Bob Gilchrist: Trump has obstructed justice and must be impeached

Rep. Rob Bishop’s statement about Robert Mueller’s testimony — that “the book was better than the movie” — is true. The book/report is a well-documented, detailed, factual account of the actions of President Trump.

Two areas of the report regarding potential obstruction of justice are particularly worth reading.

Volume II, section J, talks about Paul Manafort and Donald Trump’s actions during Manafort’s criminal jury trial. He publicly stated that Manafort should not flip. He and his personal counsel, who by law speaks for him, repeatedly discussed the possibility of a pardon for Manafort.

During the trial, when the jury was deliberating as to whether Manafort was guilty, Trump made repeated public statements that Manafort was a good man and that is was totally wrong that he was facing criminal charges. Mueller found these actions had “the potential to influence a jury”.

Volume II, section K, discusses Trump’s public comments about his personal attorney, Michael Cohen. He said that Cohen should also not flip. He and his counsel talked about “protecting” Cohen when Cohen was deciding whether to cooperate with prosecutors. And after Cohen agreed to cooperate, yet before he had fully testified, Trump called him a “rat” and suggested that his family had committed crimes. Mueller found that these actions were intended to discourage Cohen from cooperating with the investigation.

In my experience, no judge in Utah would ever tolerate this behavior. They would hold any lawyer who made such statements in contempt of court and seek sanctions against their license to practice law. And they would instruct prosecutors to bring criminal charges for obstruction of justice against any person making such public statements.

But Trump is president. Does this mean he is above the law? Does this mean he is too important to bother about actions regarding two people who were thereafter found guilty? No harm, no foul?

Or, as president, is Trump held to a higher standard? As he is our leader and sets our societal standards, should he not be able to come close to violating the law without repercussions?

The middle ground is that Trump should be treated just like the rest of us. He should be treated like we all want to be treated if we find ourselves in court. We all want a fair trial. And the only way for a fair trial is for people, no matter their position, job or stature, to not try to influence witnesses, judges, or juries.

Trying to influence the outcome of a trial through outside actions is obstruction of justice. If I, you, or Donald Trump obstructs justice, they must face the consequences.

Because Trump, as president, cannot be charged with a crime, the only way to penalize him and stop him from influencing any other court matters is to start an impeachment.

The very bedrock of our system of justice, which is based on the U.S. and Utah constitutions demands it.

Bob Gilchrist, Millcreek, is a retired attorney who practiced law for 30 years. Since he is retired he has the time to do “fun” things like read the entire Mueller report.