Thread by @gtconway3d

@jentaub @RudyGiuliani There’s a section of the DOJ manual that nicely captures what obstruction of justice is about. It’s got nothing to do with whether there’s an underlying offense. It’s all about whether someone is trying to wrongly influence a participant in federal proceeding, ...

@jentaub @RudyGiuliani ... or to retaliate for someone’s past participation in a federal proceeding. Here’s a key passage, referring to Sections 1512 and 1513 of the criminal code:
justice.gov/jm/criminal-re…

@jentaub @RudyGiuliani There doesn’t have to be an underlying offense; the proceeding can be about trying to figure out whether there was an underlying offense. This isn’t hard.

@jentaub @RudyGiuliani And ... there’s also a whole section of the manual devoted to the basic proposition that obstruction doesn’t have to be successful to be obstruction.
justice.gov/jm/criminal-re…

@jentaub @RudyGiuliani So stop it with the garbage, Rudy.

@jentaub @RudyGiuliani But again, let’s remember: Whether the President of United States is provably a criminal (which, sadly, he is) is actually a red herring. Our standards should be—must be—higher than that. That’s why the Framers of our Constitution provided for impeachment.