Once upon a time we were a nation governed by the rule of law. No more! The president and his congressional toadies have laid waste to that claim.
Presidents do not comment on ongoing criminal investigations. Period! Presidents do not comment on ongoing criminal investigations because the weight of the Oval Office can interfere with the due process guaranteed under the rule of law.
Only one time in recorded history has a sitting president publicly commented on an ongoing criminal investigation. It did not go well.
Charlie Manson’s attorneys petitioned the court for a mistrial after learning that President Richard M. Nixon had publicly pronounced Manson “guilty, directly or indirectly of eight murders without reason” in the midst of the ongoing Sharon Tate murder trial. Judge Charles N. Holder denied the motion and an embarrassed Nixon was forced to publicly walk back his declaration. Lesson learned. President’s do not comment on ongoing criminal investigations. Period!
Apparently President Trump did not get the memo.
Trump has recklessly weighed in on not one…not two…but three criminal investigations during his time in office; in each case attempting obstruct an investigation that has legal consequences for him personally.
Trump’s initial attempt to interfere with the legal process occurred when he pressured then FBI Director James Comey to end the criminal investigation against Trump’s former National Security Advisor, Mike Flynn. Trump fired Comey for refusing to acquiesce to his wishes; a fact in evidence that the president publicly admitted in an Oval Office meeting with Russian officials and later in an interview with Lester Holt.
Undaunted by the blow back over his blatant effort to alter the course of a criminal investigation against Michael Flynn; the president set his sights on Robert Mueller and the special counsel’s investigation into possible Russian interference in our election process. A conspiracy made all the alarming by evidence of possible “collusion” by members of the Trump campaign in the endeavor. Trump has been relentless in his public condemnation of the Mueller investigation. He has labeled the probe a “witch hunt” and publicly condemned and ridiculed the investigators personally. Just yesterday he publicly called on his Attorney General to end the investigation: “now.” All in spite of dozens of indictments, guilty pleas and an ever growing mountain of evidence.
Last but not least…Trump has publicly interjected himself into the criminal trail of his former campaign manager, Paul Manafort. Manafort is facing over a baker’s dozen of indictments that if proven could find him incarcerated for the rest of his life. Though the judge in the proceeding has specifically forbidden any reference to Trump, the president has publicly condemned the trail and disparaged the prosecutors. Trump’s unhinged twitter outburst gives one pause to wonder what Manafort might have to say that would cause the president such angst over a trail that is not about him. Given that the jury panel is not sequestered; many legal experts are adding “jury tampering” to the obstruction charges.
As reckless as the president’s actions may be he has found his rival in the feckless, obsequious behavior on display in the halls of congress. The legislative branch has coward in silence as the president has laid waste to the rule of law. Their only action, a Freedom Caucus call for the impeachment of the acting attorney general for refusing to turn over classified information pertaining to an ongoing criminal investigation against the president. A refusal codified in law. Information that, if past is prologue will immedialty be handed over to the president’s legal counsel.
Let us be clear…the president’s behavior and that of his sycophants in congress plays right into the hands of Vladimir Putin and his Russian cohorts. Putin understands that sewing divisiveness and discord while subverting the rule of law makes America weaker. A weakened America serves Putin’s interests. Trump and his toadies are aiding and abetting the enemy.
Nixon obstructed justice and paid the price. Trump’s fate has yet to be determined.
Once upon a time we were a nation governed by the rule of law. No more!
Putin laughs. Nixon cries.
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