DemocracyNow – President Trump has been in office for only 36 days, and there is already a growing chorus of voices calling for his impeachment. This comes as CNN and The New York Times report White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus sought unsuccessfully to have the FBI refute news reports that Donald Trump’s campaign advisers were in frequent contact with Russian intelligence agents ahead of November’s election. The allegations have drawn comparisons to former President Richard Nixon’s 1972 discussion with aides who used the CIA to push the FBI away from investigating the Watergate burglary that later led to his resignation. We speak to someone who has been at the center of the unraveling of a presidency and a vote for impeachment: President Richard Nixon’s White House counsel, John Dean. He is the author of several books, including “The Nixon Defense: What He Knew and When He Knew It,” “Conservatives Without Conscience” and “Broken Government: How Republican Rule Destroyed the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Branches.”
AMY GOODMAN: As of today, President Trump has been in office for 36 days. There’s already a growing chorus of voices calling for his impeachment. Nearly 900,000 people have signed an online petition entitled “Impeach Donald Trump Now.” Thousands of protesters poured into the streets Monday for “Not My President’s Day” marches across the country. Thousands more stormed Republican town halls this week to confront Republican leaders over their support for Trump.
Even the city of Richmond, California, has joined the movement. On Tuesday, the Richmond City Council voted unanimously to approve a resolution calling on Congress to consider Trump’s impeachment, arguing Trump is in violation of the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause, which prohibits people holding federal office from accepting payments from foreign governments.
The demand for Trump’s impeachment comes as he presides over an understaffed White House in near constant crisis. This comes as White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus sought unsuccessfully to have the FBI refute news reports that Donald Trump’s campaign advisers were in frequent contact with Russian intelligence agents ahead of November’s election. That’s according to CNN, which reported on Thursday the FBI declined to publicly corroborate Priebus’s denial. Priebus’s outreach to the FBI violated policies intended to limit communications between the White House and the FBI on pending investigations. Priebus denied the reports during an interview Sunday on Meet the Press.
