Carl Bernstein, the Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist famous for covering the Watergate scandal, claims that President Donald Trump “has compromised the national security of the United States,” Raw Story reports.
Bernstein made the remarks during a Saturday appearance on CNN, where he discussed with host Wolf Blitzer the latest developments in the Trump-Ukraine scandal.
Bernstein argued that there are “two things going on at once,” both of which have “grave consequences” to the United States.
The first, he explained, is the impeachment inquiry the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives launched on Tuesday. According to the Watergate reporter, evidence suggests that the president used the power of his office to damage a political opponent, thus compromising the national security of the country.
The evidence, he said, “really suggests that the president himself has compromised the national security of the United States.”
Bernstein also suggested that Trump’s apparent collaboration with a foreign power is unprecedented, stating that it is “something that’s never happened in our history.”
The second major issue the U.S. is currently facing, according to Bernstein, is the fact that the country is “in a genuine national security crisis.”
“For the first time in our history we also have a president of the United States about whom we now have serious suggestions, may not be capable or willing or able or knowledgeable enough to protect and defend the United States against enemies, foreign — foreign powers,” according to the Watergate reporter.
As previously reported by The Inquisitr , Trump is being accused of leveraging the power of the presidency in order to damage former Vice President Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign.
According to an anonymous whistleblower, Trump pressured Ukraine’s newly-elected President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Hunter Biden, the former vice president’s son, and his allegedly inappropriate business dealings in the eastern European country.
Much like the complaint, the transcript of the Trump-Zelensky phone call appears to suggest that the president pressured Ukraine to investigate the Bidens, seemingly threatening to withhold military aid unless the country’s top prosecutors comply with the request.
Trump’s Republican allies have defended the president against the accusations, arguing that the president had not committed an impeachable offense because there was no quid pro quo — because he did not explicitly threaten to cancel military aid unless the Ukrainian government does as he says.
Pushing back against the impeachment inquiry, Trump has gone on the offensive, blasting the Democratic Party in public statements and via social media, alleging that the impeachment investigation is yet another baseless “witch hunt” meant to forcefully remove him from office.