Earlier this year, Jimmy Gurulé, who served as Assistant Attorney General in the George W. Bush administration, appeared on The 11th Hour With Brian Williams and was asked what criminal charges Special Counsel Robert Mueller would probably bring against President Donald Trump. Gurulé laid out a list of six charges:
- Obstruction of justice
- Violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
- Violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act dealing with fundraising
- Violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act
- Violations of IRS and tax law
- Money laundering
And now you can add witness tampering to that list.
In recent weeks, Trump has made numerous tweets regarding the sentencing of his former attorney, Michael Cohen. He also urged his longtime friend and political adviser, Roger Stone, not to cooperate with Mueller:
“Michael Cohen asks judge for no Prison Time.” You mean he can do all of the TERRIBLE, unrelated to Trump, things having to do with fraud, big loans, Taxis, etc., and not serve a long prison term? He makes up stories to get a GREAT & ALREADY reduced deal for himself, and get…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 3, 2018
….his wife and father-in-law (who has the money?) off Scott Free. He lied for this outcome and should, in my opinion, serve a full and complete sentence.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 3, 2018
“I will never testify against Trump.” This statement was recently made by Roger Stone, essentially stating that he will not be forced by a rogue and out of control prosecutor to make up lies and stories about “President Trump.” Nice to know that some people still have “guts!”
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 3, 2018
Those three tweets — especially the one referring to Stone — are prima facie evidence of witness tampering. In other words, the evidence is sufficient to prove the case, according to Norman Eisen, who served as White House Special Counsel for Ethics and Government Reform in the Obama administration:
“It comes very close to the statutory definition of witness tampering. It’s a mirror image of the first tweet, only he’s praising a witness for not cooperating with the implication of reward.
“We’re so used to President Trump transgressing norms in his public declarations, but he may have crossed the legal line.”
Eisen was joined in his warning about witness tampering by a man who may wind up being one of the members of the jury that hears the impeachment case against Trump, Senator Mark Warner (D-VA):
“The President of the United States should not be using his platform to influence potential witnesses in a federal investigation involving his campaign.”
Witness tampering is a very serious crime in the federal criminal code, carrying a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. And keep in mind that we have proof that Trump was indeed trying to influence a witness thanks to his own social media postings!
You can now stack witness tampering atop the staggering list of crimes committed by this outlaw president. And rest assured Mueller plans to charge him with every single one of them. They’ll also be included in the articles of impeachment that will be drawn up against him sometime in early 2019.
Donald Trump has cooked his own proverbial goose. How appropriate for the holiday season.