4 ms·

They won't face any US law. AIUI, they have been getting letters from the DOJ office of legal counsel that say it's legal. This effectively immunizes them (th

by lokar 7mo ago

They won't face any US law. AIUI, they have been getting letters from the DOJ office of legal counsel that say it's legal. This effectively immunizes them (the DOJ can't turn around and charge you with a crime, if they advised you beforehand it was not a crime). The best shot would be to turn them over to the ICC

KaiserPro 7mo ago
Alas, the USA isn't signed up to the ICC.
- lokar 7mo ago
  Sure, but, if somehow they fell into ICC custody overseas...
  - rbanffy 7mo ago
    Now wouldn’t that be sweet?
  - forgotTheLast 7mo ago
    Luckily Congress passed a law with bipartisan support to protect US service members from ICC custody (commonly referred to as The Hague Invasion Act).
    - rbanffy 7mo ago
      On foreign soil, US law can’t protect them. They’ll never be able to leave the US to any country who would be willing to make them answer to the ICC.
tomjakubowski 7mo ago
> This effectively immunizes them (the DOJ can't turn around and charge you with a crime, if they advised you beforehand it was not a crime). Where is the check or balance on this? The executive branch can apparently just launder itself wholesale of any crimes committed by its members.
estearum 7mo ago
> they have been getting letters from the DOJ office of legal counsel that say it's legal. This effectively immunizes them (the DOJ can't turn around and charge you with a crime, if they advised you beforehand it was not a crime). This is not true. OLC opinions are just that: opinions. They are non-binding and non-promissory. They are an important factor in any assessments as a norm, but definitely not dispositive and not legally binding. The only real barrier is the pardon power, but I'm personally fine at this point with totally breaking the seal, trying and jailing every criminal in the administration(++), and consider the pardon power gone for good. Small price to pay.
yks 7mo ago
> the DOJ can't turn around and charge you with a crime, if they advised you beforehand it was not a crime this sounds like the kind of rules we, as a society, decided to dispense with, so the DOJ can absolutely turn around.

by lokar 7mo ago

KaiserPro 7mo ago

Alas, the USA isn't signed up to the ICC.

lokar 7mo ago
Sure, but, if somehow they fell into ICC custody overseas...
- rbanffy 7mo ago
  Now wouldn’t that be sweet?
- forgotTheLast 7mo ago
  Luckily Congress passed a law with bipartisan support to protect US service members from ICC custody (commonly referred to as The Hague Invasion Act).
  - rbanffy 7mo ago
    On foreign soil, US law can’t protect them. They’ll never be able to leave the US to any country who would be willing to make them answer to the ICC.

tomjakubowski 7mo ago

> This effectively immunizes them (the DOJ can't turn around and charge you with a crime, if they advised you beforehand it was not a crime). Where is the check or balance on this? The executive branch can apparently just launder itself wholesale of any crimes committed by its members.

estearum 7mo ago

> they have been getting letters from the DOJ office of legal counsel that say it's legal. This effectively immunizes them (the DOJ can't turn around and charge you with a crime, if they advised you beforehand it was not a crime). This is not true. OLC opinions are just that: opinions. They are non-binding and non-promissory. They are an important factor in any assessments as a norm, but definitely not dispositive and not legally binding. The only real barrier is the pardon power, but I'm personally fine at this point with totally breaking the seal, trying and jailing every criminal in the administration(++), and consider the pardon power gone for good. Small price to pay.

yks 7mo ago

> the DOJ can't turn around and charge you with a crime, if they advised you beforehand it was not a crime this sounds like the kind of rules we, as a society, decided to dispense with, so the DOJ can absolutely turn around.