This is our Leadership - and morons aplenty support them.

[Methais]

That's like the first thing lawyers tell you to do when interacting with police/law enforcement. You always shut up.

[Parkbandit]

Hey, what do you call a failed leader who pleads the Fifth over his criminal businesses ventures and demands his cronies do the same when deposited?

Donald Trump obviously.

WTF is "deposited" in this scenario?

How are you this fucking stupid every day? Don't you ever get tired of it?

[ClydeR]

That's like the first thing lawyers tell you to do when interacting with police/law enforcement. You always shut up.

Talking to police can only ever make things worse

I generally agree about talking to the police. Talking to the police is not the same as testifying.

You do not have to answer police questions, except perhaps to identify yourself. But you must answer questions in a court proceeding or in a court ordered deposition, unless you have a privilege that protects you from compelled testimony, such as the Fifth Amendment, attorney-client privilege, etc. You cannot claim the Fifth Amendment privilege, unless you reasonably believe that your answers would be incriminating or would lead to the discovery of other evidence that might incriminate you.

Suppose you witness a murder. You don't want to testify because you fear retaliation from the murderer. Can you invoke the Fifth Amendment? No, because you cannot reasonably believe that your testimony would incriminate you.

By taking the Fifth, Trump is asserting under oath that he believes that his answers might be incriminating or might lead to the discovery of incriminating evidence.

[ClydeR]

Also, kudos in aplenty.

[Gelston]

Suppose you witness a murder. You don't want to testify because you fear retaliation from the murderer. Can you invoke the Fifth Amendment? No, because you cannot reasonably believe that your testimony would incriminate you.

By taking the Fifth, Trump is asserting under oath that he believes that his answers might be incriminating or might lead to the discovery of incriminating evidence.

Public opinion aside, exercising your Constitutional Rights can never be used against you in court.

[Tgo01]

Suppose you witness a murder. You don't want to testify because you fear retaliation from the murderer. Can you invoke the Fifth Amendment? No, because you cannot reasonably believe that your testimony would incriminate you.

By taking the Fifth, Trump is asserting under oath that he believes that his answers might be incriminating or might lead to the discovery of incriminating evidence.

Okay, before Seran comes along and Serans up this discussion, I'm going to reply to your nonsense.

There is a huge difference between witnessing a crime you had no part of and being called to testify, and providing testimony for a case that you are involved in.

Bob could be called in testify that his boss Jason was embezzling money from the company. Bob could fear that by providing testimony he could be giving prosecutors evidence that he was involved in the embezzling scheme, even if he really wasn't. So because Bob was involved in the case in question, and because Bob fears that prosecutors could use his testimony against him in the future, Bob would be wise to keep his mouth shut unless he received immunity. So, no. Pleading the 5th doesn't mean that you are admitting to any sort of crime. Stop Seraning up this thread.

Fun fact: being granted immunity means you can no longer invoke the 5th.

[Seran]

That's like the first thing lawyers tell you to do when interacting with police/law enforcement. You always shut up.

Talking to police can only ever make things worse. They are there to make arrests and get convictions. You talking just helps them do their job.

But I guess suddenly people on the far left, such as Seran, want us all to live in a police state where you give police all of the information they demand.

Just look what happened to people during the witch hunt Russian collusion bullshit. Almost every single charge was a process crime, almost all of which were "lying" to the FBI. Just plead the fifth and avoid all of that shit.

That's a great example of how the Republican party isn't the party of law and order, or the party of personal freedoms anymore.

Being held responsible for crimes committed, or being investigated for crimes alleged doesn't make you a victim. It makes you a person of interest or the subject of a criminal investigation. Trump's crying wolf on being bullied by the law and some idiots are jumping on the witch hunt/persecution bandwagon without really being aware of the sheer number of states, counties and federal agencies who gave criminal investigations leveled against Trump's very very visible actions.

At this point, Trump has about as much court time for criminal investigations as he does bankruptcies, which is really saying something.

[Suppa Hobbit Mage]

That's a great example of how the Republican party isn't the party of law and order, or the party of personal freedoms anymore.

Being held responsible for crimes committed, or being investigated for crimes alleged doesn't make you a victim. It makes you a person of interest or the subject of a criminal investigation. Trump's crying wolf on being bullied by the law and some idiots are jumping on the witch hunt/persecution bandwagon without really being aware of the sheer number of states, counties and federal agencies who gave criminal investigations leveled against Trump's very very visible actions.

At this point, Trump has about as much court time for criminal investigations as he does bankruptcies, which is really saying something.

Troll says what?

[ClydeR]

There is a huge difference between witnessing a crime you had no part of and being called to testify, and providing testimony for a case that you are involved in.

Bob could be called in testify that his boss Jason was embezzling money from the company. Bob could fear that by providing testimony he could be giving prosecutors evidence that he was involved in the embezzling scheme, even if he really wasn't. So because Bob was involved in the case in question, and because Bob fears that prosecutors could use his testimony against him in the future, Bob would be wise to keep his mouth shut unless he received immunity. So, no. Pleading the 5th doesn't mean that you are admitting to any sort of crime. Stop Seraning up this thread.

That is a fair example. The Fifth Amendment is in the Constitution to protect both the innocent and the guilty. Innocent people are definitely entitled to invoke the Fifth Amendment. But only if they reasonably believe their answers might be incriminating. Figure that out!

It comes from a Supreme Court "shaken baby" case where a man was accused of killing his child. The man's defense was that the babysitter did it. The babysitter said that she was innocent, but she refused to testify, invoke her Fifth Amendment right, unless she was granted immunity. The Supreme Court said she could have her cake and eat it too, by both claiming innocence and invoking the Fifth Amendment. Because she was alone with the child during the time when the injuries might have occurred, and the defendant was accusing her of the crime, she had reason to fear that her answers might be used to incriminate her.

[Methais]

At this point, Trump has about as much court time for criminal investigations as he does bankruptcies, which is really saying something.

7 businesses failing out of 500 is a 99.986% success rate.


EDIT: Apparently it was 6 bankruptcies, which makes it a 99.988% success rate, based on 500 businesses.

MY BAD