President Trump surprised people late Friday by announcing that he is “100 percent” willing to testify under oath about his interactions with James Comey. There has been considerable speculation about Trump’s willingness to go under oath. His counsel could have negotiated at least initially for an interview without going under oath. As I have stated before, the greatest threat facing officials in a scandal of this kind is a false statements prosecution under 18 U.S.C. 1001. Given Trump’s notorious habit for going off script, the risks of such a violation would be much higher for counsel prepping him for such a deposition or testimony.
Trump insisted that “I would be glad to tell him exactly what I told you.” He added “Yesterday showed no collusion, no obstruction. But we were very, very happy and, frankly, James Comey confirmed a lot of what I said. And some of the things that he said just weren’t true.”
Curiously, while he refused to confirm or deny the existence of tapes (a controversy that he created in a tweet weeks ago), Trump said that “you will be very disappointed when you hear the answer.” Once again, it is unclear why Trump continues this evasion, which has openly frustrated even his allies in Congress.
Trump has continued to attack Comey. He maintained “No collusion, no obstruction. He’s a leaker. But we want to get back to running our great country.”
The one thing working for Trump is that he has had more experience as a litigant than all of the past presidents combined. Yet, this is a criminal matter and any exaggeration or evasion can be charged as a crime under 18 U.S.C. 1001. Moreover, that crime would constitute an impeachable offense. I testified during the Clinton impeachment that perjury satisfies the standard under Article I of a high crime and misdemeanor regardless of the subject. I would feel the same way about such perjury in the Mueller investigation.
Assuming that there are no tapes, this would be left as a “he said, he said” dispute. However, similar statements made to other officials could create circumstantial evidence to support Comey. One concern that I would have with Trump’s statement is that it come too early. It is always better to wait to see what evidence Mueller has to fully prep your client.
VERY INTERESTING!
Robert Mueller allegedly did exactly what James Comey accused President Trump of doing.
Georgia Congressman Bob Barr, writing in his 2011 book,
“The Meaning of Is: The Squandered Impeachment and Wasted Legacy of William Jefferson Clinton,”
recounted a phone call with Mueller, who was then working at the Justice Department, in which he asked
Barr not to “go too hard on these guys.”
I had a bad cough last year and I am not old.
Only a little off topic as Trump has appt. this person to number 2 at the CIA
“Only one person could have put a stop to this treatment of the prominent prisoner: Gina Haspel. But she didn’t. A cable sent back to headquarters by a CIA agent after 10 weeks of torture shows she had been well-aware of Abu Zubayadah’s poor state of health. “In the event [Abu Zubaydah] dies, we need to be prepared,” it stated. The full version of the memo quoted in the U.S. Senate’s torture report reveals, at least between the lines, that the people humiliating him had bad consciences. They all seemed to be aware of the fact that they had already gone far beyond the legal limits. The cable ends with the words: “We need to get reasonable assurances that [Abu Zubaydah] will remain in isolation and incommunicado for the remainder of his life.” He is still being detained in Guantánamo today.”
http://www.zeit.de/politik/ausland/2017-06/cia-donald-trump-torture-abu-zubaydah-said/komplettansicht
Behold your nation.
I’d like to see my sister (Yale Law with Hillary) cross examine Trump. After overhearing her do it to a babysitter, Trump wouldn’t have a chance.
Seriously, she spent years as a prosecutor, with an extraordinary record of convictions, never losing on appeal.
I stand corrected…..Living on a planet of idiots just passed you George…He must be the king of the idiots.
Fish wings , come up with a new one , I think someone on this planet had already called me king 🙂
Putin is no longer a communist. America has peacefully and effectively cooperated with Russia for 20 years regarding the ISS. Americans are transported to the ISS on Russian vehicles since the son of a foreign citizen, Obama, conducted the funeral for the American space program. Putin was the first to call Bush after 9/11 and provided assistance in Afghanistan. Putin told us about the Tsarnaev brothers and other terrorists and plots. “W” looked into his soul. Obama provocatively allowed the “deep state” to place the military on Putin’s doorstep in Ukraine. Putin is no more an adversary than the barren East German communist, Merkel, who hates national sovereignty and promotes foreign invasion of Germany and collectivist, one-world, government. Putin is no more an adversary than Mexico which conducts an ongoing invasion as “Reconquista” by “La Raza” of America. It is said that Putin is tough on journalists (Intel operatives?) while Seth Rich is “allegedly” assassinated in Washington D.C. just coincidentally, immediately prior to the resignations of top DNC officers. China terrorizes and threatens America on a daily basis with an existential threat through deployment of its puppet, satellite state, North Korea, while it illegally seizes the South China Sea for, as yet, unclear purposes. The ineligible imposter, Obama, has effected more degradation of America and its “exceptionalism” than Putin could ever hope to. You want adversaries of America? Look around you. The American Founders would not recognize the nation they established.
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Thanks for reading.
I presume you have a more than adequate level of expertise in the realm of idiocy.
I thank you for your concession by way of ad hominem.
I apologize for engaging in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent.
Comrade George, when you’re not writing the most stupid things that I have ever read on this site, do you write for Putin? You’re comment at 2:08 today is mind numbing, You think this is all a “STING” ? So you are not going for the Trump line that it is all the fault of the MSM and going for what? Alex Jones thinking?
https://www.dawn.com/news/1338684/first-death-sentence-handed-to-man-for-blasphemy-on-social-media
While idiots in our country in full strike to bring down a president who can expose the crimes of the thugs in the previous administration
Just which crimes do you have in mind?
We shall see if the Mueller Commission will obtain the facts or if it will become the
sham Warren Commission, hide the facts and convict a patsy.
Limited in scope to Russiagate.
With the staff Mueller had hired, they will get to the bottom of it. We do mothave a Commission yet but perhaps one is forthcoming.
Mueller is not the head of a commission. He is a special prosecutor.
Pedantic.
I have license.
I am a commenter.
Just ask Professor Turley.
“When you strike at a king, you must kill him.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
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The abused and frail James Comey insidiously set up a “sting” operation
to ensnare President Trump in a lie or other fabricated “process” crime
knowing that he, Comey, had no evidence of “collusion” with Russia.
Comey’s problem now is that he failed to “kill the king.”
Comey has incriminated himself and must be prosecuted.
Comey implicated Obama and former AG Lynch who was ordered by
Obama to order James Comey to describe the Hillary Clinton email probe
as a “matter” and not an “investigation.”
Comey may enjoy his $10 million book deal in his prison cell.
Obama, Lynch, Rice, Hillary, Huma, Schultz, Lerner, Holder et al. must be
prosecuted for engaging in corruption and abuse of power that
makes Watergate pale by comparison.
If Comey does have legal issues they are of a civil nature and not criminal.
To wit,
Headline:
“Reality Winner: Woman accused of NSA leak ordered to remain jailed pending trial”
NY Post
“Comey’s Columbia leaker pal goes into hiding after testimony.”
Just waiting for the Comey and pal “perp walk.”
Trump’s NYC lawyer reminds me of his NYC doctor. Not good for Trump. Dershowitz seems to want the gig, though, so maybe Trump should hire him. But I did see Dersh last month on one of the cable shows and he was getting Sally Yates’ name all mixed up [called her Sally Flynn and Sally Quinn], So Trump might want to pass.
If you listen to Trump’s comments yesterday about testifying, you’ll hear that he was somewhat incoherent. He got the under oath part confused with his asking Comey for a loyalty pledge. Said something like, why should I ask someone for a loyalty pledge under oath. He ain’t right in the head.
You and I are from different planets. There is nothing wrong with Trump’s “head”. I would like for one Socialist Democrat to say just once that Obama was a LIAR! Then I would be willing to let Democrats back into my house.
Q: What would the right do to deflect from their terrible choice for a president if they couldn’t drag up Obama?
A: Sit there like deaf mutes.