Bruce Fein

Life, Liberty, Property on the Ropes, The Constitution in Exile

Former Reagan Lawyer: New Executive Order So Broad Even Senator Clinton’s Property Could Be Seized Over Iraq Policy Questions.

[audio:http://dissentradio.com/radio/07_08_03_fein.mp3]

On Friday, former Assistant Deputy Attorney General Bruce Fein, in describing a new “Orwellian” executive order granting the Treasury Department unprecedented power to seize Americans’ property, told Antiwar Radio that the language of the order is so broad that it would be “arguable” that the government could even site Senator Clinton’s requests to the Pentagon for information about withdrawal plans, recently denounced by the Defense Department, as proof of “a significant risk” that she could do something else which might undermine the Iraqi government – and hence lose all her property with no recourse. The rest of us too.

MP3 here.

Bruce Fein, former Assistant Deputy Attorney General in the Reagan administration and co-founder of the American Freedom Agenda, explains the broad powers over Americans’ property claimed by George Bush in his new executive order, “Blocking Property of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq.” Fein says that Senator Hillary Clinton’s property could be seized under this order for “undermining the Iraqi government” by asking the Pentagon if they have a plan for withdrawal, which she was denounced for doing just last week by Deputy Secretary of Defense for Policy, Eric Edelman. Also, the American Freedom Agenda, the Unitary Executive theory, the “living Constitution,” NSA spying, National Security Letters and administrative subpoenas.

Bruce Fein graduated from Harvard Law School with honors in 1972. After a coveted federal judicial clerkship, he joined the U.S. Department of Justice where he served as assistant director of the Office of Legal Policy, legal adviser to the assistant attorney general for antitrust, and the associate deputy attorney general. Mr. Fein then was appointed general counsel of the Federal Communications Commission, followed by an appointment as research director for the Joint Congressional Committee on Covert Arms Sales to Iran. He recently served on the American Bar Association’s Task Force on Presidential signing statements.

Author: Scott Horton

Scott Horton is editorial director of Antiwar.com, director of the Libertarian Institute, host of Antiwar Radio on Pacifica, 90.7 FM KPFK in Los Angeles, California and podcasts the Scott Horton Show from ScottHorton.org. He’s the author of the 2017 book, Fool’s Errand: Time to End the War in Afghanistan and editor of The Great Ron Paul: The Scott Horton Show Interviews 2004–2019. He’s conducted more than 5,000 interviews since 2003. Scott lives in Austin, Texas with his wife, investigative reporter Larisa Alexandrovna Horton. He is a fan of, but no relation to the lawyer from Harper’s. Scott’s Twitter, YouTube, Patreon.