White House Staff Dana
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The Legal Situation Legal Situation Regarding Ms. Tessier The situation aboard Air Force One is confused. The legal jurisdiction is extremely murky. The immediate jurisdiction belongs to the Secret Service, but also to the United States Air Force. It is generally agreed however that the House or Senate Armed Services committee would have jurisdiction to investigate a crime committed on board Air Force one. This came up in 2003 when Lt. Col. Robert Patterson made claims in his book Dereliction of Duty that Bill Clinton molested a stewardess on Air Force One. In general Patterson's claim is thought to be flimsy and no investigation ensued. This is almost certainly the tack that Connor would take. In order to get an investigation going, he'd have to suggest that some crime occurred. This becomes murkier still. It is unclear what crime would have occurred. Ms. Tessier's trip was not reimbursed as a Campaign Expense, but even if the President transported her in order to sleep with her, that wouldn't make it a Campaign Expense. For the President to invite a guest on board Air Force One for non-Campaign transportation is not reimbursable. If the allegation is true then the President probably committed adultery. However any acts committed on Air Force One would fall under the Special Aircraft Jurisdiction of the United States, Section 465.01 U.S.C. which includes "(B) an aircraft of the armed forces of the United States." The status of Adultery as a crime under Federal Law is very dubious. 18 U.S.C. does not reference Adultery. It would be very unlikely that sex between consenting adults could be construed to invoke 18 U.S.C. Most likely Connor's line of attack would be to try to invoke the arcane patchwork of Campaign finance laws, and then force testimony about why Ms. Tessier was transported aboard Air Force One. He might possibly get her before a Committee with the intent of asking her specific questions, and holding her in Contempt of Congress if she refuses to answer. However that seems far-fetched. Still the Clinton-Lewinsky issues seem far fetched as well. Importantly it would take a majority interest in Congress to hold such an inquisition, since the Armed Services Committee or Campaign Finance Committees would vote on partisan lines. That means that as long as the GOP in general doesn't support Connor, he can be quashed. So there is not "no legal danger," but you tend to think "very little legal danger" Xanax
Issues Things
that Cannot be Discussed There are certain things that simply should not be discussed:
While these things should really never be discussed, private conversations enjoy substantially more protection, and more importantly are much harder to prove perjury if both individuals claim to have no recollection. It is worth remembering
that to lie under oath is perjury, which was the heart of the issue regarding
Clinton.
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