Roger Stone becomes another witness who doesn’t seem to quite understand the Fifth Amendment, which reads, in part:
… nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
“I did invoke my Fifth Amendment rights to every question not because I have done anything wrong, but because I am fully aware of the House Democrats’ long history of fabricating perjury charges on the basis of comments that are innocuous, material or irrelevant,” Stone told reporters as he was leaving.
I’m no lawyer, and I don’t plan to consult a lawyer on the point. Speaking as just a guy reading the text closely, this is what pops out at me:
- This is not a criminal case. Words matter in the law, and while there may be precedent that covers a situation like this, to me it just looks like someone’s hoping the committee isn’t noticing a minor detail like this isn’t a trial. Really, this is at a point where you testify for the good of the nation, and if you end up in prison, perhaps you need to consider your life’s choices.
- It is one thing to bear witness against oneself, but the claim that one’s testimony will be misinterpreted is not sufficient to justify declining to testify. You have control of the testimony; it must be intelligible and honest, but presentation is everything, and within those parameters, presenting apparently incriminating testimony suggests either incompetence or … guilt.
The Fifth Amendment does not and cannot apply in view of both points. Dump Stone and the rest of these fourth-rate boobs into prison; their clutch after power does nothing to justify their stand now.
Or send them to Belarus to pursue power.
