Former Watergate special prosecutor Jill Wine-Banks laid out the doomed choice of Trump on MSNBC. Either he can admit to obstructing justice, or he can lie to Bob Mueller, which would be another crime.
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Wine-Banks said on MSNBC, “I think the broader context is the number of incidents that we’ve seen. You have a pattern or practice, and that’s starting to establish a clear intent on the part of the president to stop this investigation. He has done so many things, including attempt at firing the special prosecutor. He fired Comey. He let Flynn stay, even though he knew there was something going on. There are so many things and, eventually, the American public will see that although lying to them may not be a crime, if he repeats this denial which he made this morning, that this happened, he will be lying to the special prosecutor. That is a crime. So it is all part of a — yes, exactly. So he has a choice. He can either lie by denying it — we have at least four witnesses who have direct knowledge of this, who have said that it happened, and we have to assume that that’s accurate reporting. If that’s true and he denies it, he’s up against a very tough amount of evidence. If he admits it, he’s admitting to something else that could be a crime. Either way, he’s now in a very tough situation.”
The Russia conversation has moved to Trump crimes
The conversation is shifting on the Russia scandal. There is less talk about impeachable offenses and open conversation about crimes that may have been committed by the President Of The United States. A President can’t necessarily go to jail for impeachable offenses, but if Trump gets charged with a federal crime, it will plunge the country into unknown territory. The truth is that no one is totally sure whether or not a sitting president can be charged with a crime.
If Trump did break the law, it would create an interesting problem for him. He would be better off staying in office and letting impeachment play out because if he resigns, he can be prosecuted as a private citizen for any crimes that occurred before he took office, For the sake of simplicity, let’s assume that impeachment will be the path chosen if Trump broke the law.
Even Republicans think that Trump will be impeached if Democrats win the House, so it will be up to Trump whether he wants to ride with the obstruction of justice, or does he want to add a second impeachable offense of lying to the FBI.
Trump put himself in a no-win situation, and it is only a matter of when not if his presidency will end in disgrace.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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