The Appearance of Impropriety

So if you are facing an impeachment inquiry based on the testimony of an FBI informant, why not just arrest him and charge him with lying? That disrupts his credibility, makes him unavailable to testify to Congress, and lets you counterattack on the charges facing you and your son.

Why not? Well, usually because of the appearance of impropriety.
The appearance of impropriety is a phrase referring to a situation which to a layperson without knowledge of the specific circumstances might seem to raise ethics questions. 
I don't really need to be convinced that an FBI informant might be lying; rats are rats. When you try to silence him instead of rebutting his testimony, though....
on

4 comments:

  1. Dad2911:28 AM

    You poor old, old, guy.

    You still think that the FBI gives a rat's ass about "appearances"?

    That's so 20th Century.....

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  2. Grim11:47 AM

    The FBI wasn't who I was thinking about, no; I assume they're acting on orders. It's interesting that those giving the orders no longer care to bother with it.

    The FBI is protected by Hollywood, which portrays its agents as rock-ribbed Americans upholding the rule of law (even often in movies like Sicario that portray the US government as murderous and cunningly looking for ways to engage in CIA-led clandestine operations on US soil). This regular portrayal of the FBI as a kind of elite do-gooder operation provides a sort of Space-Shuttle-like heat protection for occasions like this.

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  3. Dad296:09 PM

    The FBI is protected by Hollywood

    ......which plays to an ever-diminishing audience, a part of which doesn't believe that BS--but it's what's for dinner, so to speak.

    Sean Hannity is a true believer, which speaks to his sentience and IQ.

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  4. Grim9:28 PM

    I see that DOJ has appealed a judge's ruling releasing the informant/defendant from custody. They feel it's very important that he remain behind bars where he can't talk to... "foreign agents," they claim.

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