To: The United States Senate and President Donald Trump
Do Not Confirm Cabinet Nominees Who Commit Perjury Under Oath During Hearings
Lying under oath, also known as perjury, is a felony which carries with it a possible sentence of 5 years in prison. This is clearly outlined in U.S. Code 1621 of Title 18 which says:
in any declaration, certificate, verification, or statement under penalty of perjury as permitted under section 1746 of title 28, United States Code, willfully subscribes as true any material matter which he does not believe to be true, is guilty of perjury and shall, except as otherwise expressly provided by law, be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.
in any declaration, certificate, verification, or statement under penalty of perjury as permitted under section 1746 of title 28, United States Code, willfully subscribes as true any material matter which he does not believe to be true, is guilty of perjury and shall, except as otherwise expressly provided by law, be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.
Why is this important?
If candidates perjure themselves under oath during cabinet confirmation hearings, can we trust anything they say? Why isn't Congress outraged by the lies told to them during the hearings by Tom Price and Steve Mnuchin? Mnuchin lied about his bank, OneWest's, involvement in robot signing foreclosure documents; Price lied about the sweetheart deal he received to purchase pharmaceutical stock while he was introducing legislation to approve one of their drugs. The Committee's downplaying of these lies is cronyism of the worst sort and defies the laws of our land. If these candidates were the choice of a Democratic president, the committee members would be outraged and refuse to confirm. Instead, Mitch McConnell says the Democrats are just 'looking for issues.'