An Open Letter on Interviewing Vice-President Kalamata Harris

In the normal course of seeking the truth trial lawyers will focus on particular areas of information they wish to get from witnesses. Often they will write out the questions for their own purposes of organizing the inquiry. But it is here that the good trial lawyers are separated from the poor trial lawyers. Poor trial lawyers, just like members of Congress in committee hearings, and members of the mainstream media will read the questions and after each question is asked move on to the next question regardless of whether the answer was probative or not. That allows the witness to be vague and unresponsive and it is the principal reason that little information of value is obtained by the Congress in public hearings – and the problem is compounded when there is a limit on either the time or the number of questions. The same problem occurs when talking heads for the various news media interview people without ever getting straight answers.* Sometimes it leads to the interrogator focusing more on completing the list of questions than listening to the response and pressing for a real answer to the question.

In contrast, a good trial lawyer will begin the area of inquiry, listen carefully to the answer, and drill down until they get to the point to be made. Each line of inquiry is designed to add a fact to the process and thus getting to the answer is more important than getting through the questions in a prescribed amount of time.

The lack of interrogation skills is the principle reason that politicians are able to escape providing any usable information. Add to that the demonstrated bias** of most of the mainstream media in deferring to the liberal/progressive politicians which explains why the questions below, including the follow ups will never be asked of or answered by the presumptive Democrat nominee, Vice-president Kalamata Harris. Were I given the opportunity to do the interview, the following are three areas of inquiry. Even the questions as written may not lead to the truth initially, but they provide the path by which one could drill down to the truth.

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Approximately four years ago, you were picked by now-President Joe Biden to be his running mate. According to an August 13, 2019, CNN report Mr. Biden stated:

“Former Vice President Joe Biden said Tuesday that when picking a running mate, he would prefer someone who was ‘of color and/or a different gender.’”

He picked you. He did not state any evidence of competence, background experience, or demonstrated knowledge on any subject that may come under the purview of the Office of Vice-president – not even the Rules of the United State Senate – over which a vice-president presides. Were you a DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) selection? Discounting winning elections, what were the particular skills upon which Mr. Biden relied? In what particular instances have you demonstrated that skill?

During your tenure, Mr. Biden, and you yourself, repeatedly talked about the close working relationship that you had. That you and Mr. Biden had a weekly lunch at which you reviewed the critical issues of the day and the actions that were to be taken. With the exception of the White House Chief of Staff, no one had as ready and repeated access to Mr. Biden. When did you first observe the decline in Mr. Biden’s cognitive skills? When and to whom did you convey your concerns? Did you convey your concerns to the White House medical staff? Did you consider using the provisions of the Twenty-fifth Amendment allowing you to refer your concerns to members of Mr. Biden’s Cabinet and seek a temporary and/or permanent transfer of power pending a demonstration of Mr. Biden’s competence to continue as President? If not, why not? Why did you continue to assure the American public that Mr. Biden was fine, on top of the issues and able to make decisions and convey them on a timely basis? Did you not consider it important to share your concerns with the American public given the international tensions and the possibility that America could be drawn into a global conflict by acts of a cognitively declining President?  Did you delay because you were concerned that you could not win an open primary to replace Mr.Biden?  Did you delay because you were concerned that Mr. Biden would dump you as his vice-presidential candidate?  Did you put your own self interest before those of the country?

You have been referred to as Mr Biden’s “border czar” for over three years without any denial of that title by either you or Mr. Biden until recently. Assuming that you are now correct that your only responsibility was to identify the root causes of the mass migration of illegals to the southern border, what are those root causes you have identified, what specific recommendations did you make to Mr. Biden and when did you make them? Were your recommendations accepted and/or implemented and, if so, how much did it cost to implement those recommendation? What were the measurable effects of those recommendations as implemented? Did the root cause change after Mr. Biden was elected? If not, why was former President Donald Trump able to secure the border without addressing what you deem “root causes?” If elected President, what do you intend to do with the illegal immigrants currently present in the United States? Will you grant them a blanket amnesty? Will you allow them to apply for citizenship without returning to their country of origin? Would they receive a priority over those legally seeking immigration who have remained in their county of origin? How would you justify that?

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*When I was taking media training after becoming an officer at the telephone company, an advisor explained that a media interview is a two way street – the media is there to ask questions about what interests them, while you are there to deliver information that you think is important to get out to the public. My job was to insure that my points were made regardless of what the interviewer wanted. The success or failure of the interview depends on your point of view.

** And the last thing I would ever do is share the questions, or even the line of questioning with the subject politicians.