[View here as a Twitter thread]
Did Trump violate 18 U.S. § 1513(e) – Retaliating against an informant? It’s worth noting that Trump probably violated 18 U.S. § 1513(e) when he revoked Brennan’s security clearance. law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18… This is part of Trump’s pattern of disregarding norms and laws.
1/ We start with the elements, and apply the facts. Elements: (1) a person knowingly with intent to (2) retaliate (taking an action harmful to a person) (3) for giving truthful information to a law enforcement officer. law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18… #1, proving intent is the hard part.
2/ Element (2) includes interfering with someone’s employment. The White House said Brennan’s security clearance was revoked because he was behaving erratically and they feared he’d spill classified secrets on cable news.
3/ In a WSJ interview, Trump said Mr. Brennan was responsible for the “rigged witch hunt,” and “something had to be done.” wsj.com/articles/trump… Assuming that Brennan told the truth to the FBI, Trump appears to have violated 18 U.S. § 1513(e)
4/ Assuming of course that Brennan told the truth to the FBI, Trump appears to have violated 18 U.S. § 1513(e) I updated my page of possible here. (If you haven’t visited my website, I’ve made my research public)
