U.S. Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller last month filed the first three indictments against former associates of President Donald Trump. Newscasters reported that one suspect quickly admitted he broke the law, while two others denied it. But those broadcasters couldn’t agree on whether the suspects had “pleaded” or “pled” to the charges.
As we move toward a climax in the high-stakes Russia investigation, we’ll want to know our legalese.
Knowing the correct past tense of “to plea” isn’t such a big deal (pleaded is preferred). But in most legal situations, precision is paramount. A misused word — even a misplaced comma — can mean the difference between innocence and guilt.
And I’ve just been imprecise. A jury actually never declares someone “innocent” — only “not guilty.” Not guilty means not that the person is blameless but that the prosecution did not prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Collusion — a term that we’ve heard a lot lately — is another word without a legal meaning. The legal term is “conspiracy,” which refers to an agreement between two or more people to engage together in a criminal act. If Trump staffers knew it was illegal to seek Russian help in the election and agreed to do it anyway, that could be a conspiracy.
Ultimately, for Trump and his political foes, the only legal phrase that really matters is “treason, bribery, and other high crimes and misdemeanors.”
That’s the U.S. Constitution’s standard to trigger removal of the president from office. The Constitution is clear about treason, which it defines as “levying war against [the U.S.], or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort.” Bribery is less clearly defined legally but is well understood: giving money to someone with official power to influence the official’s behavior.
The biggest legal mystery is the meaning of “other high crimes and misdemeanors.” Writers of the U.S. Constitution adopted the phrase from an English law written in 1386, which set that standard for removal of members of the British Parliament. More than 600 years later, its precise meaning may determine the direction of American politics.
Neil Chethik, aka the Grammar Gourmet, is executive director of the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning (www.carnegiecenterlex.org) and author of “FatherLoss” and “VoiceMale.” The Carnegie Center offers writing classes and seminars for businesses and individuals. Contact Chethik at neil@carnegiecenterlex.org or 859-254-4175.