on the hill
Nixon White House Counsel John Dean argues there is evidence of collusion in the Mueller report
Former White House Counsel John Dean during a congressional hearing on Monday drew parallels between the Mueller report and Watergate, also arguing the report does contain evidence of collusion.
Dean, a key Watergate witness who served as Richard Nixon's White House counsel, testified before the House Judiciary Committee on Monday and told lawmakers, "I think there is evidence, incidentally, in the report of collusion." He went on to argue there have been "a number of well-done articles that draw on the different contacts between the Trump people and the Russians and make a fairly strong case for collusion."
Mueller in his report did not establish a criminal conspiracy between the Trump 2016 campaign and Russia, and he did not determine whether Trump obstructed justice. Mueller's report noted that the investigation was looking into "criminal conspiracy as defined in federal law, not the commonly discussed term 'collusion.'"
Dean in his testimony also drew parallels between the Mueller report and the Watergate road map. "In many ways, the Mueller report is to President Trump what the so-called Watergate road map...was to President Richard Nixon," he said.
In prepared remarks submitted to the committee, Dean walked through what he called "remarkable parallels" between the Mueller report and Watergate; for instance, he compares Trump telling FBI Director James Comey to let go of an investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to Nixon asking his chief of staff to ensure the FBI would not to go further with its Watergate investigation. "The words Nixon used were strikingly like those uttered by President Trump," Dean writes.
Trump ahead of this congressional testimony on Monday slammed Dean on Twitter, saying that he is "disgraced" and again writing, "No Collusion - No Obstruction!"