Friday 12 March 2021

Watergate whistleblower John Dean believes Manhattan DA will indict Trump in a 'matter of days' after Michael Cohen met prosecutors for the seventh time

 The former White House counsel to President Richard Nixon has predicted that Donald Trump will be indicted by the Manhattan district attorney's office within a matter of days. 

John Dean, who delivered pivotal testimony in 1973 that helped cause Nixon to resign after the Watergate scandal, shared his prediction via Twitter on Wednesday. 

It followed reports that Trump's former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen reportedly met with Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance for a seventh interview in a sweeping investigation into alleged financial crimes by the Trump Organization.  


'From personal experience, as a key witness, I assure you that you do not visit a prosecutor's office 7 times if they are not planning to indict those about whom you have knowledge,' Dean wrote. 

'It is only a matter of how many days until DA Vance indicts Donald & Co.'  

Former President Richard Nixon's White House counsel John Dean (pictured) predicts Donald Trump will be indicted by the Manhattan district attorney within a matter of days
The Manhattan DA is ramping up its investigation into Trump's finances

Former President Richard Nixon's White House counsel John Dean (left) predicts Donald Trump (right) will be indicted by the Manhattan district attorney within a matter of days

Dean, who delivered pivotal testimony that helped cause Nixon to resign after the Watergate scandal in 1974, shared his prediction via Twitter on Wednesday

Dean, who delivered pivotal testimony that helped cause Nixon to resign after the Watergate scandal in 1974, shared his prediction via Twitter on Wednesday

Dean's prediction followed reports that Trump's former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen (pictured Wednesday) had met with Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance for a seventh interview in a sweeping investigation into alleged financial crimes by the Trump Organization

Dean's prediction followed reports that Trump's former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen (pictured Wednesday) had met with Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance for a seventh interview in a sweeping investigation into alleged financial crimes by the Trump Organization

Dean is best known for delivering riveting testimony before Congress in 1973. He described how White House officials, including Nixon and himself, sought to cover up a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters and the existence of a taping system in the Oval Office.  

Despite blowing the whistle the scandal known as Watergate, Dean was later convicted of obstruction of justice and served four months in prison. 

Dean is pictured in the wake of the Watergate scandal in 1973

Dean is pictured in the wake of the Watergate scandal in 1973

He went on to publish two books about his role in the scandal and in recent years has served as a commentator on CNN. 

In 2019 Dean testified before Congress again to draw parallels between Nixon's Watergate and Trump's alleged collusion with Russia after Special Counsel Robert Mueller released the findings of his probe.  

Two years later, Trump being targeted in a new probe by Vance's office, which is looking into several aspects of the former president's finances and businesses. 

Cohen is viewed as a key witness in the probe after having met with investigators multiple times in the past few months. 

He is currently in home confinement serving a three-year sentence on charges related to payoffs he made during the 2016 presidential race to buy the silence of two women who alleged they had affairs with Trump. 

Cohen spoke to Reuters outside his Manhattan apartment on Wednesday (pictured) prior to his seventh meeting with investigators in Vance's office
He likened a March 1 Supreme Court decision denying Trump's last-ditch effort to keep his tax records private to the 'holy grail' for Vance's investigation

Cohen spoke to Reuters outside his Manhattan apartment on Wednesday (pictured) prior to his seventh meeting with investigators in Vance's office

Michael Cohen to meet with NY DA again over Trump criminal probe
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Vance's office opened its investigation into the alleged hush-money payments in 2018. 

The probe has since expanded to include Trump's conduct as a private business owner and whether the Trump Organization engaged in criminal tax evasion among other charges.

Cohen spoke to Reuters outside his Manhattan apartment on Wednesday prior to his seventh meeting with investigators. 

He likened a March 1 Supreme Court decision denying Trump's last-ditch effort to keep his tax records private to the 'holy grail' for Vance's investigation. 

After that ruling, Vance's office obtained millions of pages of records from Trump's accountants at Mazars USA LLP, including tax returns and the business records on which they are based, and communications between the Trump Organization and its accountants.      

The Manhattan district attorney said in an August filing that the office is investigating 'possibly extensive and protracted criminal conduct' at the Trump Organization, though he has not fully disclosed the scope of the probe. 

In a September filing, he said 'mountainous' misconduct allegations could justify a grand jury probe into possible tax fraud, insurance fraud and falsification of business records.

The Trump Organization has denied wrongdoing in court filings while Trump maintains that the investigations are politically motivated.  

Trump is seen golfing at his course in West Palm Beach after returning home from New York

Trump is seen golfing at his course in West Palm Beach after returning home from New York

The former president made a 48-hour visit to his former hometown of New York City earlier this week to 'look under the hood' of his family firm amid the Vance investigation. 

Aides were seen packing up boxes of files at his Manhattan skyscraper so he could bring them back to his new home in Palm Beach, Florida. 

The investigation spread to Chicago on Monday night when Vance subpoenaed documents from a company that invested in a skyscraper built by the former president in the Windy City. 

The inquiry - one of several involving the former president - poses the biggest current legal threat to Trump. 

Trump had retained an ownership stake in the Trump Organization throughout his presidency but the day-to-day management was handed over to his two eldest sons Donald Trump Jr and Eric.

The real estate and hospitality business remained headquartered in Trump Tower through his presidency. 

It was not immediately clear whom Trump met with while holed up in his Manhattan residence between Sunday and Tuesday night.

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