This won’t shock anyone, but once again Donald Trump’s incompetence has threatened the future of his administration.
Recently, sh*t has hit the fan after the New York Times and Washington Post reported that Trump’s original memo, in which he outlined reasons why he wanted to fire former FBI Director James Comey, landed in the hands of Special Counsel Robert Mueller. While this certainly spells trouble for Trump’s Russia investigation, Trump also put Vice President Mike Pence in jeopardy, as Pence now may be involved in obstruction of justice thanks to his idiot boss.
In an interview with MSNBC, Fordham University Law professor Jed Shugerman explained just why Trump’s memo is the worst news for Pence:
“Let me explain why this timeline puts him in legal jeopardy. So, we know that this letter was drafted on one day, and then after Steven Miller came back with that draft, it was read in a room of people, including Vice President Pence. And when that letter was read, it had, quote, The New York Times talks about a screed, and it identified all of these other connections to the Russian probe for why Trump had decided to fire Jim Comey. Then after this letter is edited, Mike Pence then tells the media that the Comey firing was not connected to the Russian probe, and he said it was due to Rod Rosenstein’s recommendation. Those statements are untrue.”
Shugerman also explained that Pence had heard both letters and lied, which “implicates Mike Pence now in a combination of conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice, aiding and abetting obstruction of justice, and also a relatively less known felony called misprision of a felony.” Shugerman explained that Pence would be guilty because Pence “has knowledge of a felony” but “conceals and does not make it known to the legal authorities.” He continued:
“Let’s keep in mind that the [President Richard] Nixon articles of impeachment included a provision blaming Nixon for misleading or false statements to the public. Now, that’s not a felony, but it was grounds for impeaching President Nixon.”
Shugerman also dispelled the myth that Trump’s lawyers met with Mueller to state that Trump has the presidential power to fire Comey, making him innocent. Shugerman pretty much tore that argument apart:
“That basic argument is so wrong that it shows why there’s so little that the Trump lawyers have to argue. A president has the power to order a military strike, but if the president is ordering that military strike with the intent of, let’s say, killing someone who slept with his wife, that’s still murder. A president can pardon someone, but if the president pardons someone because he received a million dollar bribe, that’s still a felony of bribery. Just because the president has the power to do something, it doesn’t mean that it excuses any exercise of that power because intent matters.”
The firing of James Comey, as well as the previous scandal where Pence knew that former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn was having conversations with Russians, are just two instances where Pence blatantly stated that he knew nothing, and lied. This newly uncovered Trump memo could very well turn into a legal nightmare for the vice president.
You can watch this fascinating segment below:
Featured image via John Moore / Getty Images
