5 ms·
He's not under oath, so the consequences of lying are limited.
by ynniv 9y ago
He's not under oath, so the consequences of lying are limited.
- briandear 9y agoWhy wouldn’t they put him under oath? That just seems weird: the cost of doing it is zero.
- tareqak 9y agoYeah. I'd even go further and say that if you are giving testimony in Congress and answering questions, then you should automatically be under oath unless Congress explicitly waives that requirement before the session.
- jrs95 9y agoPerhaps this is more of a show than the real thing
- Lionsion 9y agoHe came without being subpoenaed, so not putting him under oath may have been a courtesy. Many of the congressmen thanked him for coming on his own accord.
- ng-user 9y agoThe cost for them is 0, the cost for MZ is incredibly high. I don't think he would have agreed if he was under oath.
- 0x00000000 9y agoPossible that if they did every single answer would be "I don't know the exact details, my team will get back to you"
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- jhayward 9y agoLying to congress is a felony, whether you're under oath or not. It's the same statute that people plead guilty to for lying to the FBI, 18 USC 1001 [1] [1] https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1001 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1001
- ynniv 9y agoThat’s not the same as perjury, and relatively few people have been convicted of this. If it were “illegal either way”, then there would be no point to swearing people in. A decision was made to not swear him in, and he knows this.
- samstave 9y agoI’d be willing to bet that the donations to >80% of the panel interviewing him purchased the privilege to not having to ‘swear in’
- jhayward 9y ago> relatively few people have been convicted of this I take it you don’t keep up with current events much. There have been a number of high profile convictions under 18 USC 1001 this past year. Adding: the penalties for false statements and perjury are roughly the same, although false statements can also carry a heavier sentence in some cases. There are defenses against perjury that are not available under the false statements law. All in all, they are very similar. You may find the Congressional research Service’s summary of these [1] to be helpful. [1] https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/98-808.pdf https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/98-808.pdf
- ynniv 9y agoAccording to your summary document, 1001 has a number of requirements and limitations. It would not surprise me if those were meaningful. You are arguing that there is no additional benefit to being sworn in before Congress, but it is not treated as such when Senators demand that certain testimony be given under oath.
- urda 9y agoWhile it's unlikely you'll ever face a problem like this, do know that lying is a punishable offence, which your comment incorrectly demonstrates. You need to take a moment and review "18 U.S. Code § 1001 - Statements or entries generally" [1] sooner than later. [1] https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1001 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1001