Watergate Pales in Comparison

I rise today, Mr. Speaker, to call for the impeachment of the President of the United States of America!” Representative Al Green (D-Texas) was a lonely voice on the floor of the U.S. House on May 17 as he demanded accountability for obstruction of justice by Donald Trump. Green accused the President of acting “above the law” by firing FBI Director James Comey, who was heading the probe into Team Trump’s alleged coordination with Russians during the 2016 election campaign. It’s remarkable that Green was the only House Democrat taking such a stand.

Later that same day, Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) was asked about the innumerable scandals plaguing the Trump Administration. “It’s reaching a point where it’s of Watergate size and scale,” McCain said at the International Republican Institute’s Freedom Awards dinner. The onslaught of Trump bombshells reminded the GOP’s 2008 Presidential nominee of the scandal that brought down Richard Nixon. “I think we’ve seen this movie before…,” McCain lamented. “This is not good for America.”

In early June, addressing the National Press Club in Australia, James Clapper also cited Watergate with regard to the Trump tumult. “…Watergate pales, really, in my view, compared to what we’re confronting now,” said Clapper, a top-level official in the intelligence community under the three previous Presidents.

Thanks to the bungled break-in at the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters and subsequent coverup, Nixon was accused of obstruction of justice, abuse of power and contempt of Congress. But he resigned in 1974 because it was inevitable that the U.S. House of Representatives would vote to approve the Articles of Impeachment.