What a pity there’s no equivalent of our own Christine Keeler and Mandy Rice-Davies.
(Keeler was a bit of a sad case, but Rice-Davies went on to be a successful, and witty, business woman. Sadly I can’t imagine anyone in the entire Trump world either (a) enjoying lots of straightforward consensual sex or (b) being funny.)
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Papadopoulos says that he told Trump, in a a national security meeting, that he had connections in Russia that could arrange a meeting between Trump and Putin. A second, confirming source in the room claims that Sessions was in the room when Papadopoulos suggested it, and that Sessions was the one who shut it down as a bad idea.
You can’t tell someone to stop pursuing communication with the Russian government if you are unaware of communication with the Russian government.
This is irrelevant to the charge of perjury. Just because your lie is a non-sequitur doesn’t mean it’s not a lie.
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Well exactly - if he’d answered the question itself - which was entirely about what he would do in future, it would be impossible for his answer to be perjury, since none of us can know the future perfectly.
Instead he made a statement about his past actions, entirely unbidden, that was also false.
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But that’s not what it is. It’s Papadopolous saying “I know people in Russia, they have told me they can set up a meeting between Trump and Putin.” It’s not “these people about this stuff”, it’s “Trump should meet Putin, and I have communicated with people who can make that happen.”
Sessions knew that Papadopolous had communicated with the Russians and that those Russians had intimate access to Putin. He then claimed to be unaware of any such communication.
Not sure what else you need, here.
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Wait, didn’t Jeff Secessions actually meet with the Russian ambassador during the campaign? A quick google says not once but twice with Kislyak, once in his Senate office. Anyone else? are you sure?
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I would just like to say to Mr. Sessions, “Good people do not commit perjury.”
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You may be right. I mostly agree with you. But boy howdie, I am sure looking forward to being wrong about this!
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I thought it was perjury all along because he said under oath that he hadn’t met with any Russians. But he had. Oopsie. Do recent developments mean he committed double perjury?
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This is basically the “I don’t recall” defense. It is hard, but not impossible, to get around it.
You have to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that he was lying at the time he answered the question. (I.e., that he was aware of such interactions at the time he said “I am not aware of…”)
Prosecutor would present email chain as evidence that he was aware of it at the time of the emails. Prosecutor would then have to argue that he would not forget such an email. Prosecutor would measure the time between the email and the time Russian+Trump became news. Prosecutor would question Session about the research Session undertook AFTER the Russia story broke and ask things like "Did you have your staff do even the simplest things like search you email for works like “russia” or “putin” either in preparation for your appearance to discuss that exact topic before Congres or in preparation for speaking with the FBI? If he says “yes” then likely his is guilty. If he says “no” he will be worried that you may be able to find a staffer willing to testify that THAT is a lie.
His defense would be that he was 1) not aware of it when he pseudo-answered the question; and 2) his actual answer was truthful, even if he was aware of the email.
Will a jury, seeing this evidence find, beyond a reasonable doubt, that he lied and didn’t just forget? Hard to say, but my money is on “no.”
Still worth the trial, imho.
Laughingly, it might come down to him saying “It depends on what the definition of ‘am’ is.”
PS: This is why you want the best cross-examination people working for you when you are questioning people. He should not have gotten away with this answer. Then again, if pressed if he was my witness.
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I’m just wondering when Obama was “sainted,” even though he’s still alive and y’know, not catholic.
It gets kinda tedious when people seem to make assumptions about putting high profile individuals on ‘pedestals,’ when that’s often not at all the case.
Most people here don’t idolize Obama and more than they fangirl for Hillary; there are plenty of BBS folks who hold unfavorable opinions of them both.
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The latest Democratic “saint” to be attacked is Tony Podesta.
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Apologists for the current regime and for the GOP establishment are so used to appealing to simpletons who think in black-and-white terms (AKA the Republican base) that nuance isn’t something I expect when they try to address liberals and progressives.
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It looks like Jeff Sessions is a lot of things, but never trust worthy.
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Let’s look at this. Someone came in and said they could set up a meeting. Sessions says something to shut down the idea. Is Sessions aware of communications with Russia or is he aware of someone suggesting opening communications with Russia? You have to prove the former for perjury and Sessions will maintain he is only aware of the latter. The witnesses can only say Sessions was aware of it being suggested and Sessions killing that idea. They aren’t going to be able to testify he was aware of current campaign communications.
Nothing but I still think its funny.
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Julius Caesar, Act 1 Scene 2:
Cassius:
And this man is now become a god, and Cassius is
A wretched creature and must bend his body
If Caesar carelessly but nod on him…
Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world
Like a Colossus, and we petty men
Walk under his huge legs and peep about
To find ourselves dishonorable graves.
It’s a long established tendency unfortunately, and as the US goes the way of Imperial Rome it’s likely to get worse. The Romans started deifying their emperors shortly after they died, and when they adopted Christianity they started the same practice in creating “saints”.
Unfortunately only people in small unimportant countries seem to avoid it.
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If he was good at his job, he knew. If he didn’t he was bad at his job.
I guess we will learn soon, is he a criminal, or merely incompetent?
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It looks like Jeff Sessions committed perjury
Must be a day ending in a -y
Dude just looks like a purgerer. What’s a poor elf to do?
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“Remember, thou art just a man.”
~Auriga
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Are you a man??
