There was no truth in the dossier, and the Obama administration apparently knew there was no truth in it, and yet they used it as the basis to begin an “investigation” into dealings between the Trump campaign and Russia. Oh – did we mention that the dossier was prepared from Russian sources; and yes, that means that the only real “collusion” between Russia and a political campaign in 2016 was with the Clinton campaign – not the Trump campaign.
Anyway – the essence of Watergate was a White House using illicit means to spy on its political opposition. That is exactly what the Obama administration did in 2016.
Mr. Dean has now for the third time, starting with Reagan, then to George W. Bush, and now Trump – made the “Watergate” comparison, but somehow so blurred is his vision that he cannot see where the real comparison lies. On several levels, what happened in the Nixon White House, though illegal, wrong, and evil, was less distressing than what took place in the Obama White House. By this, we mean that Mr. Nixon did not use the FBI or other federal agencies to spy on its opponent – but Mr. Obama did. Mr. Obama also used foreign contacts, while Watergate was a purely domestic affair. There also was an actual crime in Watergate (breaking and entering). There was no underlying crime in the Trump/Russia collusion scandal.
Oh sure, Mr. Dean seems to think that President Trump has “obstructed justice.” Perhaps by firing FBI Director James Comey? Except that Mrs. Clinton would absolutely have discharged him as well; as would have been her power to do so, just as it was President Trump’s power. Hard to call that obstruction except in the fevered mind of a political criminal, which come to think of it, describes Mr. Dean fairly well. Mr. Dean, by the way, has no direct knowledge of the Trump/Russia collusion scandal, so his value as a “witness” is irrelevant, and his first-hand knowledge of the case is imaginary and insignificant. That makes him the best witness for this hearing that he could be – a witness who didn’t see anything, and wasn’t even in a position to see anything, and an imaginary crime of collusion, with even Special Counsel Mueller saying that no conspiracy and no coordination took place between the Trump campaign and Russia. Fruit of the poisoned tree, failure to consider exculpatory evidence, the actual charge based on a fictitious dossier, the presumption of innocence forgotten, wherever one turns in the Trump/Russia collusion one finds criminal behavior by the Obama team but no underlying crime by the Trump campaign. Furthermore, to claim that an investigation that came to a conclusion was somehow “obstructed” challenges the actual definition of obstructed. But, the nostalgic among us can revel in the glory days of Watergate; can bask in the glow of the saintly John Dean, disbarred attorney and convicted felon that he is; and can long for those heady times when the mainstream media blistered a White House that attempted to conduct illicit surveillance on its political opponents and then lied about it. Now it blisters the victim of illicit surveillance, lies about him, and attacks him for daring to fight back against an unjust and improper investigation. Washington’s scandals, it would seem, just get worse and worse.