By Jack Crowe:
Representative Louie Gohmert (R., Texas) argued during a Monday House Judiciary Committee hearing that the FBI’s surveillance of the Trump campaign was similar to the Nixon administration’s crimes during the Watergate scandal, reversing a comparison that many of his Democratic colleagues have used to impugn the conduct of President Trump.
Addressing former Nixon White House counsel John Dean, who was called by House Democrats to serve as the hearing’s first witness, Gohmert agreed with the contention that the current political environment resembles Watergate, but argued that President Trump and his allies resemble the Nixon-era Democrats subjected to illegal surveillance.
“There are similarities, you’re right, with regard to Watergate,” Gohmert said. “In both, an administration was seeking to illegally spy on another candidate. In both, people were hired to attempt to gather evidence that could be used against a candidate. In Watergate, the Committee to Reelect the President hired burglars to break into the DNC headquarters. In Watergate, administration officials tried to find ways to use federal dollars to pay for their criminal spying.”
Read more: National Review
