House Speaker Kevin McCarthy guilty of thievery in plain view
Fox's Tucker Carlson guilty of knowingly receiving stolen property
The Presidential Record Act of 1978 conclusively established that electronic or hard-copy records or documents produced with the use of government property or time in the ordinary course of government operations are owned by the United States, i.e., the American people.
On January 6, 2021, tens of thousands of hours of security footage were recorded by security cameras in the Capitol during the criminal insurrection featuring force, violence, and threats to murder Vice President Mike Pence. All of that footage belonged to the American people, not to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). The Speaker acknowledged in a phone interview: “I was asked in the press about these tapes, and I said they do belong to the American public. I think sunshine lets everybody make their own judgment.”
So what did the House Speaker do with more than 40,000 hours of security footage that he agreed belonged to the American public? Did he ask for its direction? Did he consult with the public? Did he seek authority through a statute or House Resolution transferring ownership of the footage to himself personally to dispose of as he wished?
Speaker McCarthy did none of these things. Instead, he stole the security footage from the American public and gave it to Fox News’ narcissist on steroids, Tucker Carlson. The goal: to airbrush out the rampant violence and vandalism to make the mob look like Mary Poppins on a picnic outing with Jane and Michael Banks. Mr. Carlson knew he was receiving stolen property because McCarthy himself had said the footage belonged to the American people.
The Speaker has no constitutional Speech or Debate Clause shield from prosecution for theft. The United States Supreme Court held in Proxmire v. Hutchinson that the transmittal of information to constituents or to the public by a Member of Congress is not part of the deliberative legislative processes protected the the Clause.
Why has the media said nothing of McCarthy’s theft? Why have House Democrats been silent? The rule of law has been murdered without even a funeral oration.
The highest office of the land is not the presidency. It is not Speaker of the House, Majority Leader of the Senate, or Chief Justice of the United States. It is the office of citizen. Ultimate sovereignty rests with us. Government legitimacy rests on the consent of the governed. Juvenal asked "Who will guard the guards themselves? Authentic citizens reply, "We do." In the American Republic, every citizen is saddled with a moral obligation to master the Constitution, to scrutinize government, and to flag and to condemn constitutional lawlessness. If you are AWOL, you are endangering your fellow citizens by removing your eyes and ears from. detecting and assailing abuses of government power that threaten the liberties of all. Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. If you think the burden is too great, think of Lexington and Concord, Valley Forge, Cemetery Ridge, Iwo Jima, the Battle of the Bulge, or otherwise. The buck stops with us. We have no moral authority to point fingers elsewhere. To repeat what President Lincoln said more than 150 years ago, "We shall nobly save or meanly lose the last best hope on earth." Our posterity will hold us morally accountable for what we do as citizens to guard the guards themselves.
--Bruce Fein 2/18/2017
(Tucker is serving the public interest.)