Trump responds to John Dean saying Dems have the ‘groundwork’ for impeachment

John Dean testifies
John Dean. Screen capture by Politico

Speaking in front of the House Judiciary Committee Monday John Dean, of Watergate fame and former Nixon counsel compared his former boss to President Donald Trump.

Dean admitted he wasn’t testifying to provide facts but was instead there to provide “a little historical perspective on the Mueller report,” Mediaite reports.

In a number of ways, Dean said, the Mueller report “is to President Trump what the so-called Watergate road map … is to Richard Nixon. And he noted Mueller has clearly “provided this committee with a road map.”

Dean told the committee there are a number of parallels between Trump and Nixon, especially when it comes to influencing witnesses with the promise of potential pardons. He wrapped up his testimony by adding that he hopes the committee allows former White House Counsel Don McGahn to become a “key witness.” McGahn, he added, doesn’t represent Trump, he represents the office of the president.

McGahn, Politico notes, failed to comply with a subpoena to testify and hand over documents connected with the investigation regarding Russian election interference.

Dean drew heavily on his own experiences in the Watergate scandal, highlighting his own criminal history connected with obstructing justice.

“I learned about obstruction of justice the hard way, by finding myself on the wrong side of the law.”

His testimony has drawn ire from Trump, who vented his anger on Twitter.

“Can’t believe they are bringing in John Dean, the disgraced Nixon White House Counsel who is a paid CNN contributor. No Collusion — No Obstruction! Democrats just want a do-over which they’ll never get!” he snapped in a tweet.

This was Trump’s second pot-shot at Dean. On Sunday Trump launched into Democrats on Twitter, and called Dean a “sleazebag attorney.”

His testimony also drew criticism from the Republican National Committee (RNC).

“Since Watergate, Dean has solidified himself as an unethical political opportunist who hasn’t met a Republican president who he didn’t want to impeach,” an RNC spokesman wrote in a statement near the beginning of the hearing. “Yet Democrats want him to testify before the house. For what reason? No one really knows.”

But if Dean is an “unethical political opportunist,” then what does that make Trump, who excels at being “unethical?”

Featured image courtesy of the video above