There’s really no excuse for the fact that we don’t have a “SHUT UP!” tag; I shall have to remedy that. After all, “SHUT UP!” is one of our most venerable and consistent themes.
There’s a reason for this. The reason lies at the heart of law enforcement methodology in general and federal law enforcement abuse of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001 in particular.
Imagine this scenario, based on an actual situation:
A business associate calls you and says, “my dear business associate, the shit has hit the fan; Federal Agency X is investigating Project Y we did together. Two Agency X agents are interviewing people.”
“Oh coitus,” says you, or words to that effect, and terminate the conversation.
Later that day, two well-dressed and polite agents of Agency X visit you. Because you despise me and want me to weep and gnash my teeth, you consent to be interviewed. At some point, they ask you “have you talked about this investigation with anyone?”
“No,” you say.
They smile.
At the end of the interview, it occurs to you to ask, “Hey, am I in trouble? Do I need a lawyer?”
The agents smirk. “No,” they say. “I mean, unless you lied about talking to anyone about this investigation.”
See, you’ve fallen into a false statement trap,
Nice find.
ReplyDeleteYes, we have to be careful, unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteBut, mommy said the police are my friends!
ReplyDeleteThey certainly used to be and still are in some rural areas. I remember when my mother put me on the bus in Warrenton, Virginia to go to Littleton, NC to visit my grandmother. My grandmother called the police chief, he picked me up at the bus station and took me to her house. Yes, the times were better.
ReplyDelete