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Washington DC – Former president Donal Trump may be under scrutiny for illegally contacting a witness during the investigation proceedings concerning the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. The legal term for the offense is “witness tampering.” But what precisely does witness tampering entail? As defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the act of physically harming or using threats, intimidation, harassment, or corrupt persuasion against a witness with the goal of influencing the witness’s testimony or preventing the witness from providing evidence in an official proceeding Additionally, this is still considered a crime even if the attempt is unsuccessful. Witness Tampering Definition
The assault on the Capitol shocked many Americans. What was most interesting, was the involvement of former President Donald Trump in the shenanigans at D.C. During the insurrection, looters invaded and rioted the capital, leaving the destroyed property and inadvertently causing the death of five police officers. Five participants of the riot also died. Social media played an integral part in the birth of the insurrection, as participants were pretty much invited by Trump. The famous tweet sent out by the former president clearly stated, “Big protest in D.C. on January 6th,” he wrote,”Be there, will be wild!”
Trump’s Tweet Draws Rioters to Insurrection
The Aftermath
Ironically, things eventually came full circle as authorities then utilized social media as a tool to prosecute and build cases against those involved. During the insurrection, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter were flooded with pictures and posts boasting about the entire ordeal. They erroneously provided digital proof of involvement, sealing their fate, criminally.
Many participants in the insurrection are now declaring that they were not aware that what they were doing was a crime. Ordinally, this defense wouldn’t have a leg to stand on. However, the involvement, and encouragement of our country’s leader at the time, complicates matters. Is it fair to persecute and condemn an entire group of people for doing something, while the ringleader and orchestrator of the whole event walk away unscathed? The U.S. government apparently didn’t think so. Right now, authorities say that there is more than enough evidence to conclude that the former president and some of his allies committed crimes in his attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
But this isn’t all Trump has to deal with in terms of legal trouble. In addition to this case, a string of legal troubles exists for him, including the possibility of criminal charges for tax evasion. Witness tampering is just the hot topic for now.
According to ABC News, Donald Trump allegedly illegally contacted an unnamed witness via telephone after the House of Representative committee’s last hearing on June 28th. The committee’s vice chair, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., stated vehemently, “We will take any efforts to influence witness testimony very seriously.”
Jan 6 Committee Says Trump Called Witness
Arguably, if you look at all the crimes Trump has been accused of, witness tampering may seem like light work. Still, the former President’s well-documented habit of blatantly flouting the rules and getting away with it may land him in hot water this time. As previously mentioned, witness tampering doesn’t have to be successful, to be illegal. According to Cheney, the witness declined to answer or respond to President Trump’s call, and immediately alerted their lawyer. The lawyer then alerted the panel. Cheney also added that the panel informed the Department of Justice.
No one knows what the future holds for our fallen former President. The evidence mounting against him is steep, and those formerly in his corner are quickly turning their backs and disassociating themselves from his administration. As a famous scholar and scientist Sandeep N. Tripathi once said, “Within the realms of what goes around, resides the magnitude and severity of what comes around.”
Thumbnail and Image Credits: NDTV
Sources
- Witness Tampering Definition
- Trump’s Tweet Draws Rioters to Insurrection
- Jan 6 Committee Says Trump Called Witness
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