I can't fault the accuracy of your comment, Tim. Interestingly enough, however, the usual "it's who you know" seems to control what happens. From a Guest Editorial published today in the Oregonian newspaper by Elizabeth Drew, author of the book "The Corruption of American Politics; What went wrong and why." "In 1996, Common Cause filed a complaint with the Justice Department. It maintained that the soft-money ads themselves violated the law and that there was a clear pattern of coordination between the candidates campaigns and the national committees. Following the usual O.K. Corral scene at the Justic Department, Attorney General Janet Reno--without investigating the complaint--ruled that since the Clinton Campaign had consulted its lawyers, no criminal intent was involved, and closed the case. (FBI Director Louis Freeh, Charles LaBella, Reno's chosen chief prosecutor for the campaign finance task force, and others objected vehembently to this course of nonaction.) Reno bucked the issue over to the feckless Federal Elections Commission, which did what it usually does: nothing." But before the FEC buried the issue, its general counsel, Lawrence Noble, did find that party ads violated election laws and recommended the campaigns repay millions of dollars." [end of quote] The real problem with the "I consulted my lawyer so there's no criminal intent" is that government simply does not follow its own rules. But I've got a solution to that problem. Jim Bell ----- Original Message ----- From: Tim May <tcmay@got.net> To: <cypherpunks@cyberpass.net> Sent: Tuesday, September 19, 2000 15:34 PM Subject: Re: RC4 source as a literate program
At 1:28 PM -0500 9/5/00, Gary Jeffers wrote:
Fellow Cypherpunks,
THE LAWYER GAMBIT
I remember reading in old anti-IRS literature about a technique for avoiding prosecutions. A client would tell a lawyer that he wanted to do something and would ask if it were legal to do. The lawyer would then give his opinion as to wheather it was legal or not. If the lawyer said that it was legal and gave his opinion in writing, then the client could proceed without out worry. The lawyer's opinion would stop any criminal prosecution.
And the nitwits who believed this are now serving ten to twenty on income tax evasion charges.
You really think that if I, for example, were to waste three years of my life getting a law degree and then passing the bar that my advice would absolve someone of criminal charges/