clinton had been “much more forthcoming” in cooperating with the impeachment investigations against them than Trump.
“It would be very surprising to me in light of all this that obstruction of Congress isn’t a separate article of impeachment in addition to the abuse of power on the whole Ukraine relationship,” Toobin added.
Replied Dean: “And much more difficult for the Senate to vote against.”