Former Watergate witness says Trump will be indicted in ‘days’

“It is only a matter of how many days until DA Vance indicts Donald & Co,” John Dean tweets

Former Watergate witness John W. Dean says the Manhattan District Attorney will likely indict Donald Trump within “days” (Getty Images)

A former key witness in the Watergate investigation that brought down President Richard Nixon says indictments are on their way to Donald Trump.

John W Dean, who served as Mr Nixon’s White House Counsel before testifying against him, pointed out on Twitter that former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen met with the Manhattan District Attorney’s office for a seventh time on Wednesday.

“From personal experience as a key witness I assure you that you do not visit a prosecutor’s office 7 times if they are not planning to indict those about whom you have knowledge,” Dean tweeted. “It is only a matter of how many days until DA Vance indicts Donald & Co.”

Mr Dean then linked to a Reuters report on the meeting.

The “personal experience” of which Mr Dean spoke is one shared by him and Mr Cohen, each of whom has delivered damning testimony against a sitting president. While Mr Dean famously admitted to his own involvement in a cover-up for Mr Nixon, Mr Cohen gave dramatic testimony before Congress that he had delivered tens of thousands of dollars in hush money to two women who had allegedly had sexual affairs with Mr Trump.

That hush money allegation led Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance to open an investigation in 2018. The probe began by looking into the payments, but since then has expanded its scope to include Mr Trump’s actions as a private businessman. The DA says he’s investigating “possibly extensive and protracted criminal conduct,” potentially including tax fraud, insurance fraud, and falsification of business records.

Earlier this month, the investigation won a huge victory when the US Supreme Court allowed it to obtain millions of pages of Mr Trump’s tax returns, business records, and documents from his accountants.

Mr Cohen called the ruling a “holy grail.”

No charges have yet been announced, but Mr Dean clearly expects them soon. According to The Wall Street Journal, the DA’s office is now especially focused on Mr Trump’s Seven Springs estate in Westchester, New York, and has issued several subpoenas to find out if the Trump Organization inflated its value.

Mr Dean and Mr Cohen also share another “personal experience”: jail time. Before they flipped, both men had worked as fixers for the presidents they served – Mr Dean as White House Counsel, and Mr Cohen as Mr Trump’s lawyer – until their actions landed them in prison.

Mr Dean served four months for obstruction of justice. Mr Cohen is still serving a three-year sentence, currently in home confinement, for violating several campaign finance and fraud laws.