Trump’s COVID Coverup: Panic Prevention or Criminal Homicide, the Art of Deception

September 28, 2020 – The duty of any leader, whether a CEO, president, or school superintendent, is to protect the interests of those they represent – whether it’s shareholders or members, school children and teachers, or the American public. Just as a parent has a duty to care for their minor children –  the president has a duty to protect the nation and by association those within it’s borders. That duty became paramount when he was first briefed twice by the intelligence community in January, about the impending virus known was COVID-19. But what did he do? He did not warn the American people of the dire risk to their safety – instead he said it was a “Democratic hoax,” – and would all just go away like a “miracle.” He not only “knew” about the danger it posed to the American people – he lied about it. He practiced the “Art of Deception.” What is even worse, he held rallies in highly infected areas around the country and urged people to not protect themselves. As a result, many of his followers have died – including Herman Cain, the 2012 Republican presidential contender who attended his rally in Oklahoma during the height of the pandemic. Besides the foolishness of those who attend knowing the risks, let’s look at the behavior of the president through the lens of the criminal law. See Trump’s Coronavirus timeline here, and “Fact Check” from Associated Press.

Donald Trump had superior knowledge of the deadly virus by virtue of his position as president. He not only had intelligence community briefings. he oversees the entire Executive Branch which is responsible for safeguarding the country and its people. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) falls under the umbrella of the Department of Health and Human Services – one of several executive branch departments that fall under the auspices of the US President. With all these resources at his disposal, what does he do?

He lies to the American people about the severity of the disease, he tells them to go about their lives, tweets “liberate” certain states, tells people they don’t have to wear a mask, chastises states and governors who close-down their economies to protect their people or who mandate social distancing and masks to conform with health guidelines of the the CDC and their own state health department mandates. This is a man who “encourages” his very own voters – those who will cast votes for him – to go to his rallies in known COVID hot-spots, encouraging them to crowd and go maskless. Not only is this conduct highly irresponsible – it is most likely criminal.

The American president, by residing in that office, is imbued with the obligation to protect the electorate. This duty is clearly established in our founding documents – much like a contractual document – the US Constitution, Article II and the Declaration of Independence – makes it clear, the president derives his power from the people who elect him. It would only follow that because he derives his power from the people, he has an obligation to protect them, such as a parent would to for a child, a CEO to his shareholders, or a school superintendent for the school children and teachers – to do what’s in their best interests to protect them from harm.

Under basic “Agency law” he is the chosen agent of the principal – the “principal” here being the American people. As  a “duty” of his office he represents ALL the American people, not just those who voted for him. Just as a salesman represents the company in which he works – and not just to the customers who buy from him. We Americans are that company – we make up the shareholders of the United States – we all have a stake in the outcome of our nation – just as if it were a company. Just because our nation chose Trump as its leader, does not mean the nation can’t divest itself from a bad leader. Surely, the Constitution provided that with the power of Impeachment – although the founders probably never envisioned a complicit Senate that would allow a president to act in ways unseemly and criminal to most rational people – but we take each president and each Congress as we find them.

Despite all this, presidents are “elected” to carry out the duty to represent this nation – each one in office is the “designated agent” – and with the office comes a Constitutional mandate that each president swear an oath of allegiance before taking office:

The presidential oath of office is found in Article II, Section 1, Clause 8:

Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:–I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

So if each president has an “affirmative” duty to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution – and the president derives his power from the electorate (the people who elect him – including those who did not cast their vote for him) by virtue of the office, he has a duty to “protect” ALL Americans – not just those in either “red” or “blue” states. He also by virtue as his position as president, must protect the men and women in the military of which he is Commander in Chief – to all those in the armed forces. This includes protecting them from COVID as he would from any incoming threat to their safety.

As found in the United States Declaration of Independence, ratified by the Second Continental Congress on July 4,  1776: we see the foundation for this duty.  Stating in part:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

Now that we have established that ALL presidents have a duty to those in which he/she represents, now we can look to the facts presented by COVID.

If he were a CEO of a company, and he brought harm to the corporation, he would be fired.

If he were a parent who endangered his child, he would lost his parental rights, they would have long ago been terminated for “needlessly” putting his children in harms’ way – risk of death. So why is it okay to encourage people to attend needless rallies during the height of a pandemic? The short answer – it is not!

By his encouragement, there are several “Crimes” that Trump may have committed, including but not limited to the following:

Criminal Negligence – recklessly acting without reasonable caution and putting another person at risk of injury or death (or failing to do something with the same consequences). Federal and state courts describe this behavior as a form of recklessness, where the person acts “significantly different” than an “ordinary person” under similar circumstances. One example is a parent leaving a small child in reach of a loaded firearm.

Reckless endangerment – is a crime consisting of acts that create a substantial risk of serious physical injury to another person. The accused person isn’t required to intend the resulting or potential harm, but must have acted in a way that showed a disregard for the foreseeable consequences of their actions. It is a term that means to be careless and indifferent to the welfare of other people.

Homicide – The killing of one human being by the act, procurement, or omission of another.

When someone “fails to act” when there is a “duty to act,” or “fails to adequately warn” – needlessly putting people in danger – while knowing the “potential” – the probable consequences of his/her actions – when there is a known and foreseeable danger – (death from exposure to COVID) – that person can be found guilty of a crime; not only by doing an ‘Affirmative Act’ of encouraging someone to expose themselves to danger and potential deadly harm – but by ‘Failing to Act’ to “prevent” them from exposing themselves to a known deadly harm, is also required.

This means a person can commit a crime by doing a wrongful criminal act causing harm, as well as failing to act when he or she has a duty to act to prevent the harm.

Example, a parent has a duty to act to to try to save their child if the child is drowning and that parent can swim. A parent also has a duty to feed and clothe their child – and not harm or neglect them, else a court can take away their parental rights away if they find that parent is not serving the “best interests of the child.” A CEO has a duty to act on behalf of his/her company to safeguard the stockholder, the company reputation, and other good will and assets of the company if it is put in jeopardy – whether it be a downturn in the economy, an attempted hostile takeover, or bad press that is threatening the company reputation.

The President Breached His Duty to Prevent Harm

Here we have a “duly” elected president who represents all the people of America and not just the ones who voted for him. As president, he has a duty to safeguard the country and by natural association, the people within it.

Donald Trump breached that duty to care for the electorate when he failed to warn them of the gravity of the impending danger of COVID. By doing so, he continued a charade to misinform, and by doing so he violated his duty to the American people. He did so when he said COVID was hoax” and will just go away like a miracle, when he had superior knowledge, and understood what he was saying was not true.

Trump Announces the “Plague” to Bob Woodward

In fact, he made a statement to journalist Bob Woodward on February 7, that is was the “plague” and much more deadly than the most “strenuous flues.” Even worse, the president had the attention of the entire nation just three days prior to his statement to Bob Woodward when he held the State of the Union on Feb. 4, and uttered virtually nothing about the impending virus.

By encouraging Americans to go maskless, holding rallies where the disease was spreading, and going against all the medical and scientific experts, he puts every American at risk. He can say he didn’t want to panic anyone by telling the truth, but that makes no sense when he encouraged people to his rallies and doing so without protection, and under the direst of situations.

Now that over 200,000 Americans have succumb, are now dead, and countless more will die – America – isn’t it time to hold him accountable? He has not only mismanaged the pandemic, he has lied to the American people about it. He has not only breached the duty of the highest office in the land – to safeguard America – the people – the economy – the way of life – he has put us all in mortal danger.

You read the facts – you read the law – you can decide when you vote on Tuesday, November 3rd whether to hold him accountable – or not – or if you want more of the same!

Updated Article – Nov. 18,2020 – America Voted – and Spoke Loudly & Clearly – America needs and got a New Leader – Joe Biden to take office on January 20, 2021. Yet, for over 5 months, Trump has not taken part in any Pandemic Task Force briefings and the death toll continues to soar. It appears the Trump administration is more interested in trying to undermine a decisive vote win for Biden, and block him from needed intelligence briefings, while showing no interest in helping states to battle the pandemic. Since the election, Trump has filed frivolous lawsuits in battleground states – while getting Sen. Lindsay Graham trying to get Secretaries of States to throw out legally cast ballots – then firing his own Cyber-Elections Director who assured everyone the voting was secure – and now trying to get states ‘not’ to certify their votes for Biden, as well as trying to get state electors to go rogue. It’s clear, America Spoke – Democracy Worked – Now its Time for Every American – including Trump to Listen.