Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee began their hearings on special counsel Robert Mueller\u2019s report Monday with a blast from the past: John Dean, the\u2026<\/b>
\nDemocrats on the House Judiciary Committee began their hearings on special counsel Robert Mueller\u2019s report Monday with a blast from the past: John Dean, the former White House counsel under President Nixon who testified before Congress in the Watergate era.
Democrats sought to use the testimony of Dean, a pivotal witness during the Watergate hearings and known critic of President Trump, to elucidate key details from the report, while Republicans tried to undercut his credibility.
In a steamy hearing room, Democrats read directly from Mueller\u2019s 448-page document and used props to highlight the episodes Mueller examined as potentially obstructive conduct.
Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) and Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) cited page numbers as they regurgitated details about Trump\u2019s conduct toward former White House counsel McGahn and the president\u2019s efforts to have Mueller removed, which the special counsel examined in his inquiry into potential obstruction of justice.
In many cases, Dean responded by drawing parallels between Trump\u2019s conduct and the coverup scandal that engulfed the Nixon administration.
\u201cWhen I read the Mueller report in detail, my first reaction was that McGahn took the high road, acting more like Elliot Richardson and Bill Ruckelshaus, and I thought that was admirable,\u201d Dean said, comparing McGahn to the Nixon-era attorney general and deputy attorney general who were fired in the infamous \u201cSaturday Night Massacre.\u201d
At one point, Dean said: \u00ab\u00a0I would say the Trump administration is in fast competition with what happened in the Nixon administration.\u00a0\u00bb
The hearing, which lasted more than four hours and also featured former prosecutors who have described Trump\u2019s conduct as obstruction and one conservative legal expert, represented a deliberate effort by Democrats to move forward with their own investigations in the absence of testimony from Mueller himself and other key witnesses like McGahn.
\u201cMr. McGahn will testify here before long,\u201d House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N. Y.) said in opening remarks.
\u201cBetween now and then, we still have an obligation to investigate the deeply troubling evidence outlined by the special counsel\u2014not merely the portions that implicate Russian nationals, as some have suggested, but the entire report, including the volume that lays out some of the president\u2019s troubling behavior,\u201d Nadler said.
The hearing featured some fiery moments from Republicans, who accused Democrats of engaging in political theater, with some noting that Dean\u2019s views could be easily obtained by watching his regular appearances on cable news.
They noted he is a paid contributor for CNN.
In one memorable exchange, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) read aloud Dean\u2019s tweets and asked him why at one point he asserted Trump was \u201cincapable of accomplishing anything.\u201d The exchange prompted Nadler to admonish Jordan for casting \u201caspersions\u201d on Dean\u2019s truthfulness as a witness.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) also sought to land some punches by asking how many presidents Dean has compared to Nixon, while claiming he is \u201cexploiting these accusations for his own economic benefit.\u201d
Dean, who brushed off the criticisms, repeatedly maintained he was \u201cnot here as a fact witness\u201d after Republicans suggested he lacked knowledge about material facts in Mueller\u2019s report.
Democrats were likely hoping the Monday hearing would be a good show for cable, but the three news networks shifted their attention to New York after news of a helicopter crash in Manhattan.
It did catch the attention of the president, however. Trump called Dean a \u201closer\u201d in remarks to reporters at the White House on Monday, denying any similarities between himself and Nixon.
\u201cJohn Dean\u2019s been a loser for many years,\u201d Trump told reporters.
\u201cYou can\u2019t impeach somebody when there\u2019s never been a thing done wrong,\u201d Trump said. \u201cWhen you look at past impeachments…. there\u2019s a big difference, I don\u2019t leave.\u201d<\/p>\n