RANT: So if Hunter Biden can’t invoke the Fifth, then it means all his “co-conspitors” are in jeopardy

Wednesday, December 4, 2024

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/justice/3246790/pardon-fifth-amendment-trouble-hunter-biden/

Pardon means Fifth Amendment trouble for Hunter Biden
By Kaelan Deese
December 2, 2024 12:37 pm

*** begin quote ***

In the hours since the pardon, Republicans, along with legal experts, have elevated the significance of what the younger Biden’s pardon means for their long-standing investigations, contending that it opens up the playing field for lawmakers to question him on nearly everything he has now been pardoned from over the past 11 years.

Under the Fifth Amendment, people can refuse to answer questions if their responses might incriminate them in criminal cases. However, with all criminal liability now erased by the pardon, Hunter Biden could face contempt charges if he refuses to testify before congressional panels.

“Well, this now makes it much easier for a GOP Senate/House to call Hunter as a witness about his and his dad’s connections to Ukraine, etc. because the pardon prevents Hunter from asserting the Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself,” Mark Smith, a constitutional attorney and host of the Four Boxes Diner legal analysis show, wrote on X.

*** end quote ***

If I was at all connected to Hunter Biden, then I’d be worried.

See he has a BIG Get Out Of Jail Free card.  Unless you have one, you’re screwed.  He’ll have to testify against you.  

(Don’t know what happens if he refuses?)

So, like when the authorities go after any organized crime, they flip the bottom run to testify against the next rung up.  Until they reach the top.

I’ve often thought that in the cases of election fraud, get the underlings, arrest them, and threaten them with prison and watch how fast they will turn states evidence against their boss.  Or bosses. 

It should be very entertaining to see whose hands are “dirty”.

—30—

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GOVEROTRAGEOUS: The Gooferment is the judge, jury, and executioner when it misbehaves

Sunday, November 5, 2023

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4192662/posts

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/fairness-justice/a-texas-farmers-fight-for-justice-could-have-major-implications-for-property-rights

A Texas farmer’s fight for justice could have major implications for property rights
By Jon Miltimore  — October 26, 2023 09:44 AM

*** begin quote ***

In the 1930s, Richie DeVillier’s grandfather purchased a farm in Winnie, a little town in eastern Texas named after a railroad contractor who prospered.

For nearly a century, the DeVillier family raised cattle and grew crops on the 900-acre property without incident — until the Texas Department of Transportation started a highway project that had serious implications for DeVillier’s land.

In the early 2000s, the state renovated Interstate 10, elevating and broadening the highway and erecting concrete barriers. The construction trapped the DeVillier property, turning his farm into a lake whenever the region experienced heavy rains, as it did in 2017 during Hurricane Harvey.

“The water started to rise on August 28,” DeVillier recalled . “Our home was completely flooded by August 29.”

When DeVillier says his “home,” he’s not talking about just his house. Video footage shows his entire farm submerged, with cows standing chest-deep in water; fields where the family once grew rice and olives can be seen totally flooded.

*** and ***

In November, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit punted on the matter, arguing that federal courts have no jurisdiction in takings cases against states. (A “taking” isn’t necessarily seizing the property; an action that substantially alters a property is legally defined as a taking in tort law.)

The court didn’t rule against DeVillier. It simply said that Congress never passed a law allowing Americans to sue states for taking their property, so the Fifth Amendment’s property protections do not apply to DeVillier or anyone else.

The court’s reasoning is strange. Not only does the Constitution explicitly state that no person shall be “deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law … [or] without just compensation,” but the high court weighed in on this issue as recently as 2019.

*** and ***

“If there is one basic principle in property law, it’s the Pottery Barn Rule: You break it, you buy it,” said Robert McNamara, an attorney for the Institute for Justice who is representing the family. “The Fifth Circuit’s decision in this case amounts to ‘you pay if you feel like it.’”

*** and ***

That the government, which was created to secure these rights, has become the single greatest transgressor of human rights is a sad irony, one that was not lost on the 19th-century economist Frederic Bastiat, who described it as a “perversion.”

Few know this better than Richie DeVillier, whom the state of Texas is trying to stiff after destroying his farm.

Fortunately, the Supreme Court has a chance to make amends. If it does, it will not just be a win for DeVillier. It will be a win for justice.

*** end quote *** 

I like that summation  — the Pottery Barn Rule.  In this case, the Gooferment “robbed this family blind”!

—30—

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GOVEROTRAGEOUS: The cops are not “your friend trying to help you” EVER!

Tuesday, November 30, 2021

https://www.quora.com/qemail/tc?al_imp=eyJ0eXBlIjogMzMsICJoYXNoIjogIjE0MjA1Mzc4OTYzNDI2MzA4N3wxfDF8MjA1ODkxNDA3In0%3D&al_pri=1&aoid=YDvUJJtYrrZ&aoty=2&aty=4&cp=1&et=2&id=0c4fe7d0fc0f4e71ab358fb38479fad0&q_aid=4Cn5TnhpOvQ&uid=jMoBAQSXA7P

The cops came to my door today. They said my ex has accused me of forging his name to checks. They want me to write a statement telling my side of the story. Do I have to do this or should I do this?
Jim Christmas, Sentenced to four years in prison for another man’s crime • Answered March 28, 2020

*** begin quote ***

If you’re NOT guilty, don’t you dare say a damn thing to the cops.

*** and ***

If you’re guilty, don’t you dare say a damn thing to the cops.

*** and ***

Louis E. Walker
 · October 21
 
DON’T TALK TO THE COPS. Tell them you won’t answer questions until you have advice of counsel—period. Be courteous about it, but unless they’re there to place you under arrest, ask them to leave. Tell them you’ll be in contact to arrange a formal interview once you have availed yourself of counsel and then listen to your lawyer. If at any time the interview turns into an interrogation and the police get aggressive, ask if you’re under arrest. If the answer is “no”, get up and leave. And whatever you do, don’t consent to a polygraph—they’re highly dependent on the skill or lack thereof of the polygrapher as well as several other variables, they’re more “stress detectors” than “lie detectors” and there’s a reason they aren’t admissible in court. A negative result may not get the cops to leave you alone, and a false positive will make your life a living hell. Be aware of your Fifth Amendment rights and use them.

*** end quote ***

In my younger days, I would have talked to any police officer. 

Now, not so much.

I want an attorney to do my talking. 

Especially if the FBI is involved.  Their strategy of two agents, with one to talk and the other to take notes that they transcribe, is a disaster for both the guilty and the innocent.  And “lying to an FBI agent” is in itself a crime.  So why would you EVER want to talk to them.  

(I remember reading that a prominent defense lawyer agree that his Client could be interviewed but the interview had to have a video recording, an audio recording, and court stenographer present.  Their response was “that’s not their policy” and the interview never took place.  Any guess why it is not their “policy”?)

Argh!

So STFU!

—30—

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GOVEROTRAGEOUS: Fifth Amendment violation by “permits

Thursday, October 18, 2012

http://www.wnd.com/2012/10/landowner-stands-ground-against-government-shake-down/?cat_orig=politics

WND EXCLUSIVE
Landowner stands ground against government ‘shake-down’
Supremes agree to decide how much regulators can require
Published: 13 October 2012
by Bob Unru

*** begin quote ***

“But regulators saw a chance to pounce and make all kinds of costly, unrelated, outrageous demands,” he said. “Without any justification, the government demanded money, labor and resources as the price for allowing the Koontzes to use their own land.

“This was a flat-out shakedown, a form of extortion,” he said.

Family members had tried for years to develop the land, but the local St. Johns River Water Management District would not issue the necessary permits, “because Koontz would not agree to costly and unjustified conditions that the district imposed.”

“Specifically, the district demanded that Koontz dedicate his money and labor to make improvements to 50 acres of district-owned property located miles away from the proposed project,” the legal team explained.

“In other words, what we have here is a classic case of an unconstitutional shakedown. The U.S. Supreme Supreme Court has ruled that the government violates property rights – it commits a ‘taking‘ in violation of the Fifth Amendment – if it tries to use the permitting process to extract conditions that aren’t related to the impact of the proposed development.”

*** end quote ***

# – # – # – # – #   

“But regulators saw a chance to pounce and make all kinds of costly, unrelated, outrageous demands,” he said. “Without any justification, the government demanded money, labor and resources as the price for allowing the Koontzes to use their own land.
“This was a flat-out shakedown, a form of extortion,” he said.
Family members had tried for years to develop the land, but the local St. Johns River Water Management District would not issue the necessary permits, “because Koontz would not agree to costly and unjustified conditions that the district imposed.”
“Specifically, the district demanded that Koontz dedicate his money and labor to make improvements to 50 acres of district-owned property located miles away from the proposed project,” the legal team explained.
“In other words, what we have here is a classic case of an unconstitutional shakedown. The U.S. Supreme Supreme Court has ruled that the government violates property rights – it commits a ‘taking ‘ in violation of the Fifth Amendment – if it tries to use the permitting process to extract conditions that aren’t related to the impact of the proposed development.”

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POLITICAL:Can the President Kill You?

Friday, March 16, 2012

http://lewrockwell.com/napolitano/napolitano44.1.html

Can the President Kill You?
by Andrew P. Napolitano

*** begin quote ***

Can the president kill an American simply because the person is dangerous and his arrest would be impractical? Can the president be judge, jury and executioner of an American in a foreign country because he believes that would keep America safe? Can Congress authorize the president to do this?

Earlier this week, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder attempted to justify presidential killing in a speech at Northwestern University law school. In it, he recognized the requirement of the Fifth Amendment for due process. He argued that the president may substitute the traditionally understood due process – a public jury trial – with the president’s own novel version of it; that would be a secret deliberation about killing. Without mentioning the name of the American the president recently ordered killed, Holder suggested that the president’s careful consideration of the case of New Mexico-born Anwar al-Awlaki constituted a substituted form of due process.

Holder argued that the act of reviewing al-Awlaki’s alleged crimes, what he was doing in Yemen and the imminent danger he posed provided al-Awlaki with a substituted form of due process. He did not mention how this substitution applied to al-Awlaki’s 16-year-old son and a family friend, who were also executed by CIA drones. And he did not address the utter absence of any support in the Constitution or Supreme Court case law for his novel theory.

*** end quote ***

Can you say: “star chamber” or “kangaroo court”?

Obviously, the answer is yes. It was “yes” at Waco, Ruby Ridge, and the Pihilly AIM house.

“We, The Sheeple” let “them”, politicians of both flavors, get away with it.

When do “we” stand up and say, “stop”!

# – # – # – # – #  2012-Mar-08 @ 21:19

 

 

 

 

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INTERESTING: Laptop encryption is the crux of a Fifth Amendment issue

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/02/feds-urge-court-to-reject-laptop-encryption-appeal.ars

Feds urge court to reject laptop encryption appeal
By David Kravets, wired.com

*** begin quote ***

Colorado federal authorities seized the encrypted Toshiba laptop from defendant Ramona Fricosu in 2010 with valid court warrants while investigating alleged mortgage fraud, and demanded she decrypt it.

Ruling that the woman’s Fifth Amendment rights against compelled self-incrimination would not be breached, US District Judge Robert Blackburn ordered the woman in January to decrypt the laptop by the end of February. The judge refused to stay his decision to allow Fricosu time to appeal.

*** end quote ***

Would someone please explain how this is not being compelled to testify against one’s self?

# – # – # – # – #

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LIBERTY: Gooferment fails to protect property rights

Friday, January 27, 2012

http://lewrockwell.com/napolitano/napolitano37.1.html

How Much Economic Freedom Do We Have in the United States?
by Andrew P. Napolitano

*** begin quote ***

The root of economic freedom is the recognition of the right to own private property. That includes the right to utilize it unmolested, to dispose of it without anyone’s permission and to exclude anyone from it, even the government. Suffice it to say, no American president since the advent of the income tax and the Federal Reserve 100 years ago has fully accepted or meaningfully defended that right. The more the government extracts in taxes and the more it inflates the money supply, the more it rejects and assaults property rights.

*** and ***

There is not a single example in human history of central economic planning producing more prosperity than a free market. The framers understood that. That’s why they wrote a Constitution that prohibited an income tax, forbade the states from interfering with contracts, and prevented the feds from taking life, liberty or property without due process. All those constitutional prohibitions have been nullified by amendment or disregarded by consensus.

*** end quote ***

From the diktats (i.e., what the politicians call “laws” and “regulations”) that deprive folks of their property, to the taxes and inflation to just steal their wealth, we have no property rights.

In New Jersey, the real estate property tax mostly to support the Gooferment Skrules turns owners into defacto “renters.

How can you think we are free?

# – # – # – # – #  2012-Jan-20 @ 09:32

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TECHNOLOGY: Yeah, “you” stopped SOPA and the next day the Feds seized MEGAUPLOAD without a trial

Friday, January 20, 2012

Yeah, big deal.

Everyone put black on, and the politicians and bureaucrats executed a site the next day.

Bet they were just cowering in their boots at the protest.

Yeah, “afraid enough” to sput in everyone’s “eye”!

Argh!

# – # – # – # – #

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