Trump's Putin Comments Will 'Live in Infamy' Like Pearl Harbor or Kristallnacht, Says Watergate Prosecutor

President Donald Trump's joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helskini will "live in infamy like Pearl Harbor or Kristallnacht," according to former Watergate prosecutor Jill Wine-Banks.

The MSNBC contributor made the provocative comment on Monday night, adding her voice to numerous lawmakers'—both Democrat and Republican—who have slammed the president over his press conference comments on the Russia probe that appeared to side with Russia over the U.S.

Asked by stand-in host Ali Velshi about how people could make sense of Trump's comments in the context of the Watergate investigation, during which "nobody thought that Richard Nixon was working on behalf of an enemy" of the U.S., Wine-Banks said, "You can't make sense of it."

"It's very hard to possibly analyze. And you're quite correct. The burglars were Americans. They worked for the White House. They worked for the committee to re-elect the president. They weren't foreign agents. And yet, we were burglarized this time by foreign agents," Wine-Banks told Velshi.

"And it's just as serious to me as the Cuban Missile Crisis in terms of an attack or the 9/11 attack. The president is taking the side of the people who attacked us instead of trying to prevent a future attack. He has done nothing to make sure that the elections four months away are going to be safe," she added. "And I would say that his performance today will live in infamy as much as the Pearl Harbor attack or Kristallnacht. And it's really a serious issue we need to deal with."

Trump's comments at the press conference and afterward appeared to back the Russian leader's denial of election meddling—despite the U.S. intelligence community telling Trump that Russia attempted to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.

"I have President Putin. He just said it's not Russia," Trump told reporters following his press conference with Putin.

"I will say this: I don't see any reason why it would be…. I have great confidence in my intelligence people, but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today," he added, in comments that have prompted a backlash from a number of lawmakers and pundits.

Among the Republicans to publicly criticize the president were House Speaker Paul Ryan, retiring Arizona Senator Jeff Flake, and Arizona Senator John McCain, who called Trump's comments "one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory," NBC News reported.