CNN contributor John Dean, who served four months in prison for his role in the Watergate scandal, said this week that he was “not unhappy” to see fellow Nixon alumni Roger Stone face 7 to 9 years in prison for lying to federal investigators.
DEAN: The tweet obviously had a real influence.
And I must say, to put the cards on the table, Roger Stone is somebody I hold in minimum high esteem, to put it nicely. In fact, I can’t even say on television my assessment of him, but — so I was not unhappy to see him get seven to nine, but I did–
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: You didn’t think that was too aggressive?
DEAN: I thought it was aggressive. If you take the Watergate precedents, the most egregious and least cooperative and most belligerent figure was Gordon Liddy, who is someone that Stone admires greatly.
He only got four years in prison, but his sentence was commuted by Jimmy Carter when it got to that point. The chief of staff, Bob Haldeman, John Ehrlichman, his top domestic adviser, his attorney general, all committed perjury in front of Congress and obstructed justice. They only got 18 months.
So seven to nine years was very hefty. But what I see here is the influence of Bill Barr’s very close associate who’s gone over to run on a temporary basis as acting U.S. attorney the D.C. office, and he obviously didn’t get on board on the first one. They didn’t get any comment from him, and now he is probably putting his foot on it.
BALDWIN: Wow.
