Former Nixon White House counsel John Dean said Friday that President Donald Trump's tweet about possible White House tapes was not a threat to former James Comey – but his comments to NBC News about why when he fired the former FBI director could raise questions about obstruction of justice.
"I don't think there was any effort to intimidate him as a witness, with the threat of the tape or in taping him," Dean, 78, who was implicated in the Watergate scandal, told Brooke Baldwin on CNN.
Trump tweeted Friday that Comey "better hope that there are no 'tapes' of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press."
Dean called the tweet "a pretty loosely phrased statement.
"He's more playing to the media. It's just the way he acts.
"It's the way he tries to anticipate things, tries to cut people off before they take action.
"Here, it's a threat: 'Oh, I've got a record of this, so don't say anything if you're not sure,'" Dean said.
On Thursday, Trump told NBC's Lester Holt that he fired Comey because he was a "showboat" and "grandstander" – and that he had planned to dismiss him all along.
Dean told Baldwin that "what is a potential obstruction of justice is his mental state when he fired Comey – and what he told Lester Holt.
"That is right on the border line – and it's certainly in the area of an endeavor."
He said that federal statues also entail making an "endeavor" to impede justice – and "if you don't accomplish an obstruction, you're in trouble."
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