There was this amazing thing on the electric Twitter machine on Monday, and it had nothing to do with happy babies, or cute cats, or puppies wearing dress hats, or a poll on who the most talented Ferengi was. Right there in your feed, if you're lucky enough to be following him, the President* of the United States committed a crime.

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“I will never testify against Trump.” This statement was recently made by Roger Stone, essentially stating that he will not be forced by a rogue and out of control prosecutor to make up lies and stories about “President Trump.” Nice to know that some people still have “guts!” — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 3, 2018

I am going to leave why he's putting himself "in quotation marks" for another day. (Also, too: "guts.") But that right there is a criminal act, in the open, and for all the world to see. It is exactly as if he'd walked out of the White House and, with CNN in tow, stuck up a bodega. It's that blatant.

Let me introduce you to...

18 USC 1503: obstruction of justice.

picture alliance Getty Images

And also to its close personal friend...

18 USC 1512: witness tampering.

On June 23, 1972, President Richard Nixon told his chief of staff, H. R. Haldeman, to use the CIA to shut off the FBI's Watergate investigation, because the latter was leading into some "productive areas." It was recorded on tape. Two years later, after a prolonged court battle, the American people got to hear their president commit the crime of obstruction of justice.

Sixteen years later, on his way out the door, and after a prolonged stonewalling exercise that extended over two administrations, President George H.W. Bush pretty much obstructed the Iran-Contra investigation into an early grave by pardoning anyone who might have been able to tie him into it.

Now, though, we have a president* who commits his crimes right out there in the open pixels, thereby cutting out any middleman. I'm not sure this is an improvement.

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Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976.

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