June 10 (UPI) — Congressional Democrats will take multiple steps Monday aimed at holding the Trump administration accountable for actions related to the Russia investigation, turning to a key figure in the downfall of former President Richard Nixon 45 years ago.
For weeks, House judiciary committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler has been trying to get special counsel Robert Mueller to testify about the Justice Department’s two-year investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election. On Monday, the committee will hear from former White House counsel John Dean, who in 1973 famously spoke of a “cancer” on the Nixon presidency in the middle of the Watergate investigation.
His testimony in the Senate Watergate hearings were instrumental in Nixon’s ultimately resigning from office. On Monday, he will testify about how lessons from the past could apply to the inquiries into President Donald Trump.
Nixon was on the road to impeachment for obstructing justice by attempting to meddle in the Watergate investigation. The Mueller report, issued in March, outlined several “episodes” in which it said Trump may have done the same.
Democrats are bringing Dean, a vocal critic of Trump’s, to Capitol Hill to build support for the pursuit of impeachment. Dean is scheduled to testify at 2 p.m. and the hearing, titled “Lessons from the Mueller Report: Presidential Obstruction and Other Crimes” will be streamed live.
While the Mueller report didn’t find a direct link between Trump’s campaign and Russia, it did not clear Trump of obstructing justice. In his first public remarks about the inquiry late last month, Mueller explained his office had no ability to take action against the president.
“If we’d had confidence the president didn’t commit a crime, we would have said so,” Mueller said.
Trump has said Democrats are turning to Dean for a “do over” of the Mueller investigation.
“Sorry, no Do Overs — Go back to work!” Trump tweeted.
Dean, 80, has called Trump “worse than Nixon,” especially in how he handled Mueller’s investigation.
“Given the threat posed by the president’s alleged misconduct, our first hearing will focus on President Trump’s most overt acts of obstruction. In the coming weeks, other hearings will focus on other important aspects of the Mueller report,” Nadler said when he announced the hearing last week.
Also Monday, the House intelligence committee will hold a rare open hearing about the impact of the Mueller report on U.S. counterintelligence efforts. Stephanie Douglas and Robert Anderson, former executive assistant directors of the FBI’s national security branch, are scheduled to testify.
On Tuesday, the House will vote on whether to enforce subpoenas that call for testimony from Attorney General William Barr and former White House counsel Don McGahn. Both declined to appear for House hearings at the direction of the White House.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.