THE CONTRERAS REPORT: The Fifth Amendment and Donald Trump | Tomorrow

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For those who have never read or studied the United States Constitution, the likes of Donald J. Trump, this is the Fifth Amendment that applies to self-incrimination: “… nor shall (any person) be compelled in any criminal case to testify against himself. “

And, since no one can be considered guilty simply because they have been charged with a crime, the presumption of innocence prevailed.

Thus, the Fifth rises again in public. It was driven by a parade of former aides and friends of former president Donald J. Trump. They avail themselves of the said amendment by petitioning for it.

They refused to respect subpoenas issued by the Select Committee of the House of Representatives, which is investigating the attack on the U.S. Capitol. They refused to testify or produce documents and communications related to the events in January. 6, 2021, in Washington, DC

That day marked the first uprising in the United States since Southern rebels bombed Fort Sumter in South Carolina. The previous uprising lasted four years, in which 600,000 Americans died.

So far, some of those subpoenaed have claimed they are exempt from testimony because Trump claims “executive privilege,” while two have claimed Fifth.

The Fifth became popular when I was too young to understand, in the late 1940s and early 1950s when liberals in Hollywood called it that it became a member of various Communist front groups in the 1930s. They were followed by people involved in the federal government, scholars and college professors suspected of being Communist -related.

Television hearings of the House Committee on Un-American Activities, Senate hearings and hundreds of alleged “inquiry-like” investigations by college professors have brought the Fifth Amendment to the public. It became even more prominent when a criminal in Arizona named Miranda was arrested and signed a confession that resulted after several hours of interrogation in which he was never told he had the right to remain silent.

The Supreme Court ruled that anyone should be informed that they have the right to remain silent and if they have anything to say it can be used against them in court. Except, of course, the use of the Fifth should not be construed as any admission of guilt of criminal action.

Here are Trump comrades stating their take on the Fifth Amendment if they are called to testify. Former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark and California attorney John Eastman.

Clark was actively involved in trying to organize a legal coup with the Department of Justice by promoting the Department’s issue letters claiming election fraud in Georgia and the state authorities would declare accordingly prevents Joe Biden from receiving state electoral votes. There has been a suggestion that senior officials be fired by the president – including the acting attorney general – to replace them with Clark.

Eastman, who was the Republican candidate for Attorney General in California in 2018 and dean of Chapman University Law School in Orange County of California, compiled two separate memos that allegedly outlined how the Vice President could make a legal coup against the Constitution by refusing to declare electoral votes from several states, including Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Georgia, all states Biden won.

So, Eastman wrote, Vice President Pence could ask Republican lawmakers in those states to nominate their own voters. Pence could accept them and make Trump win the contest he actually lost.

Given the presumption of innocence that we must follow, no negative conclusion can be used by charging authorities, judges or jurors to indicate guilt when someone requests the Fifth Amendment.

All intelligent Americans believe that, or should. There is a well-known American who disagrees. What else is new?

In September 2016, at a campaign rally in Iowa during his successful run for the presidency, Trump attacked some of Hillary Clinton’s aides who took the Fifth in front of a congressional committee.

Trump said: “So there are five people taking the Fifth Amendment. As you can see in the mob, right? You saw the mob took the Fifth. If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?”

Of course, typical of Donald Trump, he used the Fifth himself. During a divorce deposition in 1990, she asked for it to avoid answering nearly a hundred questions.

No doubt he will use it more in the immediate future.

Raoul Lowery Contreras is a U.S. Marine veteran, political consultant and author of “The Armenian Lobby & American Foreign Policy,” “The Mexican Border: Immigration, War and a Trillion Dollars in Trade” and, “A Hispanic View of President Donald J. Magkatakata. ” He hosts Contreras Report on YouTube and Facebook.

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