{"id":1748,"date":"2019-05-07T09:11:26","date_gmt":"2019-05-07T13:11:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/?p=1748"},"modified":"2019-05-07T09:11:32","modified_gmt":"2019-05-07T13:11:32","slug":"no-collusion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2019\/05\/07\/no-collusion\/","title":{"rendered":"No Collusion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

No Collusion<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Collusion – <\/em>“a deceitful agreement or compact between two or more persons, for the one party to bring an action against the other for some evil purpose, as to defraud a third party of his right.” \u2013 Blacks Law Dictionary<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking at the Black\u2019s Law Dictionary definition of Collusion \u2013 it sounds bad, and it definitely sounds like it ought to be illegal.  To participate in \u201ccollusion\u201d means having a \u201ccompact for evil purpose\u201d and to \u201cdefraud.\u201d  But as we have heard over and over again from the many attorneys that have peppered the media for the past two years, there is no US law against collusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the Trump Campaign actions that are called \u201ccollusion\u201d describe behaviors that might well fall under the definition of conspiracy against the United States under Federal Law (18 US Code \u00a7371):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is not a \u201clegal mistake\u201d that the President, his attorneys, the Attorney General, and the Republican Congressmen and Senators who are defending him keep chanting the same mantra:\u00a0\u00a0NO COLLUSION, NO COLLUSION, NO COLLUSION.\u00a0\u00a0Since the term doesn\u2019t have legal meaning, it\u2019s a safe thing to say.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0No one is going to drag, for example, William Barr the Attorney General into court to determine whether he \u201clied\u201d about collusion.\u00a0 There is no legal definition to lie about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of them should have read the Mueller Report (though Mr. Barr, hearing his answers to the Senate, doesn\u2019t seem to have done so, and Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham admits he hasn\u2019t completed the 448 page task.)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I have; and while Mr. Mueller does not believe he uncovered enough evidence to satisfy filing charges under 18 US Code\u00a0\u00a7371, there are lots of incidents of contact with Russia; with meetings, shared information, and joint benefits and goals.\u00a0\u00a0That’s evidence of conspiracy violating Federal law. That Mr. Mueller does not believe he has a case rising to the criminal standard of \u201cbeyond a reasonable doubt\u201d is quite different than the NO COLLUSION battle cry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Bill Barr\u2019s actions in misrepresenting the report, leaving his interpretation as the only available information for almost a month, has solidified the Trump talking point \u2013 NO COLLUSION.\u00a0\u00a0And what the President, his supporters in Congress, and the Attorney General are now doing is simply buying time.\u00a0\u00a0The longer that their \u201cnarrative\u201d is unchallenged by the actual testimony of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, or White House Counsel Don McGahn, or the multiple other possible witnesses; the longer the NO COLLUSION false conclusion will set into stone.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I heard an estimate today that only three percent of Americans have read the Mueller Report.\u00a0\u00a0I get that: even though it\u2019s important, 448 pages of legal document with enumerated footnotes is a lot to get through, along with work and life.\u00a0\u00a0So for many Americans, the only way to find out about the Mueller Report will be to hear it from Mr. Mueller himself, and the witnesses that he included.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We know the strength of spoken testimony.\u00a0\u00a0In the past few years we heard Hillary Clinton testify for eleven hours, James Comey testify to investigating the President, and Michael Cohen call his former boss a crook and a racist.\u00a0There is a tremendous impact from hearing the spoken word. \u00a0We heard them, and we will eventually hear Mueller, McGahn, and the others.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s how America will learn, just as we learned about Watergate from Nixon’s White House Counsel John Dean and the man who revealed the tapes, Alexander Butterfield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the Trump forces it\u2019s all about time.\u00a0\u00a0The longer they can stave off the investigation, the more firmly their false narrative becomes established, and the closer the election of 2020 will come.\u00a0When we get within view of the Presidential election, we will hear the same false reasoning that Mitch McConnell used to stop President Obama\u2019s nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court:\u00a0\u00a0\u201c\u2026we are within a year of the election, we should let the American people \u2018weigh-in\u2019 at the voting booth.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0It’s the rationale that Mr. Trump has used to justify not releasing his taxes, and paying hush money to porn stars, and assaulting women:\u00a0the people voted for me, so it\u2019s over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Literally, time will tell. The Courts are likely to rule in favor of the Congress in their fight for information, but it will take time, time that benefits Mr. Trump.  That\u2019s why it\u2019s important for Democrats to campaign on more than just Trump in 2020.  This issue may well be decided at the ballot box; for the sake of the nation, Democrats need to be in the right. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Addendum: Secretary of Treasury Mnuchin has just denied the Congressional demand for Mr. Trump\u2019s tax returns.  He is defying clear law (<\/em>26 US Code \u00a7 <\/em>6103 (f) (1)) but it just another part of the strategy \u2013 stall-stall-stall.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To read more on the House Ways and Means Committee and the President\u2019s taxes\u00a0 Click this link<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No Collusion Collusion – “a deceitful agreement or compact between two or more persons, for the one party to bring an action against the other for some evil purpose, as to defraud a third party of his right.” \u2013 Blacks Law Dictionary Looking at the Black\u2019s Law Dictionary definition of Collusion \u2013 it sounds bad, and … Continue reading “No Collusion”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nNo Collusion : Our America - 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