Trump’s Offer Of Jan. 6 Pardons Sure ‘Sounds Like’ Obstruction Of Justice, Says John Dean

CNN’s Jim Acosta played a clip of a Trump interview on Newsmax last week about “absolutely” pardoning some of his supporters who turned out last Jan. 6— if he’s elected — which he first raised publicly last month at a Texas political rally. Acosta asked Dean Saturday: “Is this witness tampering?”

“Boy, it sounds like it to me,” Dean responded.

“Under the obstruction [of justice] statute, you don’t have to actually succeed in obstructing — [but only] endeavor to do so. This sounds an awful lot like an endeavor to me,” Dean added.

He indicated that he hoped Justice Department officials were paying attention.

“If the Justice Department isn’t tracking this stuff, I don’t know what our Justice Department is for,” he said.

Dean also said that former Vice President Mike Pence should testify before the House select committee probing the Jan. 6 insurrection because he didn’t “go very far” in his speech Friday saying Trump was “wrong” that Pence had the power to throw out presidential election results. He essentially said, “I’m not a total toady anymore,” noted Dean.

The law was passed post-Watergate, Dean noted. The laws initially established public control of Richard Nixon’s presidential records and mandated that government archivists screen the records to eventually allow public access.

Check out Dean’s full interview with Acosta in the video clip up top. He addresses Trump’s offer of Jan. 6 pardons beginning at 3:25.