Back in the
Spotlight: Now Much Brighter and More Intense
(Possibly With Hard Evidence of a Real Crime)
He says: “No Collusion” – okay then, try another
angle
MAJOR UPDATE (April
28, 2018): The whole Donald Jr. / Russian lawyer meeting back in n June 2016 now under
close scrutiny. This video lays it out pretty well for lawyers and yes, even the
Senate Intel committee fodder, since the House shut down their Intel committee prematurely
I might add; or, maybe they will now reopen it now? Ha – not likely. This update from Raw Story here.
Extract from Don Jr's testimony (December 6, 2017) before the House Intel Committee - key part of his statement:
Hot Water
Meet Donald Jr. - Jr. Meet Hot Water
(His and other lies since now erased by the truth)
Video clip
here (about 5-minutes):
ORIGINAL POST STARTS HERE:
Rather long story but necessary background to
the main post that follows with this supposition to prove or show if not
collusion, how about cooperation, coordination, or conspiracy between the 2016
Trump campaign and Russia –
The single fact that Donald Trump Jr., Jared
Kushner, and Paul Manafort met with the Russian attorney, Natalia
Veselnitskaya, et al at Trump Tower in June 2016 to “get dirt on Hillary
Clinton and her campaign” might not be enough to demonstrate that a “conspiracy”
indeed has taken place. Why not?
Prosecutors would have to collect more evidence
through electronic discovery collection of emails and grand jury testimony that
there was more collaboration, discussion, and cooperation between Trump Jr. and
the Russian government as proof positive.
It now seems possible to me, and I’m sure to
other a lot smarter than I am, that Donald Jr. may fall under this legal
category:
The Federal Conspiracy
Statute – 18 U.S.C. § 371 states in part:
“If two or more persons conspire either to commit any
offense against the United States, or to defraud the United States, or any
agency thereof in any manner or for any purpose, and one or more of such
persons do any act to effect the object of the conspiracy, each shall be fined
under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.”
Applying this to the supposition above, Trump,
Jr. and the others at that June 2016 meeting could be guilty of conspiracy even
if they committed no crimes, but in fact conspired with those with whom they
met to break laws.
For example, if it can
be established that the Russian government intended to illegally help the Trump
campaign by providing compromising and damaging information about Clinton and
if Trump Jr. and Natalia Veselnitskaya, on behalf of the Russian government,
agreed to work together to achieve this illegal goal, then conspiracy may
apply.
It could be argued that Trump Jr. and his
associates violated this federal law because they agreed to meet with
Veselnitskaya to gain knowledge that would defraud the United States, which
includes conspiracies to impede the lawful functions of the federal
government, and if Trump Jr. and Veselnitskaya agreed to
share damaging information regarding Hillary Clinton in the lawful and
legal administration of the 2016 presidential election, which is the
lawful function of the federal government [1].
Then that is the possible serious crime.
But, keep in mind, also, it is somewhat unclear
that interfering with an election (even with false information from the
Russians to Donald Jr.) would constitute the crime of fraud.
Case in Point – Cite: United States v. Gradwell, a 1917 case, the United States Supreme Court
held that a conspiracy to influence a congressional election by bribery of
voters was not a conspiracy to “defraud” the United States under the meaning of
the code since it is the state governments, not the federal government, that
administers elections.
(I note: Heluva loophole isn’t it)?
It also must be pointed out that merely
promoting or disseminating false information about a political candidate is
political speech protected by the First Amendment.
The USSC said in the 2012 case, United States v. Alvarez [2] that false political statements are protected
speech, a holding that that states: “Comports with the common understanding
that some false statements are inevitable if there is to be an open and
vigorous expression of views in public and private conversation, expression the
First Amendment seeks to guarantee.”
Thus, just showing that the Russians intended to
lie about Hillary Clinton would be insufficient. The government would have to
show that they intended to commit a more specific federal crime to implicate
Trump, Jr.
The saga of Russian involvement in the 2016
United States presidential election has taken more twists and turns than the
plot of a mystery novel. It doesn’t look like the issues will be resolved any
time soon.
======================================================
The Main Story Article:
What follows in the article might very well be
the evidence needed to prove conspiracy as mentioned above.
MOSCOW (AP via Bloomberg) — An organization established (called “The
Dossier”) by an exiled Russian tycoon says it has obtained emails showing
collaboration between the Russian government, Natalia Veselnitskaya, Donald
Trump Jr., Paul Manafort, and Jared Kushner in 2016 at Trump Tower.
Those emails suggest that Natalia Veselnitskaya
in deed worked closely with a top official in Russia's prosecutor-general's
office to fend off a U.S. fraud case against one of her clients.
Recall that Veselnitskaya also originally
denied connections to the Russian government following that meeting saying she
merely wanted to discuss the Russian adoption program for Americans. The
meeting took place after Trump Jr. was told that Veselnitskaya had potentially
incriminating information (“dirt”) on Hillary Clinton and said in response to
the offer: “If it’s what you say I love it, especially later
in the summer.” (His words not mine).
Veselnitskaya is well-connected as a lawyer in
Moscow, but the extent and nature of her government ties had been unclear until
now. And, now, she also could not immediately be reached for comment on this
email release story.
The Dossier, which provides information about
officials and business leaders it considers part of the “Kremlin political
group,” says it had been sent a series of emails from 2014 that show
Veselnitskaya set out strategies for responding to a United States request for
assistance in a money-laundering case involving her client.
Veselnitskaya was helping to defend the Prevezon Holdings Company and its owner, Denis Katsyv. U.S. prosecutors accused Katsyv of laundering proceeds from a $230 million Russian tax fraud scheme by buying real estate in the U.S.
Veselnitskaya was helping to defend the Prevezon Holdings Company and its owner, Denis Katsyv. U.S. prosecutors accused Katsyv of laundering proceeds from a $230 million Russian tax fraud scheme by buying real estate in the U.S.
The Dossier published screen shots of what it
said were emails about the case between Veselnitskaya and Sergei Bochkarev,
head of the criminal investigation division of the prosecutor-general's office.
The organization did not reveal if it knew who shared the emails, if they were
sent anonymously or if any efforts were made to verify their authenticity.
Last year, the Justice Department settled its
case, with Prevezon paying $6 million in fines while not admitting guilt.
The alleged tax fraud scheme was exposed by
Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer who died while jailed in 2009. U.S.
lawmakers enacted a law named for him that imposed travel and financial
sanctions against Russians believed to be involved in his death.
Donald Trump Jr. for his part said the June 2016
meeting with Veselnitskaya included discussion of the Magnitsky Act sanctions.
(Footnote: The Dossier is an arm of exiled tycoon and
Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a onetime oil billionaire who spent a
decade in prison on fraud and tax-evasion convictions that were widely seen as
retaliation for his political ambitions and opposition to Putin).
My 2 Cents: President Trump takes pride in saying “No collusion, none
whatsoever, believe me.” Well, the evidence is piling up to not support
anything he says – quite simply: He is a liar and not
trustworthy – just a clever, slick, and I might add skilled con-man.
This new evidence to prove an actual crime –
conspiracy – and not collusion, which BTW is not a crime per se might be real –
time will tell.
I am sure a lot of legal eyes are on this “The
Dossier” revelations as outlined above. So, we shall see.
Stay tuned and as always, thanks for stopping
by.
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