Trump's latest tweets cross clear lines, experts say: Obstruction of justice and witness tampering
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/12/03/trumps-latest-tweets-cross-clear-lines-experts-say-obstruction-justice-witness-tampering/?utm_term=.f7309b8457f8
President Trump took to Twitter Monday morning, haranguing special counsel Robert S. Mueller III and witnesses to his ongoing Russia investigation. His tweets have become a common morning occurrence, particularly in recent weeks. But legal experts are calling Mondays missives a newsworthy development that amounts to evidence of obstructing justice.
Trumps first statement went out after Michael Cohen, his former personal attorney who pleaded guilty last week for lying to Congress about the presidents real estate project in Russia. In his tweet, Trump alleged that Cohen lied to Mueller and called for a severe penalty, demanding that his former fixer serve a full and complete sentence.
After the overt attack on Cohen came a tweet encouraging Roger Stone, a longtime adviser to Trump, not to become a witness against him:
I will never testify against Trump. This statement was recently made by Roger Stone, essentially stating that he will not be forced by a rogue and out of control prosecutor to make up lies and stories about President Trump. Nice to know that some people still have guts!
Norman Eisen, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said that the most striking thing about Monday was that there were two statements in proximity.
It comes very close to the statutory definition of witness tampering, he said. Its a mirror image of the first tweet, only hes praising a witness for not cooperating with the implication of reward, he said, adding that Trump has pardon power over Stone.