That’s my reaction as well (see post 32). But I’m responding to the quote from the federal lawyer which scr4 has quoted in post 34, where he says that Russia can legally get her out of the country. I’m curious what the federal lawyer is relying on, in saying that.
I guess we’ll find out soon. (Reuters)
Just following up on the diplomatic status issue. News reports indicate that Ecuador may be tired of their house guest and may kick him out.
One of the articles talking about that development linked to this old article from January, which says, in passing, that Ecuador tried to give Assange diplomatic status so they could get him out of the country, and Britain refused, saying he could not avoid the British charges in that way:
So it certainly sounds like a foreign country can’t just unilaterally make one of their citizens a diplomat, immune from the host country’s laws. The host country has to agree to the diplomatic immunity, because it relates to the host country’s own sovereignty and waiving the application of the host country’s laws to that individual.
Huckabee Sanders’ comment was about rumors that Butina had been photographed in the Oval Office. She had not. It was a case of mistaken identity,
Why would she even need to go to an airport? Once she gets to the embassy, she could take a helicopter straight to a ship waiting outside the US territorial limit. If the Russian government wanted to exfiltrate her, they certainly have the resources for it.
While the woman in the photo is not her, it is important to note that it would be hard to find if she did enter the White House because:
Trump has released his log far too often already.
You can leave the US (and Canada) without seeing any US agent. In most countries, you have to pass some exit control on the way out, but not the US.
I’m not denying that a foreign country with lots of resources can get someone out, and I agree that there normally aren’t exit controls at the US.
However, I’m still curious why the federal prosecutor asserted that Russia could legally get her out.
It’s a federal crime to leave the US with the goal of escaping prosecution: 18 U.S. Code § 1073 - Flight to avoid prosecution or giving testimony. I assume that like any other federal crime, if federal officials suspect on reasonable grounds that someone is trying to commit the crime, they can stop and arrest. That’s a different issue from whether there are normally exit controls on people leaving the US.
And, if the District Court orders the accused not to leave the jurisdiction, and the accused does so, that’s contempt of court: 18 U.S. Code § 401 - Power of court. Again, not lawful, and can be prosecuted if the reason for leaving is to avoid prosecution, which is an offence: 18 U.S. Code § 402 - Contempts constituting crimes.
So, I’m still puzzled why a federal prosecutor would say that Russia could legally take her out of the United States.