Reporter who broke Watergate says Trump colluding with Russia would be 'worse in many, many ways'

A veteran journalist who was deeply involved in reporting that helped lead to the resignation of Richard Nixon says that possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia would be worse than Watergate.

Carl Bernstein, during an on-stage interview with David Axelrod in Chicago, said that President Donald Trump is a liar, and said Trump-Russia collusion would be “worse than Watergate in many, many ways.”

“What Watergate was about at its most basic level was a vast campaign of political espionage and sabotage to undermine the democratic political process in this country,” Mr Bernstein said.

"We have a president of the United States who lies about almost anything," Mr Bernstein said.

Mr Bernstein teamed up with fellow reporter Bob Woodward in the 1970s to report on the Watergate hotel break-in. The two followed a trail of evidence, and found that Nixon was involved in the effort to spy on the Democratic Party.

Mr Bernstein’s comments came within a week of the first indictments being handed down from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election.

Those indictments focused on two top campaign officials, including Mr Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort. Mr Manafort voluntarily surrendered to the FBI Monday, and faces 12 federal charges, including alleged conspiracy to defraud the United States, international money laundering, and lying on federal financial disclosure forms.

Mr Manafort was charged alongside Rick Gates, who served as his deputy during the campaign. Mr Gates reportedly continued to work with the campaign after Mr Manafort was forced to resign, and has visited the White House this year.

Mr Mueller was chosen to investigate Russia’s 2016 election meddling after Mr Trump fired former FBI Director James Comey, and later cited the Russia investigation as one reason he decided to do so.