Well, one that got a bit of press recently is making false statements which I found out about when they got Flynn for it [0]. I thought it was interesting, because the test for lying is 'is it material to the case', so there might be no crime but if you mis-remember some relevant fact while explaining the situation to government a crime suddenly comes into existence. Particularly when you are up against entities that potentially have a better idea of your online and call activity than you do and have lawyers with a better understanding of what 'material' means.
But realistically, the problem is that America has more laws than anyone can read and has also developed a secret legal apparatus so has case law on the books that essentially nobody is allowed to know about [1]. Since an American can't possibly know what the law is, it seems like a stretch if they claim to be following it. Particularly if they do something off the beaten track like run a business, live overseas (byzantine tax system), talk to government officials (see above) or communicate with other people using the cell phones or internet (I think teen sexting laws in the US might be a federal crime, for example, which is sometimes a nasty shock to many minors).
Also note that for all this stuff the tests involve dangerous legal words like 'reasonable' and 'contemporary adult community standards', which we all think we know what we mean up until it turns out that they mean something slightly different to everyone and the lawyers have very different standards to on some topic. Everyone is unreasonable on something, hopefully there not on something there is a law about, eh?
I have repeated it 5 times in a variety of different tones. I still don't know all the law that governs a US citizen, and they would still likely apply to me if I was in America :P.
You've missed the point. If someone puts a bear trap just outside my door it is easy to avoid - just hop over it. That doesn't change the fact that there is a bear trap outside my door. The whole point here is there are so many laws on the books that just talking to a federal agent is potentially incriminating, which is what is being part of what is being acknowledged by pleading the 5th immediately and getting a lawyer.
Also, if I don't know about the bear trap, there is a very high chance I will get caught in it even though it is easy to avoid.
But realistically, the problem is that America has more laws than anyone can read and has also developed a secret legal apparatus so has case law on the books that essentially nobody is allowed to know about [1]. Since an American can't possibly know what the law is, it seems like a stretch if they claim to be following it. Particularly if they do something off the beaten track like run a business, live overseas (byzantine tax system), talk to government officials (see above) or communicate with other people using the cell phones or internet (I think teen sexting laws in the US might be a federal crime, for example, which is sometimes a nasty shock to many minors).
Also note that for all this stuff the tests involve dangerous legal words like 'reasonable' and 'contemporary adult community standards', which we all think we know what we mean up until it turns out that they mean something slightly different to everyone and the lawyers have very different standards to on some topic. Everyone is unreasonable on something, hopefully there not on something there is a law about, eh?
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Making_false_statements
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Foreign_Intellig...