Former White House counsel to Richard Nixon John Dean said Friday on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360” that the House Select Committee investigating the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot has made a clear case that former President Donald Trump was part of a criminal conspiracy to defraud the United States.
Discussing Thursday’s hearing, guest anchor John Berman said, “So, John Dean, does this strengthen a potential criminal case against the former president and perhaps increase the likelihood that the Justice Department will go in that direction?”
Dean said, “It depends on upon the case they seek to make. The case I think they should make is seditious conspiracy. The case I think they have made and it’s pretty clear in this added to it, is conspiracy to defraud the United States. 18 U.S. Code 371, which happens to be the statute that got most of the people in Watergate, including a draft indictment against Nixon.”
He added, “So they’ve made that case. They’ve also made obstruction of Congress. I think they have a case. But I don’t think they have the right case yet, which, as I say, is seditious conspiracy, which is a very serious crime, but this was a very serious event.”
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