John Dean on Monday spelled out the significance of potential testimony against Donald Trump by former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, who observers believe may have become a cooperating witness against the former president.
“It would be as important as mine was during Watergate. It would actually be more important because he was at the scene of so many of the activities that occurred that are now causing Trump the problems he’s got,” Dean told CNN on Monday of possible testimony from Meadows.
Dean was White House counsel to President Richard Nixon. He eventually turned on the then-president to cooperate with prosecutors, for which he was nicknamed the Watergate “master manipulator.”
Meadows was part of Trump’s inner circle during the aftermath of the 2020 election, when the then-president attempted to overturn his loss to President Joe Biden — and for which he has now been indicted on four federal charges.
Meadows would be “a remarkable star witness if he’s cooperating,” said Dean.
“And he’s got an attorney who could guide him that way. I don’t know if he’d do a plea deal, or how he’d work it out, but he’d be a powerful witness and Trump would be in deep problems,” he added.