Frank,
I think you are confusing a few things. The book about Clinton's campaign
said that John Podesta decided that the campaign would use the story of
Russian interference with the campaign, by which he meant the leaks which he
called hacking, as the reason for the loss. Now if you are getting your
information solely from NPR, and the other mass media, that strand will be
all mixed up with other issues , probably on purpose. But the part that was
being investigated, and isn't being emphasized, and which probably needs a
lot more investigation, is the involvement of Trump, his family, and
campaign members with all sorts of very unsavory business types in Russia,
Ukraine, and a number of countries that were part of the Soviet Union, as
well as the Iranian National Guard and the guy from Israel with the diamond
mines. Instead of talking about this as involvement with all these foreign
interests to whom Trump owes money and whose interests may come first in his
considerations of US foreign policy, the US deep state is returning to a
cold war mentality which, it believes, the American people, who tend to be
not very bright and who are easily led, will easily swallow. A variety of
interests have determined that they want to get rid of Trump. They are
attempting to find the most efficient way to do so, regardless of truth or
ethics. Now I haven't just figured this out by myself. A lot of very smart
and knowledgeable people are saying and writing these things. But you're
certainly not going to hear them on NPR or read them in the New York Times
because these are the outlets for the deep state propaganda. Remember the
lead up to the Iraq war?
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Frank Ventura
Sent: Friday, May 19, 2017 8:51 AM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Did Trump Commit High Crimes and
Misdemeanors?
All of this was a subject of conversation on NPR this morning. The other
point that was made was that it is now known that the investigation of
Russian tampering was already ongoing as of April 2016. So much for the
false narative that it was created by the Clinton team after her loss. IMHO
that lie about it being created by the Clinton team is just a song and dance
contrived by the liberal elite to twart a fair nvestigation.
Frank
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Miriam Vieni
Sent: Thursday, May 18, 2017 9:13 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Did Trump Commit High Crimes and Misdemeanors?
Did Trump Commit High Crimes and Misdemeanors?
Thursday, May 18, 2017
By Marjorie Cohn, Jurist | Op-Ed
FBI Director Robert Mueller III testifies during a hearing on Capitol Hill,
in Washington, DC, June 19, 2013. The Justice Department has appointed
Mueller to serve as a special counsel to oversee its investigation into
Russian meddling in the 2016 election, Deputy Attorney General Rod
Rosenstein announced on May 17, 2017, a move that dramatically raises the
stakes for Donald Trump. (Photo: Christopher Gregory / The New York Times)
Marjorie Cohn discusses the legal framework of a potential Trump
impeachment.
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has responded to the crescendo of
outrage by appointing former FBI director Robert Mueller as special counsel
to investigate "any links and/or coordination between the Russian government
and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump'' and
"any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation'' as
well as any other matters within the scope of the Department of Justice
(DOJ) regulation on special counsel appointments.
"In my capacity as acting attorney general I determined that it is in the
public interest for me to exercise my authority and appoint a special
counsel to assume responsibility for this matter,'' Rosenstein stated.
"My decision is not a finding that crimes have been committed or that any
prosecution is warranted. I have made no such determination. What I have
determined is that based upon the unique circumstances the public interest
requires me to place this investigation under the authority of a person who
exercises a degree of independence from the normal chain of command,''
Rosenstein added.
Independent counsel Kenneth Starr thought he had "substantial and credible"
evidence against President Bill Clinton in 1998. Starr turned over the
results of his investigation to the House of Representatives, who then
initiated impeachment proceedings.
Evidence of a Cover-Up by Trump
As evidence of President Donald Trump's malfeasance emerges, the old adage
that the cover-up is worse than the crime may once again prove true.
There is circumstantial evidence of improper contact between members of the
Trump administration and Russian operatives during the presidential
campaign. At this point, however, we have seen no concrete proof of criminal
conduct.
But evidence of a cover-up continues to mount. Trump has admitted the Russia
investigation motivated him to fire FBI director James Comey. Trump asked
Comey to end the investigation of former National Security Advisor Michael
Flynn. Trump made veiled threats to Comey about possible tapes of their
conversations. Trump demanded that Comey pledge loyalty to him, but Comey
refused. And Trump defensively fixated on Comey telling him three times that
Trump was not an object of the investigation.
These acts constitute probable cause that Trump engaged in obstruction of
justice and witness tampering.
Both of these crimes are felonies. They are "high crimes and misdemeanors,"
the constitutional standard for impeachment.
In addition, according to the Washington Post, Trump revealed "highly
classified information" to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Russian
ambassador to the US Sergei Kislyak, and Russian reporters.
Although this may not amount to criminal behavior, it could still constitute
a high crime and misdemeanor for impeachment purposes.
What Are High Crimes and Misdemeanors?
Alexander Hamilton wrote in The Federalist No. 65 that offenses are
impeachable if they
proceed from the misconduct of public men, or, in other words, from the
abuse or violation of some public trust. They are of a nature which may with
peculiar propriety be denominated POLITICAL, as they relate chiefly to
injuries done immediately to the society itself.
When the president obstructs justice or tampers with a witness, that
violates the public trust and injures society's right to the fair
administration of justice.
The New York Times reported that Trump revealed to Lavrov and Kislyak
classified information he learned from Israel. The president does have the
power to declassify classified information. But CIA whistleblower John
Kiriakou told Democracy Now! that the proper procedure for a president to
declassify information is that
it goes back to the CIA, to the originating office. The CIA will pull the
relevant information out of the report, put it on a new blank sheet of paper
and then type at the top, 'Secret releasable to Russia.' That way, nobody
gets in trouble, no sources and methods are revealed, everybody's happy, and
we can establish something of a liaison relationship to the Russians. That's
not what the president did.
Former CIA director Michael Hayden cautioned in the Washington Post:
The information reportedly derived from another country's intelligence
service, so its revelation would have violated the near-sacred third-party
rule of intelligence: Information from one country cannot be shared with
another without the agreement of the originator. Break that rule often
enough and your intelligence begins to dry up.
Indeed, US intelligence officials told the Post that the "disclosures
jeopardized a critical source of intelligence on the Islamic State."
Moreover, Hayden noted, "Reportedly, National Security Council staffers were
concerned enough about the revelations that they felt compelled to warn the
CIA and the National Security Agency. Clearly, someone in government was
concerned about potential damage."
Trump's revelation to the Russian officials endangers the future security
relationship between the US and one of its allies, which is a significant
purveyor of intelligence about the Middle East. That could injure US
national security, and thereby, the society itself. Trump "revealed more
information to the Russian ambassador than we have shared with our own
allies," a US official told the Post.
The Judiciary Committee's impeachment inquiry staff during the Nixon
impeachment wrote in 1974 that impeachment "is to be predicated only upon
conduct seriously incompatible with ... the proper performance of
constitutional duties of the presidential office." Under the Constitution,
the president has a duty to "take Care that the laws be faithfully
executed."
There is strong evidence that Trump committed high crimes and misdemeanors
to support an impeachment investigation. Mueller will undoubtedly uncover a
great deal more. The new special counsel should send the results of his
investigation to the House of Representatives, where impeachment proceedings
take place.
Obstruction of Justice
The articles of impeachment in the cases of both Nixon and Clinton contained
allegations of obstruction of justice.
The federal obstruction of justice statute punishes anyone who "corruptly,
or by threats or force, or by any threatening letter or communication
influences, obstructs, or impedes or endeavors to influence, obstruct, or
impede ... the due and proper exercise of the power of inquiry under which
any inquiry or investigation is being had by either House, or any committee
of either House or any joint committee of the Congress."
A conviction of obstruction of justice requires "acting with an improper
purpose, personally or by influencing another." Trump asked Vice President
Mike Pence and Attorney General Jeff Sessions to step out of the Oval Office
before the president requested that Comey drop the investigation of Flynn.
The president didn't want Pence or Sessions to hear what he had to say to
Comey. This is evidence that Trump made the request to Comey for an improper
purpose.
If Trump did fire Comey because the latter's investigation was getting too
close to incriminating Trump, it would be a cover-up, and strong evidence of
obstruction of justice.
Witness Tampering
The federal witness tampering statute punishes anyone who "knowingly uses
intimidation, threatens, or corruptly persuades another person, or attempts
to do so, or engages in misleading conduct toward another person, with
intent to influence, delay or prevent the testimony of any person in an
official proceeding"
A person also engages in witness tampering if he "otherwise obstructs,
influences, or impedes any official proceeding, or attempts to do so" or
"intentionally harasses another person and thereby hinders, delays,
prevents, or dissuades any person from attending or testifying in an
official proceeding."
Comey reported that Trump asked him for his loyalty. Although the FBI
requires its officials to pledge fealty to the Constitution, not to any
individual leader, Trump sought to elicit a personal loyalty oath from the
FBI director. This may be evidence of intimidation to prevent Comey from
testifying against Trump.
And Trump's veiled threats to Comey about tapes of their conversation,
ostensibly to keep Comey quiet, may also amount to witness tampering.
Regulations on Appointment of Special Counsel
The attorney general (AG) has the authority to appoint and remove special
counsel to investigate top government officials. The AG exercises power over
indictments and other prosecutorial actions. The special counsel remains
accountable to the AG, who can block "any investigative or prosecutorial
step" he deems "inappropriate or unwarranted."
In March, Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from the Russia
investigation because during his confirmation hearing, Sessions had failed
to disclose contacts he had with Russian officials. Thus the authority to
appoint a special independent counsel falls to Deputy Attorney General
Rosenstein.
DOJ regulations call for the appointment of an outside special counsel when
(1) a criminal investigation of a person or matter is warranted, (2) the
investigation or prosecution of that person or matter by a US Attorney's
Office or litigating division of the DOJ would present a conflict of
interest for the Department, and (3) under the circumstances it would be in
the public interest to appoint an outside Special Counsel to assume
responsibility for the matter. When these three conditions are satisfied,
the AG must select a special counsel from outside the government.
Mueller, a former government official, is expected to resign from his law
firm in order to serve as special counsel in this investigation.
This piece was reprinted by Truthout with permission or license.
