Like every other state, Connecticut has two senators. One is a complete moron; that's Chris Murphy. The other is intelligent and quite knowledgeable about the law. Senator Blumenthal was the Attorney General of the state for an extremely long time before he was elected to the Senate. That knowledge of the law, however, is something that requires Blumenthal to be honest in his public statements. Unlike Murphy who sometimes says idiotic things because he just doesn't understand, Blumenthal knows better. That makes statements like the one today into total lies. Let me explain:
President Trump said today that he knows of no tapes of his conversation with Jim Comey the former FBI director. Blumenthal rushed to the nearest microphone to claim that the President's effort to shape Comey's testimony by talking about possible tapes is "obstruction of justice".
Think about that. Trump didn't ever say that there were tapes; only that Comey better be concerned that there could be tapes. So what effect does that have? It makes Comey wonder if there are tapes or not. Comey was about to testify under oath to Congress, and he had to be concerned that there might be tapes that could show his testimony to be false if he made stuff up. The only protection Comey had from a possible charge of perjury, would be to tell the truth. After all, if Coney told the truth, he wouldn't have to worry about tapes; they would just confirm what he said. In other words, what President Trump said put pressure on Coney to tell the truth.
Senator Blumenthal well knows that pressing someone to tell the truth is not obstruction of justice; in fact, it is exactly the opposite. Obstruction is present only when someone seeks to interfere with an investigation or to prevent the truth from coming out.
So we have senator Blumenthal -- who well knows what constitutes obstruction -- telling a lie on that subject. Sure, Blumenthal is not under oath, so his lie is not criminal. Nevertheless, Blumenthal's lie is morally repugnant. Blumenthal has to learn that the American people deserve the honest facts even if they are not going to provide a political benefit for Blumenthal and his party.
President Trump said today that he knows of no tapes of his conversation with Jim Comey the former FBI director. Blumenthal rushed to the nearest microphone to claim that the President's effort to shape Comey's testimony by talking about possible tapes is "obstruction of justice".
Think about that. Trump didn't ever say that there were tapes; only that Comey better be concerned that there could be tapes. So what effect does that have? It makes Comey wonder if there are tapes or not. Comey was about to testify under oath to Congress, and he had to be concerned that there might be tapes that could show his testimony to be false if he made stuff up. The only protection Comey had from a possible charge of perjury, would be to tell the truth. After all, if Coney told the truth, he wouldn't have to worry about tapes; they would just confirm what he said. In other words, what President Trump said put pressure on Coney to tell the truth.
Senator Blumenthal well knows that pressing someone to tell the truth is not obstruction of justice; in fact, it is exactly the opposite. Obstruction is present only when someone seeks to interfere with an investigation or to prevent the truth from coming out.
So we have senator Blumenthal -- who well knows what constitutes obstruction -- telling a lie on that subject. Sure, Blumenthal is not under oath, so his lie is not criminal. Nevertheless, Blumenthal's lie is morally repugnant. Blumenthal has to learn that the American people deserve the honest facts even if they are not going to provide a political benefit for Blumenthal and his party.
No comments:
Post a Comment