Trump tweets could help prosecutors’ case
WASHINGTON – President Trump’s Twitter habit may become a legal liability for him because his latest tweets about the Russia investigation could help build a case against him on charges of obstruction of justice or witness intimidation, legal experts said.
After news broke last month that George Papadopoulos, a former foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign, was cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, Trump tweeted that Papadopoulos is “a liar.”
Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to lying to FBI agents about his contacts during the campaign with a professor he said “had substantial connections to Russian government officials,” according to court documents unsealed by Mueller. The professor offered Papadopoulos thousands of emails containing “dirt” on Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
Trump’s tweets about indictments in the Russia investigation “could be used to further support a case against him for obstruction of justice,” said Barry Berke, a partner at the New York law firm of
Kramer Levin Naftalis and Frankel.
Trump tweeted that Mueller’s indictment of his former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, had nothing to do with his campaign and that Mueller should go after Democrats instead. Mueller indicted Manafort and his associate Rick Gates on charges that they secretly worked on behalf of pro-Russian factions in Ukraine, laundered millions of dollars in profits through foreign bank accounts and sought to cover up their work while they held senior roles in Trump’s campaign.
“To the extent the president’s tweets regarding the indictment of Manafort and Gates or the cooperation of Papadopoulos are knowingly false and intended to mislead investigators, influence the testimony of others or cover up what actually occurred, that could support an obstruction of justice case,” Berke said.
Attorney John Dowd, one of several attorneys representing President Trump, responded via email with the single word: “Nonsense!”
A few tweets are unlikely to be enough for a prosecutor to charge someone with obstruction of justice, said Noah Bookbinder, the executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and the former chief counsel for criminal justice for the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“You’re not likely to get a charge because he (Trump) called somebody a liar in one instance,” Bookbinder said. “But the tweets form a pattern of conduct with the other actions he’s engaged in where it starts to look like he is trying to undermine this investigation in many different ways and potentially trying to pressure those who are running the investigation or cooperating with the investigation.”
Trump’s fondness for tweeting could come back to haunt him if he tries to replace Attorney General Jeff Sessions or Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein with someone who will fire Muell- er, said Jens David Ohlin, vice dean and professor of law at Cornell Law School.
Trump has attacked Sessions on Twitter for recusing himself from the investigation, which the president has referred to as a “witch hunt” and “a hoax.” Sessions stepped aside from the inquiry amid criticism that he failed to tell the Senate Judiciary Committee that he met twice with a Russian ambassador while he served as an adviser to Trump’s campaign. That left Rosenstein in charge of Mueller. Rosenstein has said he has no plans to fire Mueller.
“If the president fired Sessions or Rosenstein, all of those tweets about Mueller and the Russia investigation would become very relevant to an obstruction of justice claim,” Ohlin said. “If he tried to say that firing Mueller or shutting down the investigation was the idea of the new attorney, his tweets railing against the investigation would belie that explanation.”
Not only could prosecutors use the tweets against Trump in an obstruction case, but Congress could use them in impeachment proceedings against the president if Mueller was fired, the professor said.
“The tweets form a pattern of conduct with the other actions he’s engaged in where it starts to look like he is trying to undermine this investigation.” Noah Bookbinder Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington