Former Watergate attorney John Dean urged Trump aide Walt Nauta to cooperate with the government and mitigate the penalty he may have to pay for allegedly helping his boss stash classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.
“What’s the play for him?” Jake Tapper asked about Nauta. “If he’s watching CNN right now — unlikely — but if he’s watching CNN, what would you tell him to do? Should he seek a plea deal, or should he get a joint defense with Donald Trump?”
“I’d suggest he do a plea deal,” Dean answered. “He’s facing 20 years — it’s overwhelming evidence and looks like beyond a reasonable doubt almost off of the material that is raised in the indictment — and I don’t know how he can win this. So, he could strike a good deal and help put it away for the government. I don’t know why he got himself involved this way. As a Navy man, he must have had some sensitivity to highly classified material, but yet, he certainly did the president’s wishes, according to the allegations in the indictment.”
Dean, former counsel to Richard Nixon, took his own deal in 1973, pleading guilty to a single felony count for his role in the Watergate cover-up. Dean testified for the prosecution and served a reduced sentence before being disbarred.
Trump praised Nauta on social media
“I have just learned that the ‘Thugs’ from the Department of Injustice will be Indicting a wonderful man, Walt Nauta, a member
of the U.S. Navy, who served proudly with me in the White House, retired as Senior Chief, and then transitioned into private life as a personal aide. He has done a fantastic job! They are trying to destroy his life, like the lives of so many others, hoping that he
will say bad things about ‘Trump.’ He is strong, brave, and a Great Patriot. The FBI and DOJ are CORRUPT!”
Watch the video above via CNN.