IT’S A CRIME TO CORRUPTLY PERSUADE ANYONE FROM PREVENTING THEIR TESTIMONY

…This president seems to break all the rules

This time, Trump may have crossed the legal line

The latest tweets from our president may be just one more nail for the special counsel Robert Mueller III, to eventually put in Trump’s political coffin.

Many legal experts were calling Trump’s statements a news-worthy development that amounts to the real evidence of obstructing justice.

Here’s what Trump tweeted:

Trump’s first tweet statement went after Michael Cohen, his former personal attorney who pleaded guilty last week for lying to Congress about the president’s real estate project in Russia.  In his tweet, Trump alleged that Cohen lied to Mueller and it called for a severe penalty, demanding that his former fixer / lawyer should: “serve a full and complete sentence.”

After this attack on Cohen came a Trump-tweet encouraging Roger Stone, a longtime adviser to Trump, not to become a witness against him: "Roger Stone has a rule: 'Deny everything.' And that's exactly what he does.

Several of Roger Stone’s longtime associates have been interviewed by the special counsel. The Post visited Stone, just as Mueller’s probe zeroed in on him. 

Trump's next tweet: “’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!’

Stone has since stated that he will take the Fifth Amendment if he is questioned under oath.

Norman Eisen, a senior-fellow at the Brookings Institution, said that the most striking thing about the tweets was that there were two statements in proximity.

“It comes very close to the statutory definition of witness tampering,” he said. “It’s a mirror image of the first tweet, only he’s praising a witness for not cooperating with the implication of a reward,” he said, adding that Trump has pardon power over Stone.

“We’re so used to President Trump transgressing norms in his public declarations,” Eisen said, “but this time he may have crossed the legal line.”

Here were the following Trump tweets:

“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.....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.

Respected figures across both party lines have also responded to Trump’s tweets:

Senator Mar Warner  (D-Va.) called it “serious,” adding that “the President of the United States should not be using his platform to influence potential witnesses in a federal investigation involving his campaign.”

The attorney, George Conway, who is also the husband of White House senior counselor, Kellyanne Conway, referenced the federal statute most likely to create legal liability for Trump: 18 U.S.C. ss 1512, the statute which outlines the crime of witness tampering.

So, what is the law?

Tampering with a witness is obstruction of justice.  It’s a federal crime for an individual to intimidate, threaten or “corruptly persuade” another person with the goal of influencing or preventing his or her testimony.

Just what is obstruction of justice?

With this term whirling around Washington, a former federal prosecutor explains what to know about the criminal charge of obstruction of justice. Did Trump break it?

Historically, there are plenty of cases where similar statements to Trump's have been used as part of an obstruction-of-justice prosecution, thi is according to former acting solicitor general, Neal Katyal.

Even if Mueller could technically satisfy the statute, few prosecutors would make a congressional referral just based on tweets from the president alone.

Instead, the latest slew of tweets probably will be used to evaluate whether Trump’s intent was “corrupt.”  They will also be used to show a pattern by Trump to interfere with law enforcement to serve his personal end, Katyal said.

“[The tweets] are just like firing FBI Director [James] Comey for investigating the Russia scandal, or firing Attorney General Jeff Sessions because he wasn’t recused from the Russia scandal,” Katyal said. “It’s the same attitude that led President Trump to try to direct [the Department of Justice] to seek the indictments of his political opponents (i.e.: Hillary Clinton and James Comey).”

In his tweet, Trump claimed that Cohen pleaded guilty to charges “unrelated” to him [Trump] — a Trump statement that’s totally untrue.

Cohen’s initial plea implicated the president in potential campaign finance violations. The August guilty plea prompted Trump to tweet, “Unlike Michael Cohen, [Paul Manafort] refused to ‘break’ — make up stories in order to get a ‘deal.’ Such respect for a brave man!” Remember, Manafort was Trump’s former campaign manager.

Last week’s Cohen plea also made specific reference to Trump.

Katyal said of Monday’s tweets: “The difference with the prior episodes is that you’ve got the whole enchilada in one tweet — you don’t need to refer to other extrinsic evidence. Trump is directly praising one individual for not flipping and attacking another for doing so.”  That is illegal, especially for a president with the right of pardons.

He continued: “George [Conway]  is right. This is genuinely looking like witness tampering. DOJ (at least with a non-fake Attorney General) prosecutes cases like these all the time. The fact it's done out in the open is no defense. Trump is genuinely melting down, and no good lawyer can represent him under these circumstances.”

According to some legal-beagles, there is a certain amount of ambiguity in Trump’s statements, leaving wiggle room for his defenders to say he was not making threats, but blowing off steam.

As the US chief executive, the president oversees criminal prosecution of federal cases. Unlike firing federal officials, directly encouraging a potential witness not to cooperate in an investigation involving his own conduct, this is highly significant.

“When you look at the tweets about Stone and Cohen, Trump is sending a very strong message to others, that those who cooperate will be punished, and those who keep his secrets will be rewarded,” per defense attorney, Barry Berke.

On Jan. 3, Democrats take control of the House, and a new congressional session will begin.

“The tweets could be the basis for the House to determine if the president engaged in an abuse of power or worse,” said Berke, referring to the articles of impeachment against past presidents: Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton, for abuse of power and obstruction of justice.

The next few months should be very interesting.

Copyright G. Ater 2018