General Discussion

jg10003

(976 posts) Tue Aug 1, 2023, 08:13 PM Aug 2023

Question 4 lawyers: when is a lie a crime (besides in court or to a LEO)?

We all know that trump lies everyday about everything. My question is; when he goes in front of the cameras and lies about the election being stolen, is that conspiracy or free speech? Can trump claim that he has the right to say anything he wants as long as he's not under oath?

2 replies

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Question 4 lawyers: when is a lie a crime (besides in court or to a LEO)? (Original Post) jg10003 Aug 2023 OP

The indictments today made it clear he could lie and was not charged with lying. MLAA Aug 2023 #1

Lying is never a crime by itself Effete Snob Aug 2023 #2

MLAA

(17,391 posts)

1. The indictments today made it clear he could lie and was not charged with lying.

Reply to jg10003 (Original post)

Tue Aug 1, 2023, 08:15 PM

Aug 2023

Effete Snob

(8,387 posts)

2. Lying is never a crime by itself

Reply to jg10003 (Original post)

Tue Aug 1, 2023, 09:25 PM

Aug 2023

Making a knowingly false statement may be an element of some other crime - like fraud (lying to get something valuable), counterfeiting (presenting a written lie, mislabeled product), etc..

If someone is charged with being the getaway driver in a bank robbery, they are not being charged for “driving a car”. What matters is the purpose and intended consequences of driving that car.

Same with lying.

Why you are lying?

Who are you lying to?

What is the result you are attempting to accomplish by lying?

Under what circumstances are you lying?

Those are things that matter.

People lie all of the time. If people didn’t simplify, summarize, leave out irrelevant details, etc., we’d never get anything done.

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