John Dean Quotes

There is a veil of secrecy that is descending around the administration which I think is unseemly

People in power tend to be not as enthusiastic about open records as they were before they came to power.

Occupants of public offices love power and are prone to abuse it.

Is there any way we can know that claims of state secrecy are in fact being used to protect the national security rather than to conceal the abuse of authority?

Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely, and I found that out when I was Attorney General in Massachusetts.

The pathological degree to which former Vice President Dick Cheney operated in secrecy led to government abuses that we'll probably spend years learning about.

I suppose this [Watergate] is an example of the dangers of letting down your guard against increased executive powers–no matter what the circumstances. Not that the danger was not real, but in this case the risk of the remedy was as great as the disease. There was a willingness to accept without challenge the Executive's claim to increased power. That's why we acted as we did, and it was a mistake.

What did the President know and when did he know it?

The President is entitled to keep secret those conversations which a President may have had with his aids for the purpose of advising him in his Constitutional duties. Executive privilege cannot cover crimes, for they are not Constitutional duties.

Remember that J. Edgar Hoover’s secret files began in the interests of national security and ended up being used for blackmail.

The Official Secrets Act is not to protect secrets. It’s to protected officials.

The problem comes from the lack of transparency and accountability of government.

A fondness for power is implanted in most men, and it is natural to abuse it when acquired. This maxim, drawn from the experience of all ages, makes it the height of folly to intrust any set of men with power which is not under every possible control; perpetual strides are made after more as long as there is any part withheld.

Henry Kissinger never wanted the 20,000 pages of his telephone transcripts made public - not while he was alive, at any rate.

The U.K. government has a responsibility to keep secrets in some circumstances. It also has a responsibility not to abuse that power for other purposes.

An efficient government is dangerous in the hands of the wrong man. Sadly, the right sort of man never seems interested in the job.

It is an abuse of power, when you are President of the United States, to use the White House to single out a single news organization, and castigate them and try to delegitimize them.

Others like City Hall the old way, when they could make deals behind closed doors with your tax money.

The American people do not begrudge anyone his or her power until they start abusing it.

Power is always a corrupting influence.

People abusing their power makes me see red.

This demonstration of power, indifferent to the law, is highly dangerous.

But constant experience shows us that every man invested with power is apt to abuse it, and to carry his authority as far as it will go.

The President seems to extend executive privilege way out past the atmosphere. What he says is executive privilege is nothing but executive poppycock.

A President, acting like a king and claiming the powers of a king, is committing an impeachable offense…. Bush has claimed that to protect the nation, there is nothing he cannot do. Spy on Americans, torture, kill someone in their own home. He does not admit to any limitation on his power as long as he believes he is protecting the country.