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In our legal jurisprudence system there is a principle that applies to most proceedings — one that still taints the entire presidential defense. That principle is known as the:
The fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine
The fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine prevents the prosecution from admitting certain evidence into a criminal case after it has been tainted by a primary illegality. This doctrine is meant to remove illegally-acquired evidence from negatively impacting a criminal defendant.
Background Information
The fruit of the poisonous tree is an extension to the exclusionary rule. The exclusionary rule requires that evidence that is illegally obtained should be excluded from admission in a criminal trial. The fruit of the poisonous tree takes the assessment one step further by excluding evidence that stemmed from the primary illegality, the poisonous tree.
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www.hg.org
How about all the evidence that has been illegally blocked?
By denying the testimony of John Bolton, the Trump legal team — with a strong assist from a cowering GOP Senate — has preemptively just cut down the entire “evidentiary tree.”
Bolton alleges the lead defense lawyer was involved in the Trump Extortion scheme, that Pat Cipollone WAS IN THE Loop.
Yet Cipollone just led the defense that there was No Abuse of Power LOOP, to be in on. That president Trump was acting well within his own fictitious legal bounds.
What’s worse — and this is where the “legitimacy” question from the post’s Title comes in — Pat Cipollone issued the White House Letter which was what “authorized” the ENTIRE Administration NOT TO COOPERATE with any Impeachment Investigation document requests or witness subpoenas.
So the question remains:
Isn't Cipollone's Letter "authorizing" the Administration obstruction, the thing that's illegitimate?
Especially since the very shaky grounds that the alleged Trump co-conspirator used to justify his/Trump’s STFU orders, was that the House Impeachment Inquiry was itself “constitutionally illegitimate.” That anti-constitutional claim is rich in irony in many more ways than one …
by Ursula Perano , Axios.com — Oct 8, 2019
The White House sent a blistering 8-page letter to House Democratic leaders on Tuesday informing them that the Trump administration will not participate in their impeachment inquiry into the president, blasting it as "constitutionally illegitimate."
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Given that your inquiry lacks any legitimate constitutional foundation, any pretense of fairness, or even the most elementary due process protections, the Executive Branch cannot be expected to participate in it. Because participating in this inquiry under the current unconstitutional posture would inflict lasting institutional harm on the Executive Branch and lasting damage to the separation of powers, you have left the President no choice. Consistent with the duties of the President of the United States, and in particular his obligation to preserve the rights of future occupants of his office, President Trump cannot permit his Administration to participate in this partisan inquiry under these circumstances.
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For the foregoing reasons, the President cannot allow your constitutionally illegitimate proceedings to distract him and those in the Executive Branch from their work on behalf of the American people. [...] We hope that, in light of the many deficiencies we have identified in your proceedings, you will abandon the current invalid efforts to pursue an impeachment inquiry and join the President in focusing on the many important goals that matter to the American people.
This is a kin to Capone’s Accountant telling the gang to keep on extorting and stealing and cheating, because he’s got two sets of books. One book with the fantasy story he tells the justice system, and another secret book which has the real facts — the real ledger that tracks their illicit gains, kept safe under lock and key.
America has just been blocked by the Republican Senators — from ever seeing that second book.
Capone is a crook, they know that — but he’s “their kind of crook.”
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Here’s a sampling of just some the fruit of the poisonous Cipollone Letter — which ironically empowered their “constitutionally illegitimate” stonewalling, that multiple Federal Agencies and conspiracy participants repeatedly used, to explain away their own lawless obstruction of Congress.
As if the principle of “checks and balances” is some quaint notion from a far-away land — with no modern relevance in Trump’s captive-America:
(CNN) Rudy Giuliani will defy House Democrats' impeachment subpoena, a letter his attorney sent to Congress on Tuesday said.
Jon Sale, Giuliani's attorney sent a letter to Congress informing them that Giuliani will not be providing documents that were requested by subpoena.
The Office of Management and Budget also does not plan to turn over the documents that impeachment committees subpoenaed, a spokeswoman said, pointing to a letter earlier this month from White House counsel Pat Cipollone saying it speaks for OMB as well.
The White House letter slammed the impeachment investigation as "constitutionally illegitimate" and made clear the administration does not plan to cooperate.
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That was just the tip of the Trump Obstruction iceberg.
Closing question:
By what “legitimate” authority does someone within the conspiracy — order all other witnesses and federal employees to clam up — to do nothing, to say nothing, to speak nothing — that might expose the extortion plot for the constitutional crime, that it really is?
This STFU instruction is patently Un-American.
No constitutional principle I can think of, justifies this. Rather their own illegitimate actions have effectively put their gang leader Donald J Trump — Above the Law.
It’s all but “official” now — no legal authority can touch him. Trump in effect is “absolutely immune” to any legal proceeding — which he will block, ignore, and refuse to follow anyways— as if he were King.
Mission Accomplished GOP!
You’ve now sold out your Country, along with your Constitutional Oaths of Office. All for fear of a Tyrant Tweeter.
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Here’s to hoping another citizen “authority” collectively has enough insight, to render the correct Verdict in November. One that sends the entire lawless pack of Trump-enablers, packing back to communities that they have now “officially” betrayed. On the Record. No witnesses. No Records. No Nothing … resembling Accountability.
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