Spocko's Brain

I’m happy Trump’s witness intimidation was called out in the impeachment report. (Link)

The President engaged in this effort to intimidate these public servants to prevent them from cooperating with Congress’ impeachment inquiry. He issued threats, openly discussed possible retaliation, made insinuations about their character and patriotism, and subjected them to mockery and derision—when they deserved the opposite. The President’s attacks were broadcast to millions of Americans—including witnesses’ families, friends, and coworkers.

It is a federal crime to intimidate or seek to intimidate any witness appearing before Congress. This prohibition applies to anyone who knowingly “uses intimidation, threatens, or corruptly persuades” another person in order to “influence, delay, or prevent the testimony of any person in an official proceeding.” Violations of this law can carry a criminal sentence of up to 20 years in prison.|

The report called out specific ways he intimidated witnesses before during and after the most recent hearings. What it doesn’t include is his history of doing this during the Mueller investigation. I want witness tampering to be part of his impeachment because he needs to be punished for it. As the report says:

The President’s campaign of intimidation risks discouraging witnesses from coming forward voluntarily, . . . → Read More: Why we must punish the Trump mob for witness intimidation

Remember those additional javelin missiles that Ukrainian President Zelensky wanted? It turns out that the US requires they be kept 100’s of miles from the battlefield. From an article in Foreign Policy on October 3rd, 2019 Far From the Front Lines, Javelin Missiles Go Unused in Ukraine

“Under the conditions of the foreign military sale, the Trump administration stipulates that the Javelins must be stored in western Ukraine—hundreds of miles from the battlefield. ”

“I see these more as symbolic weapons than anything else,” said Samuel Charap, a senior political scientist at Rand Corp. Experts say the conditions of the sale render them useless in the event of a sustained low-level assault—the kind of attack Ukraine is most likely to face from Russia.

A U.S. Marine fires a Javelin at a simulated enemy tank at Pohakuloa Training Area in Hawaii. (Photo: U.S. Marine Corps) From Raytheon Javelin Weapon System Gallery

So who wins with the sale of these missiles that aren’t available to use? Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. Each missile costs $109,000 each.

When the discussion of military aide came up Sen. John McCain taunted Obama for giving the Ukrainians “blankets and meals,” instead of lethal support. Trump . . . → Read More: US requires Ukraine to keep Javelin missiles 100’s of miles from battlefield

I write to Preet Bharara about his comments on Trump’s threats to whistleblowers and witnesses.

Anne Milgram @AnneMilgram and Preet Bharara @PreetBharara

This is Spocko in San Francisco, you called Trump’s threat to the whistle blower an abomination on your October 1 Cafe Insider episode, but will Trump be charged for threatening the whistle blower(s) Does the witness tampering statue apply to whistleblowers? What about the others in government who gave the whistle blower information? Trump is threatening them too.

I would like you and Anne to discuss the witness tampering statue and how Trump and others like Lindsey Graham and Jim Jordan will avoid being charged with witness tampering. I’m very concerned that with the DOJ under Bill Barr no one will be charged with threatening witnesses. Is it possible for US Attorneys in other districts to charge Trump with witness tampering? LLAP, Spocko

Here is the section of the show that discussed it. 2 minutes 23 seconds.

https://www.spockosbrain.com/wp-content/uploads/Whistleblower-comments-Insider-2019-10-01-edit-645pm-1.mp3

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NOW the detailed questions, because you are lawyers and know politics too.

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I’ve seen the right wing media spin the President’s threats as no big deal, just “tough talk” I have a few . . . → Read More: I #AskPreet: “Trump threatens Whistleblowers, isn’t that a crime?”

Today’s right wing politicians have adopted Trump’s method of intimidation and attack. They use them on the press and critics. Even critics who are their constituents. First, it is important to acknowledge politicians on the right aren’t satisfied with silencing their critics, they keep attacking. They want to put them in jail. From Seeing Red, a website which self identifies as “Nebraska politics from the left.”

On Monday, September 23, Lincoln resident Patricia Wonch Hill is scheduled to go to court. Her “crime”? She allegedly taped a note onto the office door of U.S. Senator Deb Fischer in October of last year. The note was not threatening, and the tape was not some kind of unusual industrial glass-destroying tape. It was, according to the police report, a paper that read “Deb ♥s Rapists” affixed to the glass door with a piece of packing tape and two stickers. The staffer who called the police upon discovering the note claimed it had caused $1 worth of damage, though how a piece of tape could cause $1 worth of damage to a glass door was not specified. Presumably $1 is the labor value the staffer placed on the time it took her to . . . → Read More: Sen. Deb Fischer Wants to Put Constituent in Jail For Posting A Note On Her Door

We live in a world where powerful men have sexually trafficked women and raped children repeatedly, over years. They employ fixers who use multiple methods to stop victims from obtaining justice.

What can you do? First. Stop thinking the rich and powerful will always win. It’s easy to be cynical when we see the powerful at the top get away with their crimes. But they don’t always.In our system the powerful men’s fixers exploit victim’s lack of equivalent legal, financial and PR resources to prevent justice and to silence the victims. They use the general public’s cynicism, impatience and learned helplessness as a tool. But when you give up hope of men ever coming to justice, you let the child rapists and their protectors win. But they don’t always win.

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I’m going to tell you what The Fixers, the people protecting the powerful, will be doing next. By anticipating what each type of Fixer will do, you can set traps and catch them in the act.I’ve written about the Epstein case twice. July 10th Epstein And Trump: The Cover Up And The Child Rape and July 26th, Epstein Found Injured in Jail. Suicide Attempt? Or Attempted “Suicide? As a . . . → Read More: Some powerful men do get convicted of sex crimes. Let’s learn from those cases.