Former Nixon White House Counsel and key Watergate figure John Dean panned Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker‘s performance at today’s big House Judiciary Committee hearing.

CNN’s Brooke Baldwin spoke with him and said as they were watching, he said Whitaker “was playing way out of his league.”

“I felt that all the way through,” Dean said. “The first signal was when he was trying to tell the chairman he only had five minutes to ask a question. The chairman––he could take all day to ask the question if he wanted to.”

He is referring to when Chairman Jerrold Nadler asked Whitaker about whether he’s had to approve any request or action from the special counsel’s office, and Whitaker responded by saying, “Mr. Chairman, I see that your five minutes is up.”

After Baldwin showed the clip, Dean said, “That’s a rookie mistake.”

“I didn’t see him get more comfortable. I saw him get worn down at the end of the thing,” he continued. “He was totally unresponsive to virtually every question he was asked… It was not a good performance. It’s not attorney general quality performance. It’s acting at best.”

You can watch above, via CNN.

[image via screengrab]

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