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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices
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To: Wharf Rat who wrote (1020644)6/10/2017 11:27:51 PM
From: puborectalis  Read Replies (2) of 1577673
 
Much depends on why the President wants to end the investigation of his former aide. If he thinks that the investigation is a gross misallocation of FBI resources that threatens to divert the bureau from its crime-fighting and counterterrorism responsibilities, then A1 begins to look like C1 (not a crime). But what if he wants to end the investigation because he is worried it might bring to light embarrassing information about himself, his family members, or his political associates? Then, A1 begins to look more like B1 (criminal indeed).

The apparent fact that President Trump fired the FBI Director in order to halt an investigation of the President’s former aide does not tell us whether the President has committed a crime. Clearly, some actions that the President might take in order to halt an FBI investigation would indeed be criminal (bribery, murder). And almost as clearly, there are some circumstances in which a President who fires the FBI Director in order to halt an investigation would be guilty of a crime (B1). But there are also circumstances in which a President who fires a law enforcement official in order to stop an investigation or a prosecution (or thousands of the same) would not be a criminal. Senator Howard Baker’s famous question during the Watergate hearings—“What did the President know and when did he know it”?—might be repurposed as: “What did the President do and why did he do it.” At this point, the “why” matters just as much as the “what.”
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