'A vast narrative of a presidential coverup': Carl Bernstein calls Mueller's report 'ugly and damning'

Reporter Carl Bernstein, who brought down former President Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal, said on Thursday that special counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election painted a damning portrait of President Donald Trump.

During an interview with CNN's Chris Cuomo, Bernstein said he was stunned at how different Mueller's report was compared to the way Attorney General Bill Barr tried to portray it in his four-page summary issued last month.

"I think what is so significant is how different Mueller's report is from how it was characterized, in a rather astonishing press conference, by the attorney general," Bernstein said. "This is a vast narrative of a presidential cover-up."

Bernstein said that the report showed that Trump regularly ordered officials to lie to protect him and that he tried repeatedly to obstruct the investigation. It also showed that the Trump campaign had numerous contacts with Russian agents during the election and that the president openly encouraged Russia to release dirt on rival Hillary Clinton.

"It is not pretty," Bernstein said of the report. "It is an ugly, damning piece of business."

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