The testimony of fired FBI Director James Comey, possibly next week, will be a crucial turning point. “This is an iceberg where we still don’t really know how big it is,” says law professor Samuel Buell, a former federal prosecutor. “Were there other conversations (between Trump and Comey)? Were there other memos? It’s not going to get any better for the president at this point.”
Read More in The Globe And MailTag: Samuel Buell
What Is Obstruction Of Justice? An Often-Murky Crime, Explained
Law professor Samuel Buell, a former federal prosecutor who led the Justice Department’s Enron task force, was initially skeptical about whether the mere firing of FBI Director James Comey could prove beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump had an improper mental state. But he says subsequent revelations have made the evidence much more robust. “The evidence of improper purpose has gotten much stronger since the day of Comey’s firing,” he says.
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Memo to White House Staff: ‘Lawyer Up’
Donald Trump fired James Comey after asking him to drop the FBI investigation of Michael Flynn raises the spectre of obstruction of justice. Law professor Samuel Buell, a former federal prosecutor, talks about the legal issues surrounding possible obstruction of justice.
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The Alleged Trump Tapes: What’s Legal?
“… It’s not legal to use tapes to try to intimidate a witness,” says law professor Samuel Buell about President Trump’s threat that fired FBI Director James Comey “better hope that there are no tapes of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press.” Adds Buell: “It wouldn’t even be legal to pretend to have tapes in an effort to intimidate a witness. And what we need at this point is an investigation to look into this and certainly one of the first things that any prosecutor would do in this situation is to subpoena any tapes to find out whether they exist.”
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Trump Stirs A New Question: Are There Tapes?
Law professor Samuel Buell says President Trump’s attempt on Twitter to quiet former FBI Director James Comey could be viewed as an effort to intimidate a witness to any future investigation into whether the firing amounted to obstruction of justice. “… This is also definitive evidence that Trump is not listening to counsel and perhaps not even talking to counsel. Unprecedented in the modern presidency.” Also, political scientist Bruce Jentleson talks to Wisconsin Public Radio about Comey’s firing.
Critics Say Trump Broke The Law In Firing Comey
Some critics of President Trump have accused him of obstruction of justice in his firing of FBI Director James Comey amid the bureau’s investigation into the Trump campaign’s contacts with Russia. Law professor Samuel Buell, a former federal prosecutor, discusses obstruction of justice law and how it might apply to the president’s firing of an investigator.
