(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Why it doesn't matter at all whether Trump had lied or not. And Jack Smith knows it. [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-08-03 „I’m not a lawyer, but …” is how people, who don’t know jack about the law, usually like to start their diaries, in which they spout their legal theories regardless of their self-admitted ignorance of the law. This diary will be Exhibit A for what I have just asserted, because I don’t know anything about the law, indeed. Now that the fact of my absolute ignorance is wholly established, I can nevertheless move on with offering my amateurish "expert opinion". Since the day the new indictment has come down, a lot has been written and said about the hurdle the prosecution will have to overcome in proving the allegations to a jury of 12 hopefully unbiased citizens. A lot of the commentary has focused their attention on Trump’s state of mind and the question if he was well within his rights to free speech, when he questioned the outcome of the election. “If he really believed it, it wasn’t a lie” is a defense mostly heard from the Republican side, as you could read in Joan McCarter’s diary from today: “Apparently it is now a crime to make statements challenging election results if a prosecutor decides those statements aren’t true,” Sen. Marco Rubio asserted, knowing full well that this is not about Trump’s statements, but about his actions. But the media also has doubts if it will be possible to prove, that he knew he was wrong. The Washington Post writes : Special counsel Jack Smith is setting out to show that Trump knew he was lying when he unleashed his torrent of election falsehoods that culminated with the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol — an important part for convicting Trump on the four charges he’s facing. Or take this piece from Slate for example: Trump’s other legal strategy is to argue that prosecutors cannot prove the charges. For example, the government will have to prove that Trump not only intended to interfere with Congress’ fair counting of the electoral college votes in 2020 but also that Trump did so “corruptly.” Trump will put his state of mind at issue, arguing that despite all the evidence, he had an honest belief the election was being stolen from him. Even here at DK one headliner wrote Proving that Trump knew his claims of election theft were false is critically important here—that this wasn’t just an exercise of free, if incorrect, speech. But is it really important to know, if Trump knew he was wrong? Josh Marshall over at TPM begs to differ … at least a bit: The standard isn’t what someone claims they believed but whether it was a reasonable belief. (Emph. added) It’s peak Trump to lead the criminal justice system around by its nose with ludicrous claims about what he believed. But the law provides a clear way around this: what was it reasonable to believe? An interesting observation which makes a lot of sense, because otherwise every liar could use his conviction that he is right as an excuse for lying unimpeded. In other words, the prosecution could assert, that there were enough qualified people to advise Trump that there was no basis for election fraud, so that every reasonable person must have come to the conclusion, that he was wrong in his believes. We here at DK know how this should work since Hunter revealed the immortal ten commandments of MetaJesus 10. MetaJesus says that if twenty different people say your diary sucks, then thou art not secretly an unrecognized and put-upon genius. Your diary just sucks. Thou shalt get over it. Conversely, if one person out of a hundred says your diary sucks, they may simply be a jackass. Thou shalt get over that too. If only Trump would have listened to MetaJesus, we wouldn’t be in this miserable situation. Remember the little wooden guy called Pinocchio, whose nose always grows when he lies? From Wikipedia: Upon being born, Pinocchio immediately laughs derisively in his creator's face, whereupon he steals the old man's wig. Although the part with the wig is strongly reminiscent of Trump's hairstyle, unfortunately you can't tell from his nose when he's lying again, which he actually does all the time. But does it really matter? Let me walk you trough the indictment and explain my theory, that this is a carefully laid out trap from Jack Smith and his team to bait Trump and his cadre of 4th rate lawyers into wild goose chases which ultimately will only lead to Shiny Object Syndrome. First comes the shiny object: Trump lied, and he knew it! 2. Despite having lost, the Defendant was determined to remain in power. So for more than two months following election day on November 3, 2020, the Defendant spread lies that there had been outcome-determinative fraud in the election and that he had actually won. These claims were false, and the Defendant knew that they were false. (Emph. added) But, but… What about his first Amendement rights??? 3. The Defendant had a right, like every American, to speak publicly about the election and even to claim, falsely, that there had been outcome-determinative fraud during the election and that he had won. He was also entitled to formally challenge the results of the election through lawful and appropriate means, such as by seeking recounts or audits of the popular vote in states or filing lawsuits challenging ballots and procedures. (Emph. added) Ok, so no governmental overreach by trying to muzzle a political opponent then? Well, but where is the crime? 4, Shortly after election day, the Defendant also pursued unlawful means of discounting legitimate votes and subverting the election results. (Emph. added) After this dry statement comes a rather detailed history of all the criminal acts of which Trump and his Minions are accused of and a detailed walk-trough of the things that are alleged to have happened. All of this is listed under count one, which is 18 U.S. Code § 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud United States: 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. (Emph. added) “Well”, you will say, “and all that effort to get him convicted will only lead to a maximum sentence of 5 years?”. “How disappointing”. But then follow three more charges that look like they were thrown down in passing: Count two: Conspiracy to Obstruct an Official Proceeding—18 U.S.C. & 1512(k) Count three: Obstruction of, and Attempt to Obstruct, an Official Proceeding—18 U.S.C. §§ 1512(c)(2),2 Count four: Conspiracy Against Rights—18 U.S.C. & 241 In mere two paragraphs for each count it is alleged, that Trump et. al. violated the mentioned statutes and the constituent elements are enumerated: ...did knowingly combine, conspire, confederate, and agree with co-conspirators … to corruptly obstruct and impede an official proceeding… … attempted to, and did, corruptly obstruct and impede an official proceeding, … injure, oppress, threaten, and intimidate one or more persons in the free exercise and enjoyment of a right ... Each enumeration starts with the statement The allegations contained in paragraphs 1 through 4 and 8 through 123 of this Indictment are re-alleged and fully incorporated here by reference. which means, that every one of this three additional counts is as equally important as the first one and also supported by the allegations made in the mentioned paragraphs! Let's take a look at these inconspicuous additional charges and see what's so special about them. 18 U.S.C. & 1512 (c) Whoever corruptly-- (1) … (2) otherwise obstructs, influences, or impedes any official proceeding, or attempts to do so, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both. (k) Whoever conspires to commit any offense under this section shall be subject to the same penalties as those prescribed for the offense the commission of which was the object of the conspiracy. (Emph. added) Whether the defendant committed the crime himself, or “only” conspired with others, the punishment remains the same. And that’s a real whammy. And the next one is also not a little thing 18 U.S. Code § 241 If two or more persons conspire to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or because of his having so exercised the same; ... They shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; ... And, as a little extra bonus Section 241 applies to instances of conspiracy on the part of both private individuals as well as public officials. It has to be noted that conspiracy of two or more persons to deprive alone is sufficient to invite punishment. There is no requirement that an actual deprivation should have taken place. (Emph. added) This means, that there is no need for the conspiracy to be successfully completed. And unlike the first charge, in the other three there is also no discussion of whether Trump knew he had lost the election. They are only about the actions he took. In my opinion Jack Smith masterfully constructed a web of allegations, similar to a cleverly designed fortress, with several trenches laid out in a row, one more dangerous than the other. If Trump’s defense overcomes the first one “Did he know?” the next one is “Would a reasonable person had to know?” and the next one “Did he do something unlawful?” and if not “Did he conspire to have other people do something unlawful?” and lastly “Did he conspire to take away a right?” There are so many people involved that one of them will certainly help to support one or the other charge. And because his usual habit to throw people, who disagree with him under the bus, there will most certainly be some former staff members, who — when having to choose to take one for the Don — decide, that their own freedom is more important, than loyalty to a buffoon, who doesn’t deserve it. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/8/3/2184973/-Why-it-doesn-t-matter-at-all-whether-Trump-had-lied-or-not-And-Jack-Smith-knows-it Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/