Comments on: Process

By: Bryan

Bryan — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 14:06:48 +0000

Thanks for the kind words, Jim. These people are like a dog chasing cars – they’ve caught the car but they don’t know what to do with it. They have winning elections down pat, but they have never put any effort into learning how to govern.

Steve, you can’t invoke to Fifth because you intend to perjure yourself. The Fifth Amendment is for crimes that exist, not crimes in potentia. If she’s not careful, she will be into the area of contempt of Congress fro refusing to appear.

By: Steve Bates

Steve Bates — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 06:37:50 +0000

Josh Marshall points to readers who say Goodling may not be legally entitled to claim the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination based on the reasons her lawyer gives. You can’t refuse to testify just because you think the committee won’t treat you fairly, or because there are things you’d rather not say, or people you’d rather not reflect badly upon: you can only refuse if you are convinced that you yourself would be (rightly or wrongly) incriminated by your own testimony.

There is a procedure by which a court can determine whether or not an individual has a basis for taking the Fifth. Let her go to a court; let that determination be made.

Here’s an excerpt from Marshall’s reader’s comment (and here’s hoping block quotes work in comments…):

A party can request a hearing (in federal or state court) to examine whether the party invoking the Fifth has done so properly. Goodling’s attorney’s letter does not provide a valid basis for invoking the Fifth. You can’t invoke the Fifth to avoid perjury charges (or obstructing justice with the selfsame testimony). (I have the cases here, if you want them.) You can’t invoke the Fifth because you think the Committee is on a witch hunt. Etc.

There’s more; see Marshall’s original post.

By: Jim

Jim — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 03:30:03 +0000

Bryan, thank you for the shorter version of the Bush administration, “These people seem to have a pathological hatred of rules and procedures. They lie when telling the truth would be easier.” Or, compressing it to the irreducible minimum, “They lie.”