Hey, all
There is all sorts of noise about how Trump's stupid tweet is an admission of obstruction. As much as I'd love to believe that, does anyone know whether this is actually anything other than his usual hot air? Any lawyers here?
@ZonaPellucida If Trump knew that Flynn had committed a crime (lying to a federal agent) and he tried to stop the investigation, he's arguably obstructed justice. He's effectively admitted to that here. (I don't do criminal law anymore, but this is fairly straightforward)
@Fishesquire I understand, but would the way he phrased it here stand up in court as likely saying he knew about the FBI lie ahead of trying to get Comey to drop it? NYT just says it's unclear what he meant, but maybe they're being overly cautious.
@ZonaPellucida You're absolutely right - it would all come down to his knowledge and state of mind. I don't know that one tweet is sufficient to convict (or impeach) and he could argue that it was just inartfully worded and that he didn't mean that. But, if you read it literally, he does seem to admit knowing about the criminal offense at the time of firing Flynn, which is a big deal if he tried to make the investigation go away later on.
@Fishesquire @ZonaPellucida Isn't it obstruction to try and stop the investigation whether he knew or not? Or at least abuse of power?
@twhitetlw @ZonaPellucida To meet the formal definition of obstruction, he would need to know that a crime had been committed, and been attempting to prevent its prosecution.
@ZonaPellucida There are lawyers all over the place and so far, he's untouchable. I honestly don't understand how he and his minions are above the law.
@ZonaPellucida No, but this guy is:
https://twitter.com/benjaminwittes/status/937023955298406400