Trump’s Latest Threat Called Witness Intimidation

Law & Crime reports:

President Donald Trump said earlier Thursday to a “crowd of staff from the United States Mission to the United Nations” that he wanted to know who the Ukraine whistleblower’s source or sources were “because that’s close to a spy.”

Trump then remarked that back in the “old days” spies and traitors were treated “a little differently.” In those days, we were “smart,” Trump said.

Trump’s words were immediately interpreted as witness tampering and/or obstruction of justice, as those White House sources may very well be asked down the line to testify in some form or fashion. Where have we seen this story before?

The President’s suggestion that those involved in the whisteblower complaint should be dealt with as “we used to do” for “spies and treason” is a reprehensible invitation to violence against witnesses in our investigation.

All Americans must denounce such witness intimidation. https://t.co/cTQQXdbGsa

— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) September 26, 2019

The president suggesting the whistleblower should be harmed.

Remarkable but not new languag: this echoes his comments at rallies when he’d pine for treatment from the “old days” when a protestor would interrupt himhttps://t.co/ro6iirHZVq

— Jonathan Martin (@jmartNYT) September 26, 2019

Someone explain the extortion and intimidating a witness laws to this guy https://t.co/aFD3nN6SBk

— Bradley P. Moss (@BradMossEsq) September 26, 2019

Threatening actual and potential witnesses, of course, constitutes obstruction of justice. https://t.co/cgOPxOXOCl

— George Conway (@gtconway3d) September 26, 2019