• Gigan@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    6
    arrow-down
    11
    ·
    1 year ago

    Now, why wasn’t Bush charged with any crimes? For the same reason nothing will happen to Putin in Russia.

    Trump is being charged with crimes

    • JBar2@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      29
      ·
      1 year ago

      Trump is being charged by the US and state governments with violation of US and state laws

      That’s a far different scenario than an international court attempting to charge and arrest a US president (current or former

      • Gigan@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        7
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        1 year ago

        Bush lied to congress and the American people. I don’t believe there were no crimes committed by doing that.

        • meco03211@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          11
          ·
          1 year ago

          But did Bush knowingly lie to a degree provable in court?

          He would have had to have known it was a lie and for that to be proven in court. With trump, his crimes were so egregious there were devout party line adherents backing out and explicitly stating just how illegal what they were doing is. Trump had been told multiple times, in multiple ways that what he was doing was illegal and he went for it anyways.

          • Bumblefumble@lemm.ee
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            9
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            1 year ago

            Another point to add. It is not illegal for anyone to lie, so unless he was testifying under oath, Bush could lie as much as he wanted without legal repercussions.

            • kbotc@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              3
              ·
              edit-2
              1 year ago

              Not quite. The constitution has a cutout for official duties of the office. The president must faithfully carry out the duties of the office. So knowingly lying can fail that test.

              If you want someone to blame for the US invasion of Iraq, blame Italy, their Intelligence apparatus, and Nicolò Pollari in particular. He submitted the “Iraq is buying Yellowcake” to the CIA twice, who figured out it was a forgery before setting a private meeting with the vice president who did not know the CIA had already ruled it out.

              • Archpawn@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                3
                ·
                1 year ago

                The Constitution lists one crime: treason. He didn’t do that. Not faithfully carrying out the duties of the office is absolutely grounds for impeachment, but it’s not a crime.

                • kbotc@lemmy.world
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  1
                  ·
                  1 year ago

                  That’s not true. Even the specific rules laid out in the constitution have limits. You have the right to freedom of speech, and yet it is silent about the type of speech protected. We did not write down that the president is allowed to lie about winning the election in the constitution, but we did write down the president must carry out the duties of the office faithfully, and we gave Congress the power to create laws, which all citizens are bound. The president is a citizen, not a king, and I have to say this again as it was very important to the authors of the constitution: The president is not a king. He doesn’t have the divine right. Trump’s just another citizen who was temporarily given the power of the executive. You could charge him with a crime and put his ass in prison while he was a president without impeaching him. Executive privilege is court tested, but it only applies to confidentiality, and going in front of the public and lying is, by definition, not confidential.

                  • Archpawn@lemmy.world
                    link
                    fedilink
                    arrow-up
                    2
                    ·
                    1 year ago

                    That’s not true.

                    Source? This says it also mentions piracy and counterfeiting, but it’s just listing it as one of the enumerated powers.

                    and we gave Congress the power to create laws, which all citizens are bound.

                    Exactly. Congress has to make things a crime. The fact that the Constitution says that the president has to faithfully carry out their duties doesn’t make not doing that a crime.

                    If you’re saying that Congress did pass such a law, can you tell me which one?

              • Bumblefumble@lemm.ee
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                2
                ·
                1 year ago

                It’s not illegal to not do that. The legal framework to deal with that is impeachment and trial by Congress.

                • kbotc@lemmy.world
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  1
                  ·
                  1 year ago

                  Not quite. Trump is currently being charged in federal court for his part in lying to overturn the election. They used “knowingly false” 32 times in the indictment for a reason. His defense is not that the president is allowed to lie, but rather that he truthfully believed he was telling the truth, so I’m not sure where you assertion is coming from: It is illegal to lie in furtherance of breaking the law, even for the POTUS.

                  • Bumblefumble@lemm.ee
                    link
                    fedilink
                    arrow-up
                    2
                    ·
                    1 year ago

                    Trump is not being put on trial for lying per se. The lying however is part of the furtherance of a criminal conspiracy, which is illegal. So with regards to Bush, he can’t be charged with lying to the American people. It can however be used as evidence against him if it was part of furthering a criminal conspiracy.

        • Archpawn@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          edit-2
          1 year ago

          It’s not illegal to lie to the American people. And it’s practically a requirement for office.

    • dsmk@lemmy.zip
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      1 year ago

      Trump is being charged with crimes

      Not for dropping bombs or ordering drone strikes in a different country.