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DonViejo

(60,536 posts)
Sun May 14, 2017, 01:58 PM May 2017

A Special Prosecutor Isn't the Answer

May 14, 2017 By Taegan Goddard

David Frum: “Of all the types of independent investigation that have been suggested, a special prosecutor is the most likely to disappear down rabbit holes—the least likely answer the questions that needed to be answered. A select committee of Congress or an independent commission of nonpartisan experts established by Congress can ask the broad question: What happened? A select committee or an independent commission can organize its inquiry according to priority, leaving the secondary and tertiary issues to the historians. A select committee or an independent commission is not barred from looking at events in earlier years statutes of limitations. A select committee or an independent commission seeks truth.”

“A special prosecutor, by contrast, seeks crimes. The criminal law is a heavy tool, and for that reason it is thickly encased in protections for accused persons. The most important protection from the point of view of the Trump-Russia matter is the rule of silence. A prosecutor investigating a crime can often discover non-criminal bad actions by the people he is investigating. If those bad actions do not amount to crimes, the prosecutor is supposed to look away.”

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https://politicalwire.com/2017/05/14/special-prosecutor-isnt-answer/

5 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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A Special Prosecutor Isn't the Answer (Original Post) DonViejo May 2017 OP
No crimes, no impeachment. Foamfollower May 2017 #1
But there may have been things that were not crimes but should be Jim Lane May 2017 #5
K&R for visibility. nt tblue37 May 2017 #2
K&R 2naSalit May 2017 #3
I prefer an independent commission with open hearings. DemocratSinceBirth May 2017 #4
 

Jim Lane

(11,175 posts)
5. But there may have been things that were not crimes but should be
Sun May 14, 2017, 03:22 PM
May 2017

It's like the common observation about the 2008 financial crisis -- one very troubling thing is how many of the banksters' nefarious actions that caused the crisis were perfectly legal.

A special prosecutor can't retroactively prohibit bad acts. If things were done that we think shouldn't be repeated, though, that's a legitimate subject for inquiry, to change the laws for future election cycles.

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