President Donald Trump is trying to undermine and discredit special counsel Robert Mueller, because he knows that his report will reflect negatively on the president, veteran journalist Carl Bernstein told CNN's "Reliable Sources."
"The reason he wants to bury, demean, undermine and put this investigation out of business for all time is he knows Mueller has the ability and the facts to reveal him, Donald Trump, in a really terrible light," Bernstein said.
Although the journalist admitted that Mueller may not have enough evidence to declare Trump's actions criminal, the special counsel "has enough to show Donald Trump and his lies in a way that definitively the American people, including a lot of Fox viewers, perhaps may be convinced that we are seeing a false narrative by the United States in which, well, maybe there is collusion."
Bernstein added that the country is facing an extremely troubling period.
"I think we can look at a big picture now with some real definition, in which the perilous moment for our country right now, and it's a question of whether lies, authoritarianism and the character of the president of the United States are going to take us to an authoritarian place where we have never been in which he will bury a duly constituted and legal investigation that will determine whether or not the president is above the rule of law," he said.
Bernstein, known for his investigative journalism which helped expose the Watergate scandal that led to former President Richard Nixon's resignation, said the bottom line is that Trump does not want the real story to be revealed, and it is vitally important that Mueller be allowed to issue his report without interference and then the public can draw its own conclusions.