So desperate, in fact, that they have now committed an act of treason.
On Tuesday, four Democrats – Rep. Adam Schiff, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Senator Mark Warner, and Senator Charles Schumer – have sent a letter to Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and FBI Director Christopher Wray ordering them to defy the president’s order and to instead provide them with a briefing on the matter before anything is released.
“…[W]e request an immediate briefing to the Gang of Eight from you prior to any disclosure of the affected material by your agencies to anyone at the White House,” the letter states.
The Gang of Eight consists of the chairpersons and ranking members of the House and Senate intelligence committees, along with leaders from both parties in both chambers. By statute, they are to be briefed on intelligence matters, but that does not include under all conditions.
“Among other issues of concern, we will need you to clarify in person:
-- the exact review process that will be undertaken, including the White House’s role in and visibility into this process and the specific White House officials expected to be involved;
-- your agencies’ proposed redactions and plans to protect investigative equities and sources and methods, including efforts to mitigate harm that may result from these disclosures; and
-- how you intend to comply with statutes binding the President and executive branch officers and employees, including the Privacy Act.”
“Your agencies’ review, and any communication with the White House on the substance of the material, should not proceed further until you have briefed the Gang of Eight in person,” the letter instructs.
In short, these four Democrats are attempting to dictate to Executive Branch offices and officers over whom they have no direct authority.
Put bluntly, they’re trying to force Coats and Wray to ignore a valid presidential order to declassify documents that may indeed be related to a “counterintelligence” operation (Spygate) but which was conducted under dubious circumstances and which may also involve violations of federal law.
This is sedition and Republicans should act
Under 50 U.S. Code § 3091, presidents are required to “ensure that the congressional intelligence committees are kept fully and currently informed of the intelligence activities of the United States.”
But the statute also says, “Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed as requiring the approval of the congressional intelligence committees as a condition precedent to the initiation of any significant anticipated intelligence activity.” So the president is not obligated to inform the committees under all conditions.
Furthermore, there is the unassailable fact that presidents have the authority to order the declassification of anything, anytime – and he does not need congressional permission to do so. This has long been established but was codified in Executive Order 13526, which was issued by none other than President Obama. As ABC News reports:
The order allows the president to determine the system of designating classified information, and he is the ultimate authority over U.S. intelligence agencies, which gather and classify the information.
Legal eagles also agree. The Gateway Pundit reports that Washington, D.C.-area attorney Will Chamberlain believes that what these four Democrats are doing amounts to a constitutional crisis.
“You are equal branches of government, but they’re not subordinate to you,” Chamberlain said. “I’m sorry — President Trump has not issued a request to the intelligence agencies that they declassify this information, he has issued an order.”
He also believes that Republicans in control of Congress should take immediate action against these four Democrats.
Trump “has plenary declassification authority as the President of the United States,” Chamberlain said. “The FBI and DOJ are subordinate to him. Congress does not get to order Executive Branch officials to defy a president — that is actually a constitutional crisis.”
Read more about the Democratic sedition and treason at Treason.news.
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