I watched from gavel to gavel coverage, and I thought he was lying based on the hesitance with which he gave his answers and his body language. There were myriad signs that he was not truthful. His agenda was clear: Hit Trump and hit him hard. Now, Mueller is investigating Trump for obstruction, but there is no proof of same. It’s a “he-said-he-said” situation unless Trump really does have tapes.
But, people are missing the statutory and legal definition of obstruction. Saying he hoped that the Flynn case could be handled with empathy does not rise to the level of obstruction. For true obstruction, the following must be proven:
- Is “hoping” obstruction? No. Comey’s interpretation that it was “a direction” from Trump is his opinion. Trump never ordered him to stop the investigation, and the conversation was held in private, so again, there’s no proof, and more telling is that the investigation continues.
- There must be some element of corruption involved under the law. Had Trump actually asked that the investigation into him be stopped because Flynn was about to be indicted or had been indicted, that would have possibly—possibly—been some element of corruption involved.
- Trump is a New Yorker and with the way people like him speak, “hope” means exactly that: “I hope you can go easy on Flynn. He’s a good man” is not corruption by any measure. There is not even an inference that Trump interfered with the investigation.
- Once again, the Washington Poststory that Trump was being investigated comes from anonymous sources. Is he really being investigated for obstruction? We don’t know, but I do know that one of the far-left lawyers hired by the special council has a very broad definition of obstruction. He will lose that argument because the relevant statutes are very clear about what constitutes obstruction.
We know that Bill Clinton lied under oath. We don’t have any evidence that Trump tried to obstruct the Flynn investigation. It’s Comey’s word against his. The really stupid mistake Trump made was telling the NBC reporter that Comey was fired over his handling of the Russia investigation. He should have said that the memo from the assistant attorney general, Rosenstein, the letter from Sessions and Comey’s ineptitude and grandstanding should have been the reason for his dismissal. In fact, Trump never should have fired Comey. If he hadn’t, he wouldn’t be in this mess.
That said, nothing Comey says he said rises to the level of obstruction under the appropriate statutes.
Importantly, had Comey determined that Trump had engaged in obstruction, he is mandated by law to report it to Congress or a judge. He met with his top advisors and determined that Trump had not engaged in obstruction, so he did not report it. If he really believed that “hope” was a direct order, he is in legal jeopardy for not reporting it.
As postulated upon, someone has to stand up to Trump and bring him to heel. He must be given talking points to certain questions his team believes he will be asked. If he’s left to his own devices it is guaranteed that he will screw things up, and his statement to Lester Holt was not the wisest thing he could have said. That is why this continues to have legs with the MSM. Someone needs to corral him and have a very serious talk with him about how to be presidential and watch what he says, and, more importantly, what he tweets. He’s not in the campaign anymore. He needs to get with the program and watch carefully what he says.
As the ousted FBI Director James Comey stated:
“There should be no fuzz on this whatsoever. The Russians interfered in our election during the 2016 cycle. They did it with purpose, they did it with sophistication. They did it with overwhelming technical efforts and measures driven from the top of that government,” he declared.
“It’s not a close call. That happened. That’s about as unfake as you can possibly get and it is very, very serious, which is why it’s so refreshing to see a bipartisan focus on that. Because this is about America.
Trump has repeatedly claimed the probe was a hoax and fake news. Thus far, President Trump has been right. There is no shred of evidence that Russia ever interfered in our election. Every leak comes from unnamed sources.
It is time to put this prolonged “hoax” behind us and start making America Great Again.
© 2017 Amil Imani – All Rights Reserved
