Updates

                                       SETTING IT STRAIGHT

Ahem.

We hear enough these days about America’s support for Israel, whether or not we should continue it, and so forth. We hear plenty of slogans in support of Palestine’s quest for self-determination—a cause which I support—including the ominous “From the River to the Sea…..” 

And yeah, I know Israel has a lot of problems, some of them of its own making. 

But still, Israel is the homeland of an indigenous people. My people. It is the only democratic state in the entire region, has been our country’s ally since 1947, and it is surrounded by hostile entities that would gratefully have it erased from the map.

Now. I am an American born and bred, and I love my country. But I do not like or agree with everything it does. And I’ll bet you don’t, either. And that’s OK.

So please, listen up. Because when it comes to slogans, I offer this:

Free Gaza from Hamas;

Free Lebanon from Hezbollah;

Free Yemen from Houthis;

Free Iran from IRGC.

Free the World from radical Islam. 

The world would be a much better place. 

Thank you. 

 TALKIN’ ‘BOUT THAT FIFTH

Donald T****’s notion of people invoking the Fifth Amendment was well-documented early in his political career. He once charged that “The mob takes the Fifth. If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?”

At a 2016 rally in Iowa, he criticized people connected to Hillary Clinton’s email controversy for invoking their Fifth Amendment protection. He also framed the same idea elsewhere, saying. “If you’re not guilty of a crime, what do you need immunity for, pleading the Fifth Amendment?”

But when it came his turn, of course, all bets were off.

During a deposition he gave in August, 2022 concerning allegations that the T**** Organization had misstated real-estate values and financial information, he invoked the Fifth Amendment rather than answer substantive questions about the case. 

In fact, he took the Fifth over 440 times. And he had an alibi. He said he believed the investigation of him, his family, and his company, was politically motivated and that therefore he had “no choice” but to invoke the right. 

When asked later about this apparent dichotomy, T**** admitted, “I once asked, ‘If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?’ Now I know the answer to that question.”

There is a nuance, here. The court in a civil case may, in some circumstances, draw an “adverse inference”—the witness is lying or evading the truth—from a party’s refusal to answer. The judge in the T**** case said he was permitted to do so.

Now. Fast-forward to earlier this week. Dr. Anthony Fauci was subpoenaed to appear before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. The stated purpose was to examine, six years after the fact, COVID-19’s origins and allegations that Fauci misled Congress about his research and the pandemic response. Fauci has denied those allegations.

The Committee’s chairman, Senator Rand Paul, has been a long-time critic of Dr. Fauci’s handling of the COVID crisis. His bias has been no secret; he has more than once claimed that the Doctor belonged “behind bars.” 

At the hearing, Dr. Fauci, on advice of counsel, invoked his Fifth Amendment right to not answer the committee’s questions. His explanation was that the subpoena was politically motivated, and that Sen. Paul called him in an attempt to get him to say something that could be used to support Paul’s repeated calls for Fauci to be prosecuted. This, as opposed to any legitimate oversight purpose. 

The senator was furious, and by the end of the week Paul had a referral to the DOJ charging the Doctor with Contempt of Congress for not answering his questions.

The wording of the Fifth Amendment states: no person “shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself.” However, the Supreme Court has consistently ruled that this right may be asserted in any proceeding, not just a criminal case, where compelled testimony creates a real risk of criminal self-incrimination. 

Thus, Donald T****’s taking the Fifth at his civil trial, where a judge or jury is deciding the facts of a lawsuit. His invocation and the adverse inference ruling, which is specific to civil adjudications, could put him in jeopardy. ‘

Thus Dr Fauci’s invocation at his Congressional hearing. A congressional hearing is a legislative or investigative proceeding, not a judicial one. In that case, there is no judge or jury deciding liability or guilt.

But if the matter later becomes the subject of a criminal or civil lawsuit, the witness’s invocation may be introduced as evidence, and the adverse inference rule may apply. And Dr. Fauci’s invocation could put him in jeopardy

Donald T**** and Dr. Fauci invoked their Fifth Amendment protections under different circumstances. But when you look at it objectively, the two men invoked basically for the same reason and put them at similar risk. 

Of course, there is a major difference in the eyes of Republicans about people invoking their Fifth Amendment protections. And it has nothing to do with the circumstances of these two instances. No, the Republican’s response is a little more basic than that. 

As far as Republicans are concerned, when their guys take the Fifth, it’s just fine with them; it is their Constitutional right. And besides T****, there have been lots of them, including but not limited to the likes Eric T****, Michael Flynn, Roger Stone, Alex Jones, Ghislaine Maxwell and no less than thirty-four January 6 “patriots. And that’s just OK with the Republicans.

But when the other guys do it, they get madder than  hell. The cry goes out, they’re guilty; lock’em up.

It’s called hypocrisy.