Nixon White House lawyer John Dean praises Don McGahn's cooperation with Mueller: 'He is doing the right thing'

Former Nixon White House Counsel John Dean called into CNN on Saturday to discuss the news that Trump's White House counsel, Don McGahn, is cooperating with Robert Mueller and has sat for 30 hours of interviews.

Dean flipped on Nixon and exposed the corrupt plot around the Watergate scandal, paving the way for Richard Nixon's downfall.

"It is not the president himself, but rather the office of the president," Dean said. "So he is doing the right thing in representing the office of the president. And there can be conflicts between the incumbent and the office."

Dean discussed being in witness protection after he flipped on Nixon, and said that he had no good options once he understood Nixon was setting him up.

Commenters have noted that McGahn may be worried Trump is trying to set him up.

"I had tried to get them to end the cover-up and it was clear they weren't going to, but rather they were going to try to make me the scapegoat," he said. "So I can understand his thinking."

"The investigation, were it as simple as [John M.] Dowd and thought and had explained initially, the approach they were taking, it would have been over," he said. "It's obviously much more complex. They didn't have all the facts. I'm not sure that Trump himself has all the facts. Some of his people may have been unwitting in their cooperation with the Russians... this has to be all sorted out. Counterintelligence operations are not simple."

Watch below.