POOL

Washington - 10 June 2019

1. Pan, John Dean and other witnesses taking oath

2. SOUNDBITE (English) John Dean, Richard Nixon's White House counsel:

"The last time I appeared before your committee was July 11, 1974 during the impeachment inquiry of Richard Nixon. Clearly I'm not here today as a fact witness. I accepted the invitation to come here today because I hope I can give a little historical perspective on the Mueller Report. In many ways the Muller report is to President Trump what the so-called Watergate road map, officially titled the Grand Jury Report and Recommendation concerning transmission of evidence to the House of Representatives was to President Richard Nixon. Stated a little differently, Special Counsel Muller has provided this committee with a road map."

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Jerry Nadler, Chairman House Judiciary Committee, Democrat - New York:

"We have a responsibility to do this work, to follow the facts where they lead to make recommendations to the whole House if circumstances warrant and to craft legislation that makes certain no president, Democrat or Republican, can ever act in this way again."

++SOUNDBITES SEPARATED BY WHITE FLASHES++

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Doug Collins, Ranking member House Judiciary Committee, Republican - Georgia: ++INCLUDES CUTAWAYS OF DEAN++

"And I'm sort of reminded the Russia priority issue because just a few years ago it was brought up and one of our candidates talked about Russia being a threat. And the former president, Mr. Obama, said you know that the 80s are asking for their foreign policy back. Well guess, what this committee is now hearing from the 70s and they want their star witness back in fact, it's very difficult for one of the witnesses here today ... for many of us who can actually trace the distrust in government back to the witness here today. The 70s star of obstruction.  In fact I'll take it a little bit further for those of us who've been looking into this for a while and wonder how we got started here. And for those of us who've heard me discuss the fact that many on our committee and on our side discuss the fight of the corrupt cabal what we see of Strzok, Page, McCabe, Comey and others how we actually got started here.  I believe that they have the godfather here today, Mr. Dean.  In fact probably had a picture up. How do we actually use the governmental resources to interfere in other people's campaigns? Mr. Dean is the godfather.  They may even have a picture of you, knowing how you do it and that is here today again to talk about a president that obviously you don't like."

John Dean, a star witness during Watergate who helped bring down the Nixon presidency, testified Monday that special counsel Robert Mueller has provided Congress with a "road map" for investigating President Donald Trump.

Dean, telling the House Judiciary Committee he wanted to provide some historical context, compared Mueller's findings to those of congressional investigators looking into the Nixon administration decades ago.

Dean, who was White House counsel during Richard Nixon's administration, was brought in as a star witness as House Democrats opened three days of sessions aimed at focusing public attention on the findings of the Russia investigation and the president's actions.

"We have a responsibility to do this work, to follow the facts where they lead," said Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., as he gaveled in the hearing.

He said the intent was to make certain "no president, Democrat or Republican, can ever act in this way again."

Monday's hearing is the start of three days of Russia-related action on Capitol Hill. The House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday intends to review the counterintelligence implications of the Russian meddling. Mueller said there was not enough evidence to establish a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia, but he said he could not exonerate Trump on obstruction.

On Tuesday, the House has scheduled the vote to authorize lawsuits against Barr and former White House counsel Donald McGahn for failing to comply with subpoenas from the Democratic-controlled House. The vote will put the full House on record approving the lawsuits, if leaders and committees decide they want to move forward with them.

Educating the American public on what is in the Mueller report is a priority for Democrats, who believe Trump and his allies have created the public impression that the report said there was no obstruction of justice.

Trump has made that assertion repeatedly, echoing Barr's judgment that there was not enough evidence in the report to support a criminal obstruction charge. Mueller said in the report that he could not exonerate Trump on that point.

The top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia, dismissed Dean as a "godfather" figure.