Bush's former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales accuses Trump of trying to sue Clinton, Comey

The former Attorney General of the George W. Bush administration, Alberto Gonzales, Wednesday criticized President Trump following a report that Trump had sought to sue two of his political opponents , calling it "a very, very serious situation".

Gonzales was speaking on CNN a day after the New York Times reported that Trump had declared in the spring to White House lawyer Donald McGahn that he wanted the Justice Department sue former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former FBI director James B. Comey.

"We live in a democracy and you do not fight for political rivals," said Gonzales.

McGahn, who allegedly asked White House lawyers to write a memo to Trump, warning him not to use the Justice Department to investigate anyone, was "able to his job "as a White House lawyer," said Gonzales.

He added that even if political opponents could justify an investigation if they were doing something criminal, "even in this case, you do it very, very cautiously, because of possible allegations that you are doing something, you pursue your political rivals for no reason. " . "

"I think it's a very, very serious situation that requires a delicate touch," he said.

Clinton was the rival of the White House in 2016, while Comey had become one of the most outspoken critics of the president.

A McGahn lawyer told The New York Times that Trump "never, for [McGahn’s] knowledge, ordered that anyone suing Hillary Clinton or James B. Comey. "

On CNN, Gonzales noted that Trump had not finally investigated Comey or Clinton. "My feeling is that this president often says things that reflect frustration and maybe a little bit of desperation, but nothing really flows out of it," Gonzales said.

Alan Dershowitz, Trump's informal adviser and professor emeritus at Harvard Law School, also reprimanded the president on Wednesday after the report was released.

"It's a terrible mistake; you do not want to manipulate political differences, "said Dershowitz about" Fox & Friends, "although he added that he did not think such an approach would constitute a ground for dismissal .

"If you do not like what people have done, run against them," said Dershowitz. "Use political weapons; do not use the criminal justice system. "

John Dean, a former lawyer at Nixon White House, who also joined a television group to discuss the New York Times report, told CNN's John Berman that continuing the well-being of someone by a criminal prosecution "is a level at which Richard Nixon never went."

"If I had to channel Richard Nixon a bit, I think he'd be telling this president that he's going too far," said Dean, adding that after listening to all the Watergate tapes, " I heard [Nixon] break the law; I have never heard him do it by attacking his enemies and trying to put them in jail. "