Prof. Avena’s Take on the GloriaGate Tapes

I attended part of last week’s forum on the Legal and Constitutional Issues surrounding the Gloriagate Tapes and here are my notes of Prof. Victoria Avena’s talk  (as usual, all errors are mine):

Relevant PGMA Admissions in the Apology Statement.  Prof. Avena recognizes that the statement was the work of “lawyerly wisdom” and contained little that could pin the President down. 

• First, GMA did not make any admission relating to the tapes. She merely made mention of the “issue of the tapes.”  This is the only reference to the tapes in the statement. She therefore makes no categorical link between her statement and the GloriaGate Tapes.
• Second, when GMA said that “the election results were already in and the votes had been counted”, she was telling a half-truth.  Although the teachers had completed the counting of the ballots, the count that matters is that done by Congress sitting as a National Board of Canvassers. That count had not yet been done nor completed.
• Third, GMA admits that  she “had conversations with many people, including a Comelec official” but does not say she talked to Commr. Garcillano.  She uses the word “official” which could be understood to mean a number of people other than the Commissioners themselves.

Prof. Avena concludes that there is no admission that can be taken against her since all her statements are exculpatory.