Former Watergate Reporter Carl Bernstein Calls DOJ Phone Scandal 'A Nuclear Event'

On the May 14 edition of Morning Joe, former Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein said the DOJ phone scandal is a “nuclear event.”

Bernstein was on with Associated Press Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll, who said AP CEO Gary Pruitt has sent a “strongly worded letter” to Attorney General Eric Holder. She added: “I’ve been in this business over 30 years, and our First Amendment lawyers and our lawyers inside the AP and our CEO, who’s also a well-known First Amendment lawyer, none of us have ever seen anything like this.”

After this, Bernstein was asked for comment, at which time he sat up straight, pushed back from the desk and said: “It’s outrageous. It’s totally inexcusable. This administration has been terrible on this subject from the beginning. The object of it is to intimidate people who talk to reporters.”

Bernstein said the climate toward the press within the Obama presidency set the stage for what has become “a nuclear event.” And he added: “This is intimidation. It’s wrong. The President of the United States should have long ago put a stop to this in his presidency.”