Lying is a crime, Donald Trump

The charge is lying.

"Democracy dies in darkness," is the tagline from Washington Post's "Fact Checker." So far, as much as Trump and his Republican Congress might try to snuff it, the majority of Americans are keeping faith in the dream for democratic pluralism.

As I remind him daily, lying is a crime from Federal Government Officials. Trump lies 63-70% of the time, and that is not "off by one-hundredth of a percent."

"President Trump’s false claims about Obamacare, wiretapping and … his own false claims   

President Trump criticized fact-checkers at a speech this week: “If it’s off by one-hundredth of a percent, I end up getting Pinocchios.” 

But we beg to differ. Under our standards, being off by 100th of a percentage point would likely result in a Geppetto Checkmark. The reason Trump has so many Four-Pinocchio ratings is that many of his claims lack evidence or a factual basis. 

Take this week, for example. In the past seven days, we logged 70 false or misleading claims from Trump in our 100 Days of Trump Claims tracker. 

Here’s a look at unsupported claims Trump made this week about wiretapping, Obamacare and … even his own falsehoods." 

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Personally, I have been a witness and interviewed by an inspector general. I did so freely as a citizen and without counsel. I know the law as every citizen must without excuse.

"Making false statements (18 U.S.C. § 1001) is the common name for the United States federal crime laid out in Section 1001 of Title 18 of the United States Code, which generally prohibits knowingly and willfully making false or fraudulent statements, or concealing information, in "any matter within the jurisdiction" of the federal government of the United States, even by mere denial."

If you lie, you fry.

18 U.S. Code § 1001 - Statements or entries generally

Current through Pub. L. 114-38. (See Public Laws for the current Congress.)
US Code

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, whoever, in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government of the United States, knowingly and willfully—
(1) falsifies, conceals, or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact;
(2) makes any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation; or
(3) makes or uses any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry;
shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years or, if the offense involves international or domestic terrorism (as defined in section 2331), imprisoned not more than 8 years, or both. If the matter relates to an offense under chapter 109A, 109B, 110, or 117, or section 1591, then the term of imprisonment imposed under this section shall be not more than 8 years.
(b) Subsection (a) does not apply to a party to a judicial proceeding, or that party’s counsel, for statements, representations, writings or documents submitted by such party or counsel to a judge or magistrate in that proceeding.
(c) With respect to any matter within the jurisdiction of the legislative branch, subsection (a) shall apply only to—
(1) administrative matters, including a claim for payment, a matter related to the procurement of property or services, personnel or employment practices, or support services, or a document required by law, rule, or regulation to be submitted to the Congress or any office or officer within the legislative branch; or
(2) any investigation or review, conducted pursuant to the authority of any committee, subcommittee, commission or office of the Congress, consistent with applicable rules of the House or Senate.
(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 749; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, § 330016(1)(L), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2147; Pub. L. 104–292, § 2, Oct. 11, 1996, 110 Stat. 3459; Pub. L. 108–458, title VI, § 6703(a), Dec. 17, 2004, 118 Stat. 3766; Pub. L. 109–248, title I, § 141(c), July 27, 2006, 120 Stat. 603.)

One for you, Donald Trump and you too Mike Pence.

"Misprision of felony" is still an offense under United States federal law after being codified in 1909 under 18 U.S.C. § 4:

Whoever, having knowledge of the actual commission of a felony cognizable by a court of the United States, conceals and does not as soon as possible make known the same to some judge or other person in civil or military authority under the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both. 

This offense, however, requires active concealment of a known felony rather than merely failing to report it. 

If one knows that one is a target of a Federal investigation, it is illegal under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to erase one's browser history intentionally. Khairullozhan Matanov was prosecuted for erasing computer records about his friends, Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev; he pleaded guilty to a lesser included offense in 2015. 

The Federal misprision of felony statute is usually only used in prosecutions against defendants who have a special duty to report a crime, such as a government official. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misprision_of_felony

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