With One Tweet, Trump Opens Himself Up To Witness Tampering Charges

While it’s been clear for quite some time now that Donald Trump isn’t exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer, he seems to be getting even more profoundly ignorant with each day that passes and as Special Counsel Robert Mueller gets closer to busting him.

Trump is already suspected of being part of a possible conspiracy with Russia to rig the election, and there have been hints that Mueller’s team of investigators — along with the FBI — are following leads which suggest other serious federal crimes such as money laundering, wire fraud, bank fraud, and income tax evasion.

But earlier today, the president decided he’d add another charge to the growing list: Witness tampering. And he did it with one tweet:

Trump was apparently responding to remarks the former CIA director made to Chuck Todd on Meet the Press, where he said he might file a lawsuit to regain the security clearance Trump revoked late last week. Brennan told Todd:

“I’m going to do whatever I can personally to try to prevent these abuses in the future and if it means going to court, I will do that.”


Here’s the problem for Trump: We know Brennan has spoken to Mueller already, so that makes him a cooperating witness. And the tweet Trump sent out is clearly an attempt to intimidate the former CIA chief. That just so happens to be the very definition of witness tampering, according to 18 U.S.C. § 1512 of the federal code:

“Whoever 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—(1)influence, delay, or prevent the testimony of any person in an official proceeding.”

The maximum penalty for witness tampering is 20 years. And that’s for each individual count of the crime. So if Trump decides to keep issuing threats at Brennan, he can be charged and tried for each tweet he sends out on the matter.

We always knew Trump’s big mouth would be his downfall, and once again he’s proven that he’s his own worst enemy.

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