Donald Trump Has Committed ‘Federal Crime By Influencing The NFL’s Hiring Practices,’ Says Kaepernick’s Lawyer
President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence could both be prosecuted under a law which bars the two executives from influencing private parties making employment decisions solely on the basis of political affiliations, the attorney of Colin Kaepernick, Mark Geragos, told Amy Dash of Law and Crime.
Geragos contends that Trump’s views about the protests of NFL players like the one done by San Francisco 49ers’ former quarterback Colin Kaepernick was instrumental in making the minds of NFL owners, who passed a new national anthem policy which would make it mandatory for players to stand during the anthem — or fines would be imposed. It has been pitched as a unanimous decision but Geragos told Amy Dash on her podcast that is not at all the case.
On the contrary, Geragos said that several top coaches and owners have accepted the new national anthem policy because they didn’t want to upset Trump. What’s more, he argued, several owners have “testified that Trump and/or Kaepernick’s position regarding the national anthem influenced their hiring practices.” In simpler words, he believes there has been a clear “collusion” behind the scenes between the NFL and Donald Trump.
He said that this could be grounds for prosecuting Trump and Pence as they forced the NFL owners from making a decision solely on the basis of their political affiliations.
“In this civil case, there’s no doubt that the existing coaches — and I’m talking about Super Bowl-winning coaches — have testified under oath that he’s a starting quarterback in this league, and so that’s mind boggling. When you ask them … specifically why he isn’t he being hired … they say because of the national anthem policy.
“The only reason — and the owners will admit that — they haven’t signed him is they’re afraid of Trump, and they’ve colluded because of Trump.”
The N.F.L. Kneels to Trump https://t.co/lOEOGmLaDS
— Mark Geragos (@markgeragos) May 24, 2018
The federal law that Geragos is referring to — the one he believes could be used against Trump and Pence — was formulated in 2007 to promote open leadership and honest government, because at the time, congressmen were getting lobbyists to hire and fire congressional staff members. The law specifically bars the president or vice president from influencing decisions of the employers. But although the employers in the context of this law would have referred to the congressmen, Geragos argues that the legislative intent of the law remains irrelevant because Justice Scalia said that the “last thing you do when interpreting a statute is you consider the legislative intent.”
For Geragos, it means that both Donald Trump and Mike Pence will be in the firing line because there is “irrefutable evidence that [NFL’s decision to pass a new policy about player conduct during national anthem] was done for partisan/public purposes.”
The player’s attorney also confirmed that the NFLPA will challenge the new policy but refrained from divulging the identity of the petitioner.
