Posted on Feb 6, 2021
Impeachment experts say Trump can’t hide behind First Amendment
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Former president Trump can’t use the First Amendment to shield himself from accountability during the upcoming impeachment trial, according to an open letter released on Friday from a group of nearly 150 constitutional scholars.
“The First Amendment is no bar to the Senate convicting former president Trump and disqualifying him from holding future office,” the letter insists. “The First Amendment does not apply in impeachment proceedings, so it cannot provide a defense for president Trump.”
Mr Trump’s lawyers have indicated he might argue during the Senate trial next week that his conduct leading up to the 6 January riot from his supporters is protected under the freedom of speech.
“The First Amendment is no bar to the Senate convicting former president Trump and disqualifying him from holding future office,” the letter insists. “The First Amendment does not apply in impeachment proceedings, so it cannot provide a defense for president Trump.”
Mr Trump’s lawyers have indicated he might argue during the Senate trial next week that his conduct leading up to the 6 January riot from his supporters is protected under the freedom of speech.
Impeachment experts say Trump can’t hide behind First Amendment
Posted from independent.co.uk
Constitution
Law
1st Amendment
Freedom of Speech
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 6
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What specifically did he say that incited anything close to a riot or violence?
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LTC Eugene Chu
PO1 H Gene Lawrence - Giuliani is relevant as his then lawyer and SPC Mark Huddleston is right that Trump said nothing in response to the inflammatory remark.
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PO1 H Gene Lawrence
LTC Eugene Chu - with all due respect, I asked what did Trump say, not anything about his attorney.
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CPO Jeffrey Bohemier
Trump said OVER AND OVER again (and again and again and again) that HE WON THE ELECTION without even the slightest shred of proof. The judges Trump seated didn’t even buy into it. According to Trump, he won by “millions” of votes, yet every count and recount has clearly proven that that’s clearly NOT the case. That’s Trump’s “BIG LIE.” Frankly, it’s just another of thousands that he’s told, including the other “Big Lie” about how he’s a billionaire and highly successful businessman. Truth is, he’s bankrupted more businesses than any other CEO. And his lies started before he even became President. It’s a shame that Americans have such short memories, because Trump’s lies go all the way back into the 70’s. Trump University was a bait and switch scam right from the start. It’s not a coincidence that he held a rally on the same day at the same time that the votes were being counted in the Capital. Trump stood on that stage and blatantly told all his idiot suckers that he was going to March to the Capital building with them. But obviously he didn’t. Because Trump HAS ALWAYS USED OTHERS TO DO HIS DIRTY WORK, as then he has plausible deniability. This is the typical way that Trump operates, ESPECIALLY when he’s encouraged others to do something illegal.
Frankly, it pisses me off that Trump has yet to be arrested and charged with any crime. People dies in his little operation. THAT MAKES HIM LIABLE as though he caused those deaths himself. That’s how the law works. That’s why when a spouse hires someone to murder their own spouse, they’re just as liable as if they had committed the crime themselves. Trump shouldn’t be treated any different.
It simply amazes me that so many people have completely fallen for Trump’s complete line of bullshit. As military members, those of you that follow Trump ought to be ashamed of yourselves. This man mocked a disabled reporter on national television to get a laugh at that reporter’ expense. The comments he made on that bus were far beyond any “locker room talk” as he explained. He stated on national television that military members who suffer from PTSD are “WEAK.” He mocked the mother of a fallen war hero who was killed while saving the lives of his platoon members…because his mother was Muslim. He called our WWI Veterans buried over in France “SUCKERS.” Trump also stated that had he been given the chance, he would’ve served in the military. BULLSHIT!!! He was given MULTIPLE chances. Instead of serving when he received his draft notice (no less than 3 different times), he used his daddy’s influence and money to pay off a doctor for a bogus medical claim of “bone Spurs.” The doctor’s daughter happened to be in the room when the deal was made between Fred TRUMP and the doctor, where Fred Trump’s property maintenance personnel would provide the doctor with free repairs to any of his properties as well in order to obtain that bogus medical claim. Funny how much golf Trump still manages to play when he has bone Spurs in his feet. AND YET SOME OF YOU FOLLOW HIM LIKE THE FOOLS YOU REALLY ARE. Your Commander in Chief is a fucking draft Dodger. He’s blatantly insulted those that have given and protected the very freedoms that allowed him to become President. Just WHAT does it take in order to pull your heads out of your asses? As a military member, you swore an Oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. How many of you are even aware that while Trump was campaigning that he was also being tutored on the Constitution? Only the Tutor had an extremely hard time keeping his attention. Trump quit after the 6th Amendment. This man who was your Commander in Chief hadn’t ever even bothered to actually read the Constitution. But hey, he wasn’t bothering to read his daily Intelligence Briefs either. I guess they should’ve been given to him in comic book strip form. More staff members quit working for Trump than ANY other President. They all started out being huge fans. But as they worked for him, their illusions quickly turned into disillusions. After quitting they wrote books about what it was like working for this man. Not a single one of those books is glowing. And yet , although written by completely different people, they all say nearly the same thing. Trump has no attention span. He’s like dealing with a child in a man’s body. Everything about the government has to be explained over and over again. Trump refuses to take advice from anyone, period. Trump forgets the positions he takes on issues and changes his mind often, depending on the position of the person he talked to last. Trump spends nearly half the day watching TV…usually FOX news, for which he calls into on a nearly daily basis. Trump won’t tell the truth about anything, even when the truth benefits himself. He makes up nearly everything that comes out of his mouth because he doesn’t bother with either reading briefings of bothers to listen to them. He was way in over his head at the beginning of his Presidency. He still was…even at the end. Yet some of you buy into his bullshit because he’s telling you EXACTLY what you want to hear. He’s directly responsible for hundreds of thousands of additional, needless deaths from COVID 19. And why? Because Democrats suggested that the country needed to mask up in order to STOP SPREADING THE VIRUS FROM PERSON TO PERSON. The Democrats were right. But Trump couldn’t possibly agree with the Democrats. So he politicalised the wearing of mask as if somehow, you were giving up some Constitutional freedom. Only, no such freedoms exist, ANYWHERE, much less in the Constitution. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. The government has the authority to mandate the wearing of mask and other PPE during national emergencies. So people removed their mask and followed Trump around as he held Rallies. And spread COVID all over the country. Unfortunately, many of you weren’t in the military during the days of the Soviet Union. Because if you had been, you would’ve drawn an easy parallel to that of former Soviet Communist leaders. And another named Adolf Hitler. And yet you STILL FOLLOW HIM. YOUR ALLOWED TO BE A REPUBLICAN WITHOUT following Trump. There’s been several great Republican leaders. Trump’s NOT a Republican. He simply choose the side where he thought he could get the most votes. Sadly, on that he was correct. But that’s because there’s far too many Americans that simply vote for the party regardless of WHO they’ll put up. I didn’t vote for Trump. I never imagined that I could possibly ever vote for Hillary Clinton, but as bad as she is, she was STILL better than Trump. The United States used to be looked upon for her wisdom and excellence in leadership. Until Trump. Trump doesn’t understand what leadership even is. That’s because he can’t get past his own ego. True leaders keep their ego in check. Some of you people need to wake up before you destroy our country.
Frankly, it pisses me off that Trump has yet to be arrested and charged with any crime. People dies in his little operation. THAT MAKES HIM LIABLE as though he caused those deaths himself. That’s how the law works. That’s why when a spouse hires someone to murder their own spouse, they’re just as liable as if they had committed the crime themselves. Trump shouldn’t be treated any different.
It simply amazes me that so many people have completely fallen for Trump’s complete line of bullshit. As military members, those of you that follow Trump ought to be ashamed of yourselves. This man mocked a disabled reporter on national television to get a laugh at that reporter’ expense. The comments he made on that bus were far beyond any “locker room talk” as he explained. He stated on national television that military members who suffer from PTSD are “WEAK.” He mocked the mother of a fallen war hero who was killed while saving the lives of his platoon members…because his mother was Muslim. He called our WWI Veterans buried over in France “SUCKERS.” Trump also stated that had he been given the chance, he would’ve served in the military. BULLSHIT!!! He was given MULTIPLE chances. Instead of serving when he received his draft notice (no less than 3 different times), he used his daddy’s influence and money to pay off a doctor for a bogus medical claim of “bone Spurs.” The doctor’s daughter happened to be in the room when the deal was made between Fred TRUMP and the doctor, where Fred Trump’s property maintenance personnel would provide the doctor with free repairs to any of his properties as well in order to obtain that bogus medical claim. Funny how much golf Trump still manages to play when he has bone Spurs in his feet. AND YET SOME OF YOU FOLLOW HIM LIKE THE FOOLS YOU REALLY ARE. Your Commander in Chief is a fucking draft Dodger. He’s blatantly insulted those that have given and protected the very freedoms that allowed him to become President. Just WHAT does it take in order to pull your heads out of your asses? As a military member, you swore an Oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. How many of you are even aware that while Trump was campaigning that he was also being tutored on the Constitution? Only the Tutor had an extremely hard time keeping his attention. Trump quit after the 6th Amendment. This man who was your Commander in Chief hadn’t ever even bothered to actually read the Constitution. But hey, he wasn’t bothering to read his daily Intelligence Briefs either. I guess they should’ve been given to him in comic book strip form. More staff members quit working for Trump than ANY other President. They all started out being huge fans. But as they worked for him, their illusions quickly turned into disillusions. After quitting they wrote books about what it was like working for this man. Not a single one of those books is glowing. And yet , although written by completely different people, they all say nearly the same thing. Trump has no attention span. He’s like dealing with a child in a man’s body. Everything about the government has to be explained over and over again. Trump refuses to take advice from anyone, period. Trump forgets the positions he takes on issues and changes his mind often, depending on the position of the person he talked to last. Trump spends nearly half the day watching TV…usually FOX news, for which he calls into on a nearly daily basis. Trump won’t tell the truth about anything, even when the truth benefits himself. He makes up nearly everything that comes out of his mouth because he doesn’t bother with either reading briefings of bothers to listen to them. He was way in over his head at the beginning of his Presidency. He still was…even at the end. Yet some of you buy into his bullshit because he’s telling you EXACTLY what you want to hear. He’s directly responsible for hundreds of thousands of additional, needless deaths from COVID 19. And why? Because Democrats suggested that the country needed to mask up in order to STOP SPREADING THE VIRUS FROM PERSON TO PERSON. The Democrats were right. But Trump couldn’t possibly agree with the Democrats. So he politicalised the wearing of mask as if somehow, you were giving up some Constitutional freedom. Only, no such freedoms exist, ANYWHERE, much less in the Constitution. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. The government has the authority to mandate the wearing of mask and other PPE during national emergencies. So people removed their mask and followed Trump around as he held Rallies. And spread COVID all over the country. Unfortunately, many of you weren’t in the military during the days of the Soviet Union. Because if you had been, you would’ve drawn an easy parallel to that of former Soviet Communist leaders. And another named Adolf Hitler. And yet you STILL FOLLOW HIM. YOUR ALLOWED TO BE A REPUBLICAN WITHOUT following Trump. There’s been several great Republican leaders. Trump’s NOT a Republican. He simply choose the side where he thought he could get the most votes. Sadly, on that he was correct. But that’s because there’s far too many Americans that simply vote for the party regardless of WHO they’ll put up. I didn’t vote for Trump. I never imagined that I could possibly ever vote for Hillary Clinton, but as bad as she is, she was STILL better than Trump. The United States used to be looked upon for her wisdom and excellence in leadership. Until Trump. Trump doesn’t understand what leadership even is. That’s because he can’t get past his own ego. True leaders keep their ego in check. Some of you people need to wake up before you destroy our country.
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Can you yell fire in a crowded theater? No. Trump urged protesters onwards to the Capital, he’d be right behind them, to fight like hell. Sounded like inciting to me when I heard it on the news.
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The impeachment and Senate trial, I n my medicated opinion is BS. Trump isn’t president. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court will not participate as required by the Constitution. Can the Senate try a private citizen? The “Judge” presiding over the Kangaroo Court election s a partisan Democrat. Gee sounds fair to me.The rioters organized before Trump spoke, like weeks before Trump spoke.
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