Page 34 - AVN July 2017

BUSINESS
WATERGATE II?
Some observations about Washington’s current political chaos
AT THIS WRITING, JAMES COMEY HAS JUST FINISHED his congressional
Throat”). Not only is it a wonderful film; it is historically very accurate, being based upon
testimony, barbecuing Donald Trump, and at least implicitly if not directly
Woodward and Bernstein’s book by the same name.
accusing him of criminal activity. Now, even if you read this the day it
The reason for that recommendation is to remind you how money buys government
lands in your mailbox, there will have been many post-Comey-testimony
and how easily that axiom can slide down a slippery slope to a point of abject
developments, and they may have led any one (or more) of a large number
corruption—much as it seems to be doing in the current administration. When you watch
of scenarios.
the movie, by the way, keep in mind that all of the shenanigans that ultimately gave rise
You may first be wondering what this political article is doing in an adult-
to Nixon’s resignation were in an effort to gain an advantage for Nixon over his 1972
industry trade publication, but if you do not realize that politics—especially
election opponent, George McGovern—a candidate who had little chance of winning,
national politics—greatly impacts the adult industry, then you became
probably even had Nixon done no campaigning at all.
involved in it after 2009 (which may well be the case).
Important is Trump’s pro-evangelical agenda. Ever since Ronald Reagan’s
1984 reelection campaign, the Republicans have looked to evangelicals
(née the Religious Right) for a ton of support. That, by the way, has
become really odd in the Trump Era because Trump’s proposed budget, for
example, cuts off money to many evangelicals, especially the ones living in
poorer areas of red states as well as to older (and, therefore, trending more
religious) generations. That leads to two points:
1) So long as Trump is fighting for his life against this political firestorm,
congressional Republicans in more moderate districts/states will be
reluctant to board Trump’s ship for fear that they might sink with it in
2018. That will make Trump’s agenda far more difficult for him to achieve.
2) Media hype (well, it sells newspapers and airtime) wonders whether
this might lead to impeachment, making comparisons with Watergate.
Do you really want Trump kicked out of office when Mike Pence is vice
president? If you think so for even a second, look Pence up on Google
about his views that line up with the evangelicals, which is bound to
include anti-porn notions. If he could, Pence would change the United
States in to a conservative Christian theocracy. On the other hand, you
can count on Trump to have as a first priority a pro-business agenda,
The Particulars of Obstruction
You are hearing much about the obstruction of justice laws in connection with all of this.
Although states have laws in this category, the laws prohibiting obstruction of justice that
are relevant are found in one of 22 sections of Chapter 73 of the Federal Criminal Code
(18 U.S.C.). The crimes listed there range from assaulting a process server, tampering
with a witness, obstructing a federal audit and, the one relevant here, section 1512(b):
“Whoever knowingly ... corruptly persuades another person, or attempts to do so ...
with intent to—
“(1) influence, delay, or prevent the testimony of any person in an official proceeding;
“(2) cause or induce any person to—
“(A) withhold testimony, or withhold a record, document, or other object, from an
official proceeding;
“(B) alter, destroy, mutilate, or conceal an object with intent to impair the object’s
integrity or availability for use in an official proceeding;
“(C) evade legal process summoning that person to appear as a witness, or to
produce a record, document, or other object, in an official proceeding ...
“shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or
both.”
with the evangelicals being important—but
secondary. Pence would have a
pro-fundamentalist agenda. (That
is not an objection to Christian
citizens—only an objection to a
Christian government.)
Take note of the “20 years” part! In the wake of Comey’s
testimony in Congress, figure Democrats
will be studying up on that statute. The
important thing about the “Obstruction
of Justice” statute is the immateriality of
the issue of whether the offender broke
any other law. The touchstone is impeding
the investigation, like the president
telling the attorney general—who serves
at the president’s pleasure—to cancel an
investigation of some federal official under
pain of the attorney general’s discharge.
THE IMPORTANT THING ABOUT THE OBSTRUCTION OF
JUSTICE STATUTE IS THE IMMATERIALITY OF THE ISSUE OF
WHETHER THE OFFENDER BROKE ANY OTHER LAW.
LEGALESE | By Clyde DeWitt
Remember Watergate
Point 2 segues into Watergate, which resulted in Nixon’s resignation in
August of 1974. Those of you who were born that month are just turning 43.
A great many readers of this publication are younger than that, but anyone
born after about 1965 likely was too young during the series of events known
as “Watergate” to know anything much about it other than perhaps studying
it in American History 101.
It has long been this author’s recommendation that, roughly every three to
four years, everyone should watch All the President’s Men with Robert Redford
(playing Bob Woodward), Dustin Hoffman (Carl Bernstein) Jason Robards
(Washington Post Executive Editor Ben Bradlee) and Hal Holbrook (“Deep
34 | AVN.com | 7.17
Fasten Your Seat Belts
As far as this author is concerned, the perfect scenario would be for this investigation
to drag on for a long, long time, which certainly is a distinct possibility. As noted, that
stands to cause members of Congress from moderate locales to distance themselves
from Trump and, as follows, from his agenda.
Tweet, tweet, tweedle-lee-dee. (Bobby Day, “Rockin’ Robin,” 1958.)
Clyde DeWitt is a Las Vegas and Los Angeles attorney, whose practice has been focused on adult entertainment
since 1980. He can be reached at clydedewitt@earthlink.net. More information can be found at
ClydeDeWitt.com. This column is not a substitute for personal legal advice. Rather, it is to alert readers to legal
issues warranting advice from your personal attorney. Political opinions expressed in this column are solely those
of the author, and not necessarily those of AVN Media Network, its owners or staff.