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OpEdNews Op Eds    H1'ed 11/25/19

The End of the Rule of Law

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Chris Hedges
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"President Trump has also systematically declined to enforce statutory mandates of Congress by arbitrarily and capriciously revoking scores of agency rules ranging from immigration to the Consumer Financial Protection Board to the Environmental Protection Agency in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act or otherwise," the memo reads. "He has routinely legislated by executive order in lieu of following constitutionally prescribed processes for legislation."

"In violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, Mr. Trump has dismantled and disabled scores of preventive measures to save lives, avoid injuries or disease, help families, consumers, and workers, and detect, deter, and punish tens of billions of dollars of corporate fraud," the memo continues. "He has disputed climate disruption as a 'Chinese hoax,' compounded the climate crisis by overt actions that expand greenhouse gas emissions and pollution, and excluded or marginalized the influence of civil service scientists."

8. Due Process Clause

The Fifth Amendment provides that no person shall "be deprived of life ... without due process of law."

"In violation of due process, President Trump claims power, like his immediate two predecessors, to act as prosecutor, judge, jury, and executioner to kill American citizens or non-citizens alike, on or off a battlefield, whether or not engaged in hostilities, whether or not accused of crime, and whether or not posing an imminent threat of harm that would trigger a right of preemptive self-defense," the memo reads.

9. Appointments Clause

"President Trump has repeatedly appointed principal officers of the United States, including the National Security Adviser and Cabinet officials, who have not been confirmed by the Senate in violation of the Appointments Clause, Article II, section 2, clause 2," the memo reads. "On a scale never practiced by prior presidents, Mr. Trump has filled as many as half of Cabinet posts with 'Acting Secretaries' who have never been confirmed by the Senate."

10. Soliciting a Foreign Contribution for the 2020 Presidential Campaign and Bribery

"President Trump has endeavored to corrupt the 2020 presidential campaign by soliciting the President of Ukraine to contribute something of value to diminish the popularity of potential rival Joe Biden, i.e., a Ukrainian investigation of Mr. Biden and his son Hunter relating to potential corrupt practices of Burisma, which compensated Hunter handsomely ($50,000 per month). In so doing, Mr. Trump violated the criminal campaign finance prohibition set forth in 52 U.S.C. 30121," Fein's memo reads.

"President Trump solicited a bribe for himself in violation of 18 U.S.C. 201 in seeking something of personal value, i.e., discrediting Joe Biden's 2020 presidential campaign with the help of the President of Ukraine to influence Mr. Trump's official decision to release approximately $400 million in military and related assistance," it adds.

11. Violating Citizen Privacy

"Government spying on Americans ordinarily requires a warrant issued by a neutral magistrate based on probable cause to believe crime is afoot," the memo reads. "President Trump, however, routinely violates the Fourth Amendment with suspicion-less surveillance of Americans for non-criminal, foreign intelligence purposes under Executive Order 12333 and aggressive interpretations of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act."

12. Suppression of Free Speech

"President Trump is violating the First Amendment in stretching the Espionage Act to prosecute publication of leaked classified information that are instrumental to exposing government lies and deterring government wrongdoing or misadventures, including the outstanding indictment against Julian Assange for publishing information which was republished by the New York Times and The Washington Post with impunity," the memo reads.

"The Republic is at an inflection point," the letter to Speaker Pelosi reads. "Either the Constitution is saved by impeaching and removing its arsonist in the White House, or it is reduced to ashes by continued congressional endorsement, whether by omission or commission, of limitless executive power and the undoing of checks and balances."

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Chris Hedges spent nearly two decades as a foreign correspondent in Central America, the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans. He has reported from more than 50 countries and has worked for The Christian Science Monitor, National Public Radio, The Dallas Morning News and The New York Times, for which he was a foreign correspondent for 15 years.

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