Week 64: Trump's Not Afraid of Lying to Mueller. Just Telling the Truth.

[Uncle Joe]

All the yelping by Rudolph W. Giuliani and Jay Sekulow about special counsel Robert S. Mueller III setting a “perjury trap” for President Donald Trump ignores the fact that their client, who has tweeted and spoken 4,229 (and counting) alternative facts since the inauguration, knows how to tell the truth when placed under oath. Deposed in his libel suit against journalist Timothy L. O’Brien in 2007, Trump concede 30 whoppers he’d told over the years—lies about his debts; his wealth; the size of his stake in a Manhattan development; what he charges to give speeches; the size of the Trump Organization; and so on.

Trump wasn’t entirely truthful in the deposition. You’d be disappointed if he had been, right? According to O’Brien, he lied about his business relationships with organized crime figures. But setting that fib aside for a moment, Trump isn’t so much afraid of being caught lying to Mueller’s investigation and prosecuted for perjury. Having grown accustomed over his long career of telling a dozen different versions of events, he’s mortified at the consequences of having to tell a binding truth that leaves him no space for obfuscation or creative doubling-back.

(snip)

The truth sets the average man free. For Trump, the lie is the great liberator. Going into an interview with Mueller, Trump would know that his interlocutor has as good handle on the facts behind the Russia investigation as he does and that all of his usual escape routes would be blocked. Even worse for Trump, Mueller is likely to know the background facts and chronologies even better than the president. Those who’ve ever told a lie (can I get a show of hands?) know that working under such conditions can be daunting.

(snip)

If Mueller has set a perjury trap—and what self-respecting prosecutor doesn’t keep one in a back pocket for emergencies?—it won’t resemble a rabbit snare as much as a fisherman’s trotline with multiple hooks, the better to catch the big and small fish who have schooled with Trump. Trump might be able to stop in the interview, but he can’t stop the hunt.


https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/08/11/trump-mueller-interview-perjury-truth-219350

[Bernardo de La Paz]

1. Perjury trap is mythical. Technically any lie counts, but they only prosecute crucial ones. . . . nt

[ProudMNDemocrat]

2. Trump does not know how to tell the truth......

Robert Mueller knows that. But he is not going to tell Trump that.

[SWBTATTReg]

3. Mueller does not set the perjury trap...rump did with all of his constant nonstop lying...

If Mueller has set a perjury trap—and what self-respecting prosecutor doesn’t keep one in a back pocket for emergencies?—it won’t resemble a rabbit snare as much as a fisherman’s trotline with multiple hooks, the better to catch the big and small fish who have schooled with Trump. Trump might be able to stop in the interview, but he can’t stop the hunt.

[Uncle Joe]

4. It's amazing how many Republicans either don't get that or don't want to get it.

[SWBTATTReg]

5. Yeah, I agree w/ you. Perhaps they are (repugs) thinking that people will forget or overlook this..

simple fact? Take care...

[red dog 1]

6. "This should be over with by September 1," Giuliani said of the Mueller investigation this week.

(From the OP)

K&R

[Judi Lynn]

7. Thank you for this thread, Uncle Joe. Rec. n/t