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  • R.I.P. Rule of Law, How Bad Can It Get?

R.I.P. Rule of Law, How Bad Can It Get?

William L. Kovacs

August 2023

R.I.P. Rule of Law, How Bad Can It Get?

With the exception of the Civil War, the people of the United States have generally lived in a rule-of-law society, one in which all persons are accountable to laws that are publicly promulgated, equally enforced, and independently adjudicated. Regrettably, by living so long in good fortune, the people of the U.S. have not put serious thought into what happens when the rule of law dies. The Biden administration’s recent creation of a two-tier system of justice bluntly informs us that while the nation has been blessed with a civil society for 247 years, we are not protected from a bad ending. The theory of the rule of law may be eternal, but its application in the U.S. now appears transient.

Why are the actions of the federal government today more harmful to democracy than in the past?

While there has always been corruption in the federal government, it has never been systemic until the Biden administration. The House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Accountability sets out the timeframe of corruption from 2013 to 2023. It includes Biden’s corrupt dealings with China, Ukraine, Romania, and Kazakhstan. Biden’s Department of Justice and its surrogate investigative arm, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“DOJ”), have indicted and are attempting to imprison former president Trump, Biden’s primary rival in the 2024 election. This all follows four years of the Trump presidency, during which the DOJ lied to the FISA courts about the Trump administration and concocted the false Russian collusion narrative that led to the sham impeachment of Trump.

The most horrifying conduct of Biden’s special counsel is his effort to criminalize Trump’s right to speak, think and have confidentiality in his discussions with lawyers. This conduct is an attempt to criminalize all speech that is different from the government’s sanctioned speech.

There is also the DOJ’s attempt to give a sweetheart, no jail time, deal to Hunter Biden by ignoring his conduct as a tax cheat, drug addict, money launderer, and unregistered foreign agent. Even the day before Devon Archer was to give testimony before the House Oversight Committee, DOJ informed him to report to prison before giving testimony. This was an overt attempt at witness intimidation. While the list of crimes by the Biden administration will fill volumes in the history books, the existential question is – how much harm can the Biden administration do to the nation if its conduct continues?

How bad can Biden’s corruption get? Really bad!

Keep in mind the federal government has sovereign immunity. It cannot be sued without its consent. It will not prosecute itself for criminal conduct. Yes, corrupt officials can be prosecuted but only if the DOJ seeks to prosecute them. The Hunter Biden saga illustrates the power DOJ to destroy the rule of law in the United States. DOJ intentionally delayed prosecuting Hunter Biden for almost a decade, thereby allowing the statute of limitations to expire on the most serious tax evasion charges. And, finally, when a Republican House of Representatives pushed the DOJ into prosecuting Hunter Biden, DOJ indicted him on misdemeanor charges and, in a faux plea agreement, sought no jail time. It also attempted to give him complete immunity for all other crimes.  Fortunately for the nation, judge Noreika uncovered DOJ’s deception and refused to accept the sham plea deal.

The significant point in DOJ’s coverup is that it has the sole power to determine who will be prosecuted and what laws will be enforced. Congress can investigate DOJ actions, but it cannot force it to act in accordance with the law or to apply our laws equally. The courts can only hear matters before them. Nothing requires the federal government to prosecute any specific crime. The president can fire corrupt DOJ officials, but what if those officials are carrying out the president’s orders? Yes, the House of Representatives can impeach the president for treason, bribery, and other High crimes and misdemeanors, but if the Senate refuses to convict the president, all his corruption continues.

What does this mean?

President John Adams described our Republic as “A government of laws, not of men.” In the 21t c. those words are pure poppycock. The United States is a government of individuals holding personal power, wealth, and privilege. These individuals will undertake any action, including criminal conduct, to protect themselves the country be damned.

While the proper role of a government official should be as a trustee to the Constitution and a fiduciary to the institution in which they serve, few officials follow that path. Most hold power as politicians that give loyalty only to those helping them maintain their office. It is this loyalty to party and donors that undercuts the principle of separation of powers in the Constitution. There are no checks on power; there is only the Republicans checking the power of Democrats and Democrats checking the power of Republicans.

How can the power of the Executive branch be controlled?

The most effective mechanism for ensuring limited government, but the least likely to be acted upon by our officials, would be for each branch of government to constantly check the power of the other branches, notwithstanding political party affiliation. Absent an effective check on power, there are a few options for restraining corruption:

1.  The most practical approach to controlling corruption in the Executive branch is if one House of Congress is controlled by a party in opposition to the president. That House of Congress can refuse to fund a corrupt government, notwithstanding the fact that part of the government will shut down. The House of Representatives has a clear choice, to fund corruption or to shut down the corrupt agency.

To appropriate money, the House of Representatives and the Senate must agree on the amount of money the government needs, and the president must sign the appropriations into law. But if one House of Congress refuses to appropriate any money to fund a part of the government, that part of the government will be discontinued without passing a new law. This crude process is the only way to control a corrupt government.

2. Congress should grant Use Immunity to those with knowledge of corruption in the Executive branch. By granting use immunity to corrupt officials, corrupt officials can be forced to testify without fear of future punishment for the new information they provide. Securing the truth may be the only mechanism to make the federal government honest and eventually workable.

3. The only real power “We the people” have to control government is our power to vote for members of Congress. We do not vote for the President; that is done by the electoral college and a convoluted quilt of state voting laws, state Secretaries of State, and judicial proceedings. The Supreme Court is appointed, as are the millions of nameless bureaucrats that make laws daily by regulating almost every aspect of society.

Our right to vote for members of Congress is extraordinarily powerful. It is a legal mechanism for a peaceful revolution. With our votes, we can vote out all members of Congress every two years and elect a Congress that is a trustee of the Constitution and a fiduciary to the institution in which they serve. Only by electing a Congress willing to constantly check the powers of the other branches of government can citizens ensure that at least one branch of government, Congress, functions as the Constitution intends.

Electing a Congress that obeys the Constitution is the only failsafe mechanism given to the people to ensure we remain a Republic. If the people of the U.S. continue to elect a Congress that gives it loyalty to politics rather than the Constitution, the nation dies.

So how bad can a corrupt government be?

In the final analysis, John Adams was wrong. We are not a government of laws. The Biden administration and its DOJ have transitioned the United States into a government of men. Rather Thomas Jefferson, Adams’ nemesis, had it correct when he stated, “The government you elect is the government you deserve.” There is little in our Constitution to control a government that is willing to corrupt our constitutional system for personal benefit. So, we must all recognize as citizens the government we elect only functions as well as the individuals we elect.

So how bad can it (the federal government) get without the rule of law? Pick your worst nightmare, and don’t leave any possibility out for being too terrifying. As a nation of men, not laws, we are all subject to the power of narcissists exercised for personal political advantage. History has proven such insanity can result in inhuman outcomes.

William L. Kovacs has served as senior vice president for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, chief counsel to a congressional committee, and a partner in law D.C. law firms. His book Reform the Kakistocracy is the winner of the 2021 Independent Press Award for Political/Social Change. He can be contacted at [email protected]

 

 

 

 

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  • The Big Lie: I Can’t Answer, the Matter Is Under Investigation

The Big Lie: I Can’t Answer, the Matter Is Under Investigation

William L. Kovacs

July 2023

The Big Lie: I Can’t Answer, the Matter Is Under Investigation

The eight most disingenuous words used by federal agencies to hide their criminal activity are “I can’t answer, the matter is under investigation.” These words are used to obstruct, mislead, delay, and discourage congressional investigations into the legality of Executive branch activity.

Unfortunately, this simple statement often achieves its goal of obstructing efforts by Congress to obtain information. While Congress may be upset with the response, many times, it is cowed into accepting presidents can protect their people from being investigated for criminal conduct. Fortunes, however, can be reversed. If Republicans win the White House with a presidential candidate who sincerely wants to uphold the rule of law, restore justice to the legal system and hold the “Deep State” accountable, that president can make it happen.

The leading Presidential candidates for the Republican nomination have promised to fire the FBI director and clean house at the Department of Justice. If a Republican wins the presidency in November 2024, FBI Director Wary and AG Garland will resign long before they can be fired. So, candidates, please, stop pandering. No one will be fired. All pablum, worthless and oversimplified promises.

Suppose a new president truly wants to clean up the deep, dark, corrupt state at the DOJ and FBI. In that case, the Republican president need only waive Executive Privilege and issue an Executive Order declassifying all investigatory materials sought by the current Republican House of Representatives. Let Congress bleed the truth out of those subverting the Constitution.

Executive compliance is simple. When Congress requests documents, the Executive should order them produced. When testimony is sought, provide it without asserting objections. Cooperate with the Republican House to find the truth.

Since the Nixon administration, presidents have asserted Executive Privileges thirty times to block congressional investigations. Presidential assertions included protecting the president’s brother (Billy Carter), girlfriends (Monica Lewinsky), mismanagement of funds (Solyndra), foreign affairs (Benghazi), gun running (fast and furious), and the Watergate tapes. Democrat and Republican administrations act as if providing Congress with requested information concerning an investigation will somehow diminish their manhood.

Finding and eliminating corruption is for the benefit of the nation. Hiding corruption does not assist the president in the faithful execution of the law. The DOJ/FBI’s long-running minuet of never sharing information with congressional committees is a mechanism of deceit, not of protecting the independence and effectiveness of law enforcement, the identities of informants, avoiding pre-trial publicity, or interfering with prosecutorial discretion. The Supreme Court has long recognized the “…implied power [of Congress] to investigate and to compel the production of information” from the Executive branch.

“Executive Privilege for presidential communications is limited to the quintessential power and nondelegation of Presidential power, and those are the core functions in the Constitution.” It should only be asserted to preserve those core constitutional functions. Claiming it beyond the core constitutional functions is a delaying tactic that often allows illegal conduct to continue.

As to declassifying all documents related to alleged criminal activity in the Executive branch, no president should ever be intentionally or unintentionally covering it up. The American Bar Association writes, “Under the U.S. Constitution, the president as commander in chief is given broad powers to classify and declassify such information, often through executive orders.” While there are procedures for declassifying the materials, a president, except for certain materials such as nuclear secrets, has almost total control to declassify records by Executive Order. Presidents at all times have the power to put sunlight on government corruption. When they choose not to expose corruption, it is an intentional coverup.

Unfortunately, since the Nixon administration in the early 1970s, the Executive branch has forced Congress to issue subpoenas to secure requested documents. Presidents achieve their goal of protecting corruption by requiring years of legal battles to enforce the subpoena.

Hopefully, there will be a Republican Congress, or at least a Republican House sworn in on January 3, 2025, and on January 20, 2025, a Republican president. Between January 3, 2025, and January 20, 2025, the Republican Congress can prepare the appropriate investigative letters to the incoming president requesting the information needed to root out corruption in the DOJ/FBI. On January 20, when the Republican president enters the White House, his first order of business should be to issue an Executive Order waiving Executive privilege and formally declassifying the documents relating to all congressional investigations. These waivers should encompass all alleged DOJ/FBI corruption as described in the Durham Report, Mueller and Horowitz Reports, payments received by Joe and Hunter Biden from foreign countries, all matters associated with the development of a two-tier system of justice, efforts by the federal government to force social media companies to manipulate information distributed to the public and all other matters of high-level DOJ and FBI corruption.

By taking this approach, the president will tremendously assist the congressional investigation of the DOJ/FBI misconduct without investigating the departments he leads. If Congress finds evidence of criminal activity, it will refer the evidence to new appointees at a  DOJ for appropriate prosecution.

Suppose Executive branch personnel refuse to testify or take the Fifth to protect their constitutional rights. In that case, Congress can grant the Use Immunity, which compels their testimony but provides immunity to the witness for the new information provided. A witness that refuses to testify after being given Use Immunity can be cited for contempt of Congress and imprisoned.

It’s time the federal government gets serious about corruption in government. More intriguing would be if a president followed this advice. The nation might uncover who is running the Deep State

William L. Kovacs has served as senior vice president for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, chief counsel to a congressional committee, and a partner in law D.C. law firms. His book Reform the Kakistocracy is the winner of the 2021 Independent Press Award for Political/Social Change. He can be contacted at [email protected]

This article was first published in The Thinking Conservative.

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  • Department of Justice: 44 Years without Congress’ Re-Authorization

Department of Justice: 44 Years without Congress’ Re-Authorization

William L. Kovacs

June 2023

Department of Justice: 44 Years without Congress’ Re-Authorization

In 1998, Henry Hyde, then chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, noted, “Authorization [the congressional reauthorization process to renew laws] is the process by which Congress creates, amends, and extends programs in response to national needs. Authorization is perhaps the most important oversight tool that a committee can employ…” Most laws are authorized for 3 -5 years and need reauthorization at the end of that time period.

Chairman Hyde’s efforts were the last serious attempt by Congress to comprehensively reauthorize the statutory authority of the Department of Justice. Regrettably, the overall activities of the Department of Justice were last formally reauthorized by Congress in 1979.

In light of this background and the recent Horowitz and Durham reports, the American people should not wonder why the Department of Justice and its FBI act as a crime syndicate. DOJ has not been supervised or questioned by Congress in almost a half-century. It has been given whatever it requested; its indolence has been tolerated.  Now it is an uncontrollable plague on the nation that initiates false investigations of its enemies and hides real criminal activity from the public.

The reauthorization process for laws and Executive agencies is hard work. It requires a complete review, approval, amendment, or repeal of every statute within the jurisdiction of the agency being examined. Unfortunately, Congress flaunts its own rules requiring it to reauthorize expired laws. House of Representatives Rule XXI provides that “[A]n appropriation may not be reported in a general appropriation bill…for an expenditure not previously authorized by law…” Compliance with this rule would seem to ensure Departments like DOJ could not be funded without being reauthorized. Congress gets around this rule by waiving it. Chairman Hyde describes this waiver process as “The de facto ceding of the authorization power to appropriators.” Hyde concludes such a process diminishes the role of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees.

As far back as  2002, Senator Grassley, in a letter to DOJ, described the agency as one that encroached [interfered] on many of the essential investigations of other federal agencies. He also noted there was a two-tiered system of justice, with the senior officials prosecuting one way and the rank and file another way. The Senator concluded that the DOJ’s Federal Bureau of Investigation shows “a contempt for any public or private entity that dares to question its motives or performance.”

While a few DOJ programs, e.g., violence against women and the FISA activities, were reauthorized by Congress, the overall reauthorization of the DOJ as an Executive agency has escaped oversight for 44 years. It should be noted that under FISA, the DOJ and FBI filed false affidavits with the court, proving even a reauthorization review cannot catch professional fraudsters.

In its 2023 Budget request, DOJ requests $6.2 billion for literally hundreds of programs that have not been reviewed by Congress in decades. It also filed a 2022-2026 Strategic Plan. Goal 1 of its Strategic Plan is to “Uphold the Rule of Law.” It will achieve this goal by protecting the country’s Democratic institutions and promoting good government. These commitments are made while it refuses to comply with congressional information requests, hides information to protect Hunter Biden, refuses to allow Congress to examine bank records, invents the Russian collusion scandal to tarnish a sitting president and raids the home of a former president for possessing classified documents while giving the sitting president weeks to gather documents. This is the DOJ/FBI “rule of law.”

If any agency in the U.S. government is in need of oversight, it is DOJ. It is the duty of Congress to undertake the full reauthorization process, including:

A review of every program from litigation to community policing to state and local grants. Any program that cannot justify that it has accomplished the intent of the statute creating it or failed to protect the rule of law should be immediately defunded.

A review of all alleged criminal activity by the DOJ and FBI so the committee can assess the honesty or criminality of the organization. To achieve this goal, the DOJ and FBI leaders for the past decade should be granted Use Immunity so they testify honestly, without fear of incriminating themselves. Only by granting such immunity will a criminal testify to the truth. Otherwise, the agencies will again assert many objections to answering questions. The granting of Use Immunity opened the flood of testimony in the Watergate hearings, it is time to grant it again so Congress can reform the DOJ and FBI.

The difficult policy questions should be asked. Should the billions for Community-based programs be converted to block grants to state and local governments? Does an organization like the FBI that refuses to cooperate with Congress deserve billions of dollars for a flashy new building? Has Congress transferred too many new programs to DOJ/FBI, such as counterterrorism, counterintelligence, weapons of mass destruction deterrence, and cyber security? Should all of these programs be transferred to other agencies to preserve the rule of law?

What would a restructuring of the DOJ and FBI look like? This is the obvious question. Unfortunately, there is no obvious answer. Rather than protecting Democracy, these massive agencies are a threat to Democracy. Congress needs to determine what it wants the DOJ/FBI to do. Are they just law enforcement agencies as prior to 9/11, or are they to be the master of the law enforcement circus as they are now?

Next, Congress needs to determine – what is working at DOJ/FBI that needs to be preserved. What is broken but can be fixed to work? What is so corrupt it is harmful and must be eliminated due to its harm to Democracy? The reauthorization process gives Congress the opportunity to answer these essential questions needed to preserve our Democracy.

William L. Kovacs has served as senior vice president for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, chief counsel to a congressional committee, and a partner in law D.C. law firms. His book Reform the Kakistocracy is the winner of the 2021 Independent Press Award for Political/Social Change. He can be contacted at [email protected]

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  • Biden’s “Rule of Law” Administered by a Team of Criminals

Biden’s “Rule of Law” Administered by a Team of Criminals

William L. Kovacs

April 2023

Biden’s “Rule of Law” Administered by a Team of Criminals

The United States, for centuries touted itself as a Rule of Law society. Citizens believe we are all equal before the law, including government officials. This concept is described as “the law is the king,” “no man is above the law,” or “we are a government of laws, not men.”

Unfortunately, the rule of law is neither a rule nor a law. It is a myth. The Biden administration exposes the myth by its every action. The most recent example is the IRS whistleblower who got tired of trying to bring the truth about Hunter Biden’s foreign payments and tax cheating to the top Justice Department (“DOJ”) officials. It appears the DOJ refused to speak with the whistleblowers, however, after listening to a top DOJ official perjure himself before Congress, the whistleblower brought evidence of the DOJ corruption to Congress.

There is the Secretary of Homeland Security, contrary to thousands of hours of video evidence and testimony by border patrol agents and media outlets, who tells Congress the southern border is closed and secure.

The most disturbing corruption, however, is the damage done to the integrity of the U.S. election system by the Biden campaign and its “patriotic CIA officials.” It now appears the letter signed by the fifty-one high-level U.S. security officials was false when sent. It was a lie to the American people in order to influence the 2020 presidential election. While Trump lost the election by receiving fewer votes than Biden, Trump was right that election crimes cost him the election. The crimes were revealed by former CIA acting chief Mike Morrell. He admitted that the letter signed by the “51 intel experts” claiming the Hunter Biden laptop story was Russian misinformation was the real misinformation. Morrell organized the signatures on the false letter to help Biden win the 2020 presidential election.  Morrell hoped he would get the top CIA position. Unfortunately, Biden’s patronage was rewarded to Antony Blinken, Secretary of State, for initiating the letter.

The Biden administration’s list of lies, deceptions, and direct interference with criminal investigations prove there is no rule of law in the U.S. The federal government is operating as a criminal syndicate.

Most concerning, however, is other than the undefined, vague limits placed on the government by the Constitution or laws passed by Congress, there is scant mention of how our legal system applies to the operation of government when it acts illegally, even tyrannically. The fact is the federal government is not held accountable other than occasionally being voted out of office. It operates for its own benefit. The doctrine of Sovereign Immunity protects those running government from being subjected to citizens seeking recourse against it for unlawful actions or even crimes.

As with the rule of law, Sovereign immunity is not written into our Constitution. It is merely a doctrine that was not even recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court until 90 years after the ratification of our Constitution. While the Supreme Court protects federal power by applying the doctrine, it struggles to articulate any constitutional foundation for its use. The doctrine currently holds that the federal government cannot be sued without its consent. It bars all lawsuits against the federal government or its officers unless Congress enacts a law that clearly expresses its intent to lift the bar.

With absolute immunity from suit, unless otherwise legislated, there are few mechanisms to hold the United States government accountable for its illegal actions. The government waives some civil immunity in matters for small claims on its purse, such as torts, and breaches of contract. It sets out specific mechanisms so citizens believe they can secure monetary relief against illegal government actions. The Government Accountability Office, however, notes the waiver of sovereign immunity is not enough to assume the victim will be paid. Specifically, there can be no payment without a congressional appropriation.

Since the government is immune from liability without its consent, the only control over the Executive branch is another branch of government that checks the powers of an abusive branch. When all branches of our government are controlled by one party, the Biden administration proves, there is no rule of law since there is no viable check on abusive power.

When at least one part of the government is controlled by the opposition party, there is at least a slim chance of discovering a little of the government’s illegal activity. Unfortunately, unless the President agrees to hold the federal government accountable for crimes or Congress is able to check the powers of the abusive Executive officials, most likely through impeachment, there are no other mechanisms for holding the federal government accountable for its crimes.

The House of Representatives can always impeach an Executive that acts illegally; however, removing a corrupt Executive is unlikely since it requires a two-thirds vote of the Senate. Unless the President’s party votes to convict, the Executive remains in office, and the criminality can continue unchecked.

Certainly, citizens can speak out, protest, demonstrate, and complain about government corruption.  In the end, however, citizens will be ignored if the government wants to ignore them. Or arrested if the government wants them arrested, as illustrated by the FBI sending twenty heavily armed FBI agents, with weapons drawn, supported by a fleet of armored vehicles, to arrest a pro-life activist at his home in a small Pennsylvania town while playing with his seven children in the front yard. The crime was not disclosed by the FBI, but press reports suggest the person was arrested for pushing a man who was verbally harassing one of his young children. State authorities refused to prosecute the alleged “crime.” The person claiming to be pushed filed a criminal complaint in state court but failed to show up at trial. The case was dismissed.

Dismissing one case is fruitless if the FBI continues to target as domestic terrorists, objectional groups like pro-life advocates, Catholics attending Latin mass, and parents who speak out at school board meetings.

The only power “We the people” have to control corruption in the federal government is our right to vote. It is extraordinarily powerful. By electing a Republican House of Representatives, Americans are witnessing the exposure of corruption by those who lead the nation. Unfortunately, exposing corruption has its limits since the Biden administration determines who is a criminal and who it will prosecute.

The stakes in the 2024 election are very high. If the Biden administration and the Democratic Senate are not voted out of office, the corruption of the Biden administration will continue unchecked until at least 2029.  Who knows what the state of the Republic will be after eight years of unchecked corruption?

 

William L. Kovacs has served as senior vice president for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, chief counsel to a congressional committee, and a partner in law D.C. law firms. His book Reform the Kakistocracy is the winner of the 2021 Independent Press Award for Political/Social Change. He can be contacted at [email protected]