[lbo-talk] False Statement Statute

R rhisiart at charter.net
Wed Jul 21 14:07:31 PDT 2004


thank you. this is fascinating.

vidal evidently applies it in the reverse. he cites the feds -- particularly the shrub group -- who are lying and believes they should be prosecuted under the statute and/or impeached. i guess one could construe that they are lying to one another.

the next time any federal official/cop wants to ask me questions, i'll reluctantly have to decline on the basis that as much as i'd like to cooperate, the use of this statute against martha stewart makes talking to any federal official an impossibility without counsel present.

making it a crime to lie not under oath, and without being forewarned, is unbelievable. these are things the so-called law and order folks should be concerned with since they undermine faith in law enforcement.

on a peripheral matter, the repubs constantly harangue about "trial lawyer." even Arnold of California, in his notorious "girlie men" speech took a swipe at trial lawyers. someone (such as the spineless democrats, the corp media, etc) should remind them that abe lincoln was a trial lawyer. and those lawyers they use to advocate their disgraceful positions before the supremes and state courts are trial lawyers. and etc. we all know when they say "trial lawyer" they mean anyone who isn't representing the interests of a corporation. but why not use their superficial "argument" against them.

R

----- Original Message ----- From: "andie nachgeborenen" <andie_nachgeborenen at yahoo.com> To: <lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org> Sent: Wednesday, July 21, 2004 7:49 AM Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] False Statement Statute


: The Code in question is the United States Code, i.e.,
: it's a federal criminal statute, cited 18 USC 1001. 18
: is the Title Number, 18 being the criminal provisions
: (not all of them, some of drug provisions are under
: 26, the antitrust provisions under 15, stc. 1001 is
: the section number.
:
: Anyway, the False Statements Statement is a Civil
: War-era statute (1863) makes it a crime to lie in any
: material way (way that matters) to any agent or
: employee of the federal government about a mtter
: within its jurisdiction. The federal prosecutors use
: this in the open-ended way they did in the Stewart
: case, to prosecute (and almost always convict) people
: they can't get on anything else, but whom they are
: convinced did something wrong. Likewise, the
: money-laundering and reporting statutes are used
: against drug dealers and tax evaders where the
: evidence of those crimes is lacking.
:
: Up until fairly recently court interpretated the
: statute pretty narrowly, excluding from the scope of
: the law exactly the thing for which Stewart was
: convicted -- the "exculpatory 'no.'" That is, it
: wasn't a violation to falsely deny to a federal agent
: or employee that you had done something wrong (perjury
: aside). There is 1941 S.Ct case., United States v.
: Gilliland, 312 U.S. 86 (1941), suggested a broader
: interpretation, saying tjat the false statement didn't
: have to involve a fraud on the go'vt -- that case
: inmvolved false reports to the govt about the
: productiveness of oil wells. In United States v.
: Bramblett, 348 U.S. 503 (1955), the S.Ct. held that
: the statute applied to the legislative and judicial
: departments, not just the executive. (Congress more or
: less excepted statements to the judiciary in the 1996
: amendments.) In United States v. Rodgers, 466 U.S. 475
: (1984), the S.Ct held that 1001 applied in criminal
: investigations. The appeals courts cut back some on
: this increasing expansiveness by holding that it was
: lawful to lie about your own culpability (the
: "exculpatory 'no" doctrine"), but the S.Ct rejected
: that idea in Umited States v. Brogan, 522 US 398
: (1998). This one blew me away when I was in law
: school, I thought (and think) it outrageous. I can
: understand making ita crime not to lie under oath,
: but even not under oath?
:
: Basic conclusion: if you can't tell federal
: authorities the truth, don't say anything at all. It's
: a bad idea, and also a crime, to lie to the feds. In a
: criminal investigation, you don't have to unless you
: are given immunity. In a civil investigation, talk to
: your lawyer. Obviously also in a criminal one.
:
:
: --- Yoshie Furuhashi <furuhashi.1 at osu.edu> wrote:
: > R rhisiart at charter.net, Tue Jul 20 14:12:02 PDT
: > 2004:
: > <snip>
: > >i have an question for the list's attorneys. in
: > his book Imperial
: > >America, Gore Vidal cites a law he calls the "False
: > Statement
: > >Statute." Title 18, Section 1001. he doesn't say
: > of what Code.
: > >let me quote his cite:
: > >
: > >"whoever, in any manner within the jurisdiction of
: > the executive,
: > >legislative, or judicial branch of the Government
: > of the United
: > >States, knowingly and willfully (1) falsifies,
: > conceals, or covers
: > >up by any trick, scheme or device a material fact;
: > (2) makes any
: > >materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent
: > statement or
: > >representation; or (3) makes or uses any false,
: > fictitious, or
: > >fraudulent statement or representation; or (4)
: > makes or uses any
: > >false writing or document knowing the same to
: > contain any materially
: > >false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or
: > entry.."
: > >
: > >is in violation of Title 18, Section 1001.
: > >
: > >are you gentlemen familiar with this statute?
: > could you say where
: > >it comes from and how it's applied? any analysis,
: > details and
: > >background would be appreciated.
: > >
: > >R
: >
: > Here's some info:
: >
:
<http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/pipermail/lbo-talk/Week-of-Mon-20040524/011590. html>
: > --
: > Yoshie
: >
: > * Critical Montages: <http://montages.blogspot.com/>
: > * Greens for Nader: <http://greensfornader.net/>
: > * Bring Them Home Now!
: > <http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/>
: > * Calendars of Events in Columbus:
: > <http://sif.org.ohio-state.edu/calendar.html>,
: > <http://www.freepress.org/calendar.php>, &
: > <http://www.cpanews.org/>
: > * Student International Forum:
: > <http://sif.org.ohio-state.edu/>
: > * Committee for Justice in Palestine:
: > <http://www.osudivest.org/>
: > * Al-Awda-Ohio:
: > <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Al-Awda-Ohio>
: > * Solidarity: <http://www.solidarity-us.org/>
: > ___________________________________
: >
: http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
: >
:
:
:
:
: __________________________________
: Do you Yahoo!?
: Read only the mail you want - Yahoo! Mail SpamGuard.
: http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail
: ___________________________________
: http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
:



More information about the lbo-talk mailing list