Posted on 01/18/2019 10:07:04 AM PST by Seizethecarp
When Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) asked President Trump’s nominee for attorney general, William P. Barr, earlier this week whether it would be a crime if “the president tried to coach somebody not to testify, or testify falsely,” Barr was unequivocal: “Yes,” the nominee told the Senate Judiciary Committee. “Under an obstruction statute, yes.”
Now that an explosive story published Thursday by BuzzFeed News alleges that Trump did just that, by ordering Michael Cohen, his former attorney, to lie to Congress, Barr’s answer presents the White House with a new quandary — the president’s own choice for the nation’s top law enforcement official has described such conduct as “classic” obstruction of justice. Barr said the same when pressed by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), as well as in his own written statements. He has affirmed his view at least three times, both in a once-private memo and in sworn testimony.
The White House’s difficulty isn’t that Barr spoke out of turn or betrayed an unconventional opinion in line with Democratic talking-points, said David Alan Sklansky, a Stanford law professor. The problem for Trump, who pushed out Jeff Sessions as attorney general after seething that he had failed to protect him from the inquiry led by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, is rather that a view more favorable to the president would have been indefensible, the criminal law scholar said.
The nominee’s clearly stated judgment "limits his ability to take a particular position in defense of the president, but that position would have been an untenable one anyway,” Sklansky said in an interview with The Washington Post. “It would have been more awkward to defend the nomination of an attorney general who didn’t think this is obstruction of justice. It’s not a controversial position.”
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
I wonder if the Times is trying to actually do some journalism and get quotes from the President on this. Not sure if the other stories have any as I refuse to read this garbage.
It is not a Crime to talk to your Lawyer!
Wonders will never cease.
Just Give Up, WaPo.
Nobody cares about Cohen or your lies.
...so “All the news fit to print” doesn’t yet consider this story “fit to print”???
Buzzfeed story is falling apart quickly.
The two journos who wrote it are giving vastly different accounts of what evidence they have.
One of the journos involved (Jason Leopold) has been caught lying before (said Carl Rove had released Valerie Plame’s name and was going to be indicted - all false). And has been admitted to rehab in the past for drug addiction.
WaPo doesn’t care. Its the headline that matters.
Which is why this story is BOGUS..Trump specifically picked someone to be his Attorney General who is VERY cozy with Mueller..why do that if he was afraid of something bad coming out
The President needs to withdraw the Barr Nomination, and do it today.
(Subscription required)
When did the NYT get so scrupulous on Trump?
I certainly hope the House initiates an Impeachment and brings it to a floor vote.
And soon.
Best possible outcome to all the nonsense.
So is this a prelude to the Mueller report - that an ALLEGED incident took place? From that all-credible truth machine Cohen?
Enough already.
“This time we’ve got him for sure” version 27.
If Trump kills Ruth Bader Ginsburg then his own Attorney General nominee agrees its MURDER!!! Impeach now!
We have the assertion of ONE person who claims that President Trump (then Candidate Trump) told attorney Michael Cohen to lie. And that is Michael Cohen, who is fighting desperately to have a reduced or suspended sentence.
Michael Cohen’s testimony to this effect is somewhat suspect.
Fake News.
And why is the Compost running with this Buzzfeed blog “news”?
I thought only CNN got their Fake News from Buzzfeed?
AP Story in NYT dated 12:50 PM, right when I was composing my FR post!
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