Who are your alibi and character witnesses?

Once upon a time, back when I was a criminal defense attorney, I tried a child molestation case. There was evidence for the prosecution and the defense, for every witness there were reasons to believe what they said, but also reasons to believe they were lying. I wasn't sure what happened, and I knew the jury had their work cut out for them.

There was a point in the trial, however, where things went in the wrong direction for the defense. It had to do with an alibi witness who supposedly could account for the defendant's whereabouts and actions during a specific critical period of time. Problem was, this witness was a convicted child molester. My client made the decision that he would be called to the stand anyway, the prior conviction was admissible evidence, and let's just say that the jury got off the proverbial fence by the time he was finished testifying. A verdict of "guilty" was not a surprise after that.

Who your alibi and character witnesses are important and I find it fascinating to watch who is vouching for who these days. For example, a few weeks ago admitted groper Trump vouched for accused sexual harasser Bill O'Reilly. When Trump came under fire for sharing highly classified intel with Russians in the Oval Office, who offered to defend him? Vladimir Putin, of course. And that's not all. Trump has also come under fire for remarks made during the same conversation about firing James Comey, calling him a "nut job" and noting that the firing relieved some pressure on him about the Russia issue. Although the White House has not denied those statements were made, today it is reported that Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov is trying to give Trump cover by saying those comments didn't happen.

There's plenty more of the same in Washington these days. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein told members of Congress in the past two days that he stands by his memo that was originally used as justification for firing Comey, even though Trump himself told reporter Lester Holt that he was going to fire Comey anyway. What exactly was the Rosenstein memo anyway? Two weeks on the job and the Deputy AG gets called to the White House to discuss Comey. After this meeting he delivers an alibi memo to Trump, cover for firing the FBI Director who was leading the Trump/Russia investigation, claims the problem with Comey was how he handled the Clinton email investigation last year. Vice-President Pence and others widely spread Rosenstein's alibi (see example here).

Of course, there is also Michael Flynn, the disgraced short-term national security advisor, who has already acknowledged that he was a paid foreign agent while on Trump's campaign and while national security advisor. His biggest character advisor? Trump. Per reports of Comey's contemporaneous memos, Trump asked the FBI to back off of the investigation of Flynn and regrets firing him.

As the soap opera that our politics has turned into unfolds before us, watch who is defending whom, and give some thought as to why.