News / Opinion / Columns

Jayne: Some lies more equal than others

By Greg Jayne, Columbian Opinion Page Editor

Published: April 28, 2019, 6:02am

At least he hasn’t lied about sex.

That might result in drastic consequences. It might lead to impeachment in the House of Representatives and a trial in the Senate. It might lead to the threat of removal from office. Just ask Bill Clinton.

So, at least he hasn’t lied about sex.

Instead, President Donald Trump tried to have Special Counsel Robert Mueller removed in order to end an investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. When the special counsel was appointed, Trump said, “I’m f@ck#d. This is the worst thing that ever happened to me.” And then he tried to have Mueller removed. Trump’s staff — at least three members — declined to carry out the firing, saving Trump from his own worst instincts.

And when the media reported about Trump unsuccessfully ordering Mueller’s firing, the president told the White House counsel and later Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, to insist that the report was false. Rosenstein said a press conference would not be a good idea “because if the press asked him, he would tell the truth.”

And when press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said “countless” FBI agents had called the White House to support the firing of director James Comey, in truth the statement was “in the heat of the moment that was not founded on anything.” In other words, Sanders blatantly lied to the American public until she was asked about it under oath, when a fabrication carries the penalty of perjury.

All of that comes from the Mueller report, detailing a president who sits on a throne of lies.

But at least he hasn’t lied about sex. That might lead Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., to say, “You don’t even have to be convicted of a crime to lose your job in this constitutional republic if this body determines your conduct as a public official is clearly out of bounds in your role.” You know, because that is what Graham said during the Clinton impeachment hearings — years before he lost his soul.

Instead, Trump repeatedly criticized “fake news” for stories that were true. “I never asked Comey to stop investigating (Michael) Flynn. Just more Fake News covering another Comey lie!” the president tweeted. But the Mueller report says, “Despite those denials, substantial evidence corroborates Comey’s account.”

And he welcomed Russian interference in the election and then lied about it and then said it’s no big deal. Just last week, spokesman/lawyer/dotard Rudy Giuliani insisted on national TV that, “There’s nothing wrong with taking information from Russians.”

And he repeatedly said he was eager to sit down with Mueller’s investigators to answer questions. He wasn’t; he didn’t.

But at least he hasn’t lied about sex.

Instead, he “intended (former campaign Chairman Paul) Manafort to believe that he could receive a pardon, which would make cooperation with the government as a means of obtaining a lesser sentence unnecessary,” according to the report.

And he asked the White House counsel during a meeting: “Why do you take notes? Lawyers don’t take notes. I never had a lawyer who took notes. I’ve had a lot of great lawyers, like Roy Cohn. He did not take notes.”

And he got a message to lawyer Michael Cohen, after Cohen’s home and office were raided by the FBI: “Sleep well tonight … you have friends in high places.” Which might or might not be a quote from “The Godfather.”

In the end, the Mueller team wrote: “The conclusion that Congress may apply the obstruction laws to the President’s corrupt exercise of the powers of office accords with our constitutional system of checks and balances and the principle that no person is above the law.” Add that to the weight of a president who, according to The Washington Post, had made more than 9,000 false or misleading statements since taking office.

But at least he hasn’t lied about sex, because that could lead to impeachment under the established standards of our republic. Oh, wait, yes he has.

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