Claiming something that's true is "fake news" when it involves tampering with a government investigation is grounds for impeachment.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday was focused on his State of the Union address. What the House of Representatives should be focused on are the facts becoming public about Trump's request to have Robert Mueller, a special counsel investigating possible election tampering by Russia, fired.
The news of Trump's request was reported in the New York Times last week. While attending a summit in Davos, Switzerland, Trump called the story "fake news."
Multiple independent sources have since confirmed that Trump in June 2017 ordered White House counsel Don McGahn to fire Mueller. We know Mueller wasn't fired. McGahn would not comply with the president's request and threatened to resign. Trump's request was made without any publicly-known motive other than to interfere with Mueller's investigation.
It is a criminal act - obstruction - for the president to interfere with an investigation by a special counsel. Seeking to have Mueller fired is interference. Trump publicly denying the tampering is his story, but so many others are saying it isn't true.
Presidents have lied. Former President Bill Clinton wagged his finger and said, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman." Former President Richard Nixon said "I am not a crook" while in the process of being named a co-conspirator in the Watergate scandal.
Wisconsin Public Radio on Monday hosted Frank Tuerkheimer, a University of Wisconsin Emeritus Professor of Law, who was a prosecutor during the Watergate scandal during Nixon's presidency.
Tuerkheimer characterized Trump's effort to remove Mueller as a special counsel "enormously serious."
Tuerkheimer said the statute of law that applies to Trump in this case doesn't need Trump to have been successful in removing Mueller. Instead, it simply looks at the president's intent.
"It's pretty clear the president tried to get Mueller fired and end the investigation, and that brings us pretty close to a violation of the statute," Tuerkheimer said. "There was no valid reason for it. The rule of law ... The rule of the regulation is a special counsel can be fired if he or she does certain things. None of those kicks in."
Tuerkheimer wasn't the only former presidential investigator to say there's already a circumstantial case to say Trump acted without reason. Does Trump need to be investigated? Former federal prosecutor Ken Starr on ABC's "This Week" said, "Lying to the American people is a serious issue that has to be explored. I take lying to the American people very, very seriously, so absolutely."
While this is serious, Trump has been afforded passes since before taking office when saying things that would end virtually any other politician's career.
What's the protocol to follow in a situation like this? The incident has to be reported to the House of Representatives. Ironically, the person who has the duty to report this is Mueller.
If Mueller were to file a report, it would go to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein - Attorney General Jeff Sessions is recused in acting in this case. Rosenstein then has to figure out what to do, or not do, with the report. The place it should go is to the House of Representatives.
The House has shown absolutely no interest in taking Trump to task no matter what the accusations or evidence may be. There are approximately 20 women who have made sexual harassment claims against the president. Congress has ignored these claims.
What Trump is proving over and over is he's lowered the standard for all of those in Washington to his level. We're at the point where there's very little confidence in Congress as an institution.
There's no concerted effort underway to put an end to this heinous behavior. Paul Rosenzweig, writing for The Atlantic, opined Monday that Mueller won't indict Trump.
"He won't do it for the good and sufficient reason that the Department of Justice has a long-standing legal opinion that sitting presidents may not be indicted," according to Rosenzweig. "First issued in 1973 during the Nixon era, the policy was reaffirmed in 2000, during the Clinton era. These rules bind all Department of Justice employees, and Mueller, in the end, is a Department of Justice employee."
Throughout history, this is how governments have failed the public. Leaders act with impunity, dissolve the checks and balances and discount truth as fake. These leaders have created their own rules and eliminated any opposition.
In the last 100 years, the world's champion for truth and justice has been the United States. Now, through apathy, fear and greed, the United States, when it comes to honorable government at the federal level, is void.
- Matt Johnson is publisher of the Monroe Times. His column is published Wednesdays.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday was focused on his State of the Union address. What the House of Representatives should be focused on are the facts becoming public about Trump's request to have Robert Mueller, a special counsel investigating possible election tampering by Russia, fired.
The news of Trump's request was reported in the New York Times last week. While attending a summit in Davos, Switzerland, Trump called the story "fake news."
Multiple independent sources have since confirmed that Trump in June 2017 ordered White House counsel Don McGahn to fire Mueller. We know Mueller wasn't fired. McGahn would not comply with the president's request and threatened to resign. Trump's request was made without any publicly-known motive other than to interfere with Mueller's investigation.
It is a criminal act - obstruction - for the president to interfere with an investigation by a special counsel. Seeking to have Mueller fired is interference. Trump publicly denying the tampering is his story, but so many others are saying it isn't true.
Presidents have lied. Former President Bill Clinton wagged his finger and said, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman." Former President Richard Nixon said "I am not a crook" while in the process of being named a co-conspirator in the Watergate scandal.
Wisconsin Public Radio on Monday hosted Frank Tuerkheimer, a University of Wisconsin Emeritus Professor of Law, who was a prosecutor during the Watergate scandal during Nixon's presidency.
Tuerkheimer characterized Trump's effort to remove Mueller as a special counsel "enormously serious."
Tuerkheimer said the statute of law that applies to Trump in this case doesn't need Trump to have been successful in removing Mueller. Instead, it simply looks at the president's intent.
"It's pretty clear the president tried to get Mueller fired and end the investigation, and that brings us pretty close to a violation of the statute," Tuerkheimer said. "There was no valid reason for it. The rule of law ... The rule of the regulation is a special counsel can be fired if he or she does certain things. None of those kicks in."
Tuerkheimer wasn't the only former presidential investigator to say there's already a circumstantial case to say Trump acted without reason. Does Trump need to be investigated? Former federal prosecutor Ken Starr on ABC's "This Week" said, "Lying to the American people is a serious issue that has to be explored. I take lying to the American people very, very seriously, so absolutely."
While this is serious, Trump has been afforded passes since before taking office when saying things that would end virtually any other politician's career.
What's the protocol to follow in a situation like this? The incident has to be reported to the House of Representatives. Ironically, the person who has the duty to report this is Mueller.
If Mueller were to file a report, it would go to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein - Attorney General Jeff Sessions is recused in acting in this case. Rosenstein then has to figure out what to do, or not do, with the report. The place it should go is to the House of Representatives.
The House has shown absolutely no interest in taking Trump to task no matter what the accusations or evidence may be. There are approximately 20 women who have made sexual harassment claims against the president. Congress has ignored these claims.
What Trump is proving over and over is he's lowered the standard for all of those in Washington to his level. We're at the point where there's very little confidence in Congress as an institution.
There's no concerted effort underway to put an end to this heinous behavior. Paul Rosenzweig, writing for The Atlantic, opined Monday that Mueller won't indict Trump.
"He won't do it for the good and sufficient reason that the Department of Justice has a long-standing legal opinion that sitting presidents may not be indicted," according to Rosenzweig. "First issued in 1973 during the Nixon era, the policy was reaffirmed in 2000, during the Clinton era. These rules bind all Department of Justice employees, and Mueller, in the end, is a Department of Justice employee."
Throughout history, this is how governments have failed the public. Leaders act with impunity, dissolve the checks and balances and discount truth as fake. These leaders have created their own rules and eliminated any opposition.
In the last 100 years, the world's champion for truth and justice has been the United States. Now, through apathy, fear and greed, the United States, when it comes to honorable government at the federal level, is void.
- Matt Johnson is publisher of the Monroe Times. His column is published Wednesdays.
