Trump: Nixon Left, But 'I Don't Leave'

He slams John Dean after Watergate comparison
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 11, 2019 4:27 AM CDT
Trump Slams 'Loser' John Dean After Nixon Comparison
Former White House counsel for the Nixon Administration John Dean appears before a House Judiciary Committee hearing on the Mueller Report on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, June 10, 2019.   (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Trump blasted John Dean as a "loser" Monday after the former Nixon White House counsel drew parallels between the two administrations. Dean, whose congressional testimony in 1973 led to former President Nixon's resignation, told a House Judiciary Committee hearing that "the Trump administration is in fast competition with what happened in the Nixon administration," the Hill reports. He likened the Mueller report to the "Watergate road map" that brought down Nixon. "John Dean’s been a loser for many years," Trump told reporters later Monday. Before the hearing, Trump tweeted: "Can't believe they are bringing in John Dean, the disgraced Nixon White House Counsel who is a paid CNN contributor."

Trump, speaking at a White House event to honor Indy 500 champ Simon Pagenaud, rejected comparisons to Nixon, who resigned before he could be impeached, Politico notes. "When you look at past impeachments, whether it was President Clinton, or I guess President Nixon never got there," he said. "He left. I don’t leave. There’s a big difference. I don't leave." The Washington Post describes Dean's testimony Monday as "more of a historical lesson on Watergate" than anything that would shift public opinion on impeachment. GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz, one of seven Judiciary Committee members who weren't alive when Dean last testified before Congress in 1974, called him "the ghost of Christmas past" and demanded to know how much CNN pays him. (The Justice Department has agreed to give a House panel Mueller evidence.)

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