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John Dean says Nixon ‘would have survived’ Watergate under immunity ruling
The Hill ^ | 07/01/2024 | MIRANDA NAZZARO

Posted on 07/02/2024 8:33:44 AM PDT by ChicagoConservative27

John Dean, former White House counsel for the Nixon administration, said he believes former President Nixon “would have survived” the Watergate scandal if the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling issued Monday, which largely shields former presidents from criminal prosecution for actions in office, existed at the time.

Asked what would’ve happened with Nixon if the immunity ruling was in place during the fallout from Watergate, Dean pointed to Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who split from the other conservative justices on a portion of the majority opinion regarding the use of president’s official acts as evidence in criminal prosecution against a former president.

“Well, there’s actually two rulings in this decision. There’s a 6-3 for presumptive immunity, but there’s also a 5-4 on you can’t even have the evidence of official conduct come to play,” Dean said Monday. “This is very…this to me, appears to certainly influence the existing law on presidential conduct [and] what’s available…evidentiary speaking. Amy Coney Barrett said she didn’t think that it should be so restricted as the decision of the court itself was, so I think that Nixon would have survived. I think he would have walked under this ruling.”

(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...


TOPICS: Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; Your Opinion/Questions
KEYWORDS: dean; immunity; nixon; watergate
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To: ChicagoConservative27

John “I’ll Bet you Thought I Was Dead by Now” Dean?


81 posted on 07/02/2024 9:53:46 AM PDT by 50sDad (A Liberal prevents me from telling you anything here)
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To: Jim Noble

“Anyone who understands Crossfire Hurricane but thinks Watergate was the result of legitimate law enforcement is too stupid to be allowed out of the house.”

Truth!


82 posted on 07/02/2024 9:54:22 AM PDT by BuchananBrigadeTrumpFan (If in doubt, it's probably sarcasm)
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To: ChicagoConservative27

But he would not have survived. Criminal charges after leaving office and Impeachment are two totally different things.

Impeachment is political. If the GOP had every seat in the House and Senate, they could still vote to impeach and convict Biden and he would not be President. Criminal charges would be a different matter.

Having said that, Nixon was pardoned by Ford. But had he nor been, this immunity issue may well have come up.


83 posted on 07/02/2024 9:56:49 AM PDT by FlipWilson
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To: ChicagoConservative27

Is John Dean still wasting our oxygen?


84 posted on 07/02/2024 10:01:51 AM PDT by larrytown (A Cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do. Then they graduate...)
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To: ChicagoConservative27

he wouldn’t have been found guilty of anything, but he couldn’t have survived impeachment, he didn’t have the votes.


85 posted on 07/02/2024 10:13:43 AM PDT by TexasFreeper2009
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To: Brian Griffin
In 2016, a federal court ruled that the records in question were not covered by privilege; a House lawsuit to try to recover the records was settled and the matter dropped in April 2019, after control of the House had shifted to Democrats.

Notice how the GOP has no interest in continuing this lawsuit now that they are back in power.

86 posted on 07/02/2024 10:24:38 AM PDT by montag813
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To: ChicagoConservative27

How’s your wife John?


87 posted on 07/02/2024 10:25:59 AM PDT by Lockbox (politicians, they all seemed like game show hosts to me.... Sting…)
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To: Crusher138

‘cept under the guise of national security....or whatever Hillary claims it is


88 posted on 07/02/2024 10:37:21 AM PDT by stylin19a (Why do "overlook" and "oversee" mean opposite things?)
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To: ChicagoConservative27

And Obama would have survived murdering US citizens and Fast and Furious under immunity ruling.

And Clinton would have survived Ruby Ridge and Waco (murdering US citizens) under immunity ruling.

And Roosevelt would have survived Japanese and Italian Internment camps under immunity ruling.

Except, of course, D Presidents never get charged with crimes, no matter how criminal. So they don’t need immunity.


89 posted on 07/02/2024 10:46:31 AM PDT by ModelBreaker
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To: proxy_user

“Authorizing the Watergate burglary was not an official act as the Supreme Court defined it.”

There was never any evidence he authorized the watergate burglary.


90 posted on 07/02/2024 10:47:13 AM PDT by ModelBreaker
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To: Seruzawa
The inability, unwillingness, or intellectual dishonesty in the collectivists’ not understanding the phrase ‘official duty’ is demonstrative of their entire problem.

Limited brain capacity and or emotionally impaired.

91 posted on 07/02/2024 10:47:31 AM PDT by griffin (When you have to shoot, SHOOT; don't talk. -Tuco)
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To: ChicagoConservative27

Why listen to a man who marries a Hooker, then turns against his boss for political reasons? John Dean? I have no respect for his thoughts or actions. His word have no power, like Woodward and Bernstein, he is famous for being the face of the CIA’s coup against America.


92 posted on 07/02/2024 10:48:53 AM PDT by Glad2bnuts (“And how we burned in the camps later, thinking: We should have set up ambushes...paraphrased)
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To: proxy_user

Richard Nixon did not authorize the Watergate break-in. Nixon in fact, did nothing wrong during the entire affair. The MSM was the only game in town, and they went after him “hammer and tong”. In 2024, We the People would have had his back.


93 posted on 07/02/2024 10:51:19 AM PDT by Glad2bnuts (“And how we burned in the camps later, thinking: We should have set up ambushes...paraphrased)
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To: ansel12

Nixon would’ve walked ?

EeYeaaahhhh !


94 posted on 07/02/2024 10:53:30 AM PDT by daku
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To: ChicagoConservative27

Howard is an idiot and a liar. Nixon would still have been impeached for high crimes by Congress. Immunity does not protect a President from impeachment the way the founding fathers wrote the constitution.


95 posted on 07/02/2024 10:57:37 AM PDT by Mat_Helm
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To: ansel12

Nixon was railroaded.


96 posted on 07/02/2024 11:01:15 AM PDT by chopperk (are)
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To: ChicagoConservative27

This is the only time that they dredge this Zombie up. Whatever the current Republican is doing is worse than Nixon!!!


97 posted on 07/02/2024 11:06:33 AM PDT by Opinionated Blowhard (When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.)
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To: bk1000

And so much other Dem corruption/criminality.


98 posted on 07/02/2024 11:16:57 AM PDT by daler
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To: ChicagoConservative27

I seriously doubt it. The CIA wanted him gone, and we know they get what they want, even if they have to murder a president to get it.


99 posted on 07/02/2024 11:20:56 AM PDT by zeugma (Stop deluding yourself that America is still a free country.)
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To: Jim from C-Town
If that’s the case he should have fought, like Trump fought

Nixon had to major hurdles to get over. He had no avenue to talk to the American people like Trump does. If Trump had the monolithic media of cbsabcnbc, he'd probably be long gone, or dead. Also, in '73, very few Americans realized how evil the people pulling the strings behind the government were.

100 posted on 07/02/2024 11:25:02 AM PDT by zeugma (Stop deluding yourself that America is still a free country.)
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