LONDON − Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson deliberately misled Parliament over what he knew about alcohol-fueled parties at his office when COVID infections were skyrocketing and the whole country was under a strict lockdown.
That’s the conclusion of a 30,000-word report published Thursday by seven lawmakers from the House of Commons’ so-called privileges committee, which investigates alleged parliamentary wrongdoing.
The report said Johnson’s “conduct was deliberate, that he committed “a serious contempt of the House” and that he did so on an issue of “greatest importance to the House and to the public, and did so repeatedly.”
Boris Johnson lied to Parliament. Now what?
The inquiry into Johnson’s behavior is damning but has no legal consequences. If he were still a lawmaker he could have faced a 90-day suspension. But he’s not, so it’s academic. Johnson resigned ahead of the report’s release claiming there was a “witch-hunt under way, to take revenge for Brexit and ultimately to reverse the 2016 referendum result,” references to Britain’s controversial vote to leave the European Union, which he backed.
A separate public inquiry into how Johnson’s government responded to the pandemic, complete with impact statements from witnesses, is taking place in Britain and is expected to last for the next six weeks.
Johnson is not barred from standing for re-election as a lawmaker. The British press have reported that Johnson has made millions of dollars for giving speeches since leaving office in September last year.
World leaders, they’re all at it: court cases, charges, hearings
Johnson isn’t the only world leader, former or current, who’s been in the hot seat lately in the form of being the subject of a court case, hearing or legal probe of one kind or another.
Former President Donald Trump was indicted on June 14 by the Department of Justice over the potential mishandling of classified documents. He pleaded not guilty to the charges against him − all 37 of them.
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Israel’s leader Benjamin Netanyahu has been marred by allegations of corruption for years. In 2019 he was indicted for alleged bribery, fraud and breach of public trust. His trial is underway.
Other world leaders who have been charged or imprisoned include South Korea’s Park Geun-hye (allegations of corruption and influence peddling); Cristina Fernández de Kirchner of Argentina (corruptions allegations and claims of treason, later dropped, over allegedly covering up Iran’s role in the bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires); and former French President Nicolas Sarkozy (alleged bribery and corruption).
Well-known American political faces also flouted COVID rules. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, for example, went to a dinner with his wife at the upscale French Laundry restaurant in the Napa Valley when COVID infections were spiking in his state and authorities had asked residents to be extra vigilant, take precautions and avoid unnecessary gatherings. Newsom later called the decision a “bad mistake.” And former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi got her hair styled in a San Francisco hair salon, at the time a violation of the city’s COVID regulations.