Ex-Nixon White House Counsel John Dean: Mueller Report ‘More Damning’ Than Watergate

John Dean, the former White House counsel for President Nixon, says special counsel Robert Mueller’s final Russia report is “more damning” than the Watergate report.

“I looked on my shelf for the Senate Watergate Committee report, I looked at the Iran Contra report. I also looked at the Ken Starr report,” Dean said Thursday on CNN’s “The Lead.”

“In 400 words, this report from the special counsel is more damning than all those reports about a president, this is really a devastating report.”

Former WH counsel John Dean: “I looked on my shelf for the Senate Watergate Committee report, I looked at the Iran Contra report. I also looked at the Ken Starr report … In 400 words, this report from the special counsel is more damning than all those reports about a President." pic.twitter.com/9WuUaicKvt

— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) April 18, 2019

In response to Mueller not having enough evidence that the Trump campaign conspired with Russia, Dean said: “This was a campaign that Trump has all but admitted was not a serious presidential campaign. It was a branding undertaking. And they wanted all the help they could get from wherever they could get, and it’s clear they got a lot from the Russians. An unusual amount. Does it rise to the level of a criminal conspiracy? Apparently not, at least with the evidence that’s available.”

“As far as obstruction goes, this is clear obstruction,” Dean said. “The obstruction statute is an endeavor statute … if you endeavor to obstruct you’ve violated the obstruction statute.”