Momentum Grows for Lawfare Against Obama Overreach

From the announcement by Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) that Congress is considering filing a lawsuit against the Obama administration to the lawsuit against the IRS by the National Organization for Marriage, momentum is building for legal action against the corrupt and venal executive branch.

Boehner’s lawsuit would be advisory in nature; the so-called “political question doctrine” often invoked by the Supreme Court generally prevents any judicial action against the executive branch when Congress’ prerogatives are trampled.

George Will suggested this week that the law be changed to allow Congress standing against the president. But that is unlikely, not only because of the fecklessness of Congress, but because the judiciary will not want to step between the other two branches of government.

That’s why private lawfare is the necessary solution. In my new book, The People vs. Barack Obama: The Criminal Case Against The Obama Administration, I argue that the Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organizations Act of 1970 be broadened to allow civil action against the executive branch and officials within it. Some have argued that opening the door to private lawsuits against the executive branch would hamstring the executive, which is why some legislators I have spoken with have suggested adding a “loser pays” provision with regard to such lawsuits.

Broadening lawfare against the executive is becoming especially attractive gen NOW’s lawsuit against the IRS. That lawsuit dramatically illustrates how lawfare can be used to curb the executive branch – and the lengths to which the executive branch will go to protect its own criminality. On Tuesday, a judgment was entered against the IRS for leaking confidential tax information about NOW to the gay advocacy group Human Rights Watch. The middleman for the leak, one Matthew Meisel, emailed HRC and informed them that he had a “conduit” in the IRS providing him the information. Meisel has pled the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, thereby shielding his source at the IRS.

But the Justice Department has refused to prosecute Meisel. Furthermore, Attorney General Eric Holder’s Justice Department refuses to grant NOW’s request to give Meisel immunity, which would compel him to forego any Fifth Amendment invocation and instead spill the beans on his IRS connection. In other words, the Obama DOJ won’t prosecute anyone in the IRS, and won’t prosecute anyone outside the IRS, and will do anything in its power to prevent either of those possibilities. That’s what happens when the lead criminal in the executive branch runs law enforcement.

NOW’s next steps: suing Meisel, or waiting until the statute of limitations expires on Meisel, then compelling him to testify as to his IRS connection.

Real results require the American people. Congress will not act. Neither will the judiciary, unless private citizens become private “attorneys general.”

The growing acceptance of the notion that America lives under threat of executive dictatorship means that all creative legal solutions are on the table, from impeachment to RICO expansion and everything in between.

Ben Shapiro is Senior Editor-At-Large of Breitbart News and author of the new book, The People vs. Barack Obama: The Criminal Case Against The Obama Administration (Threshold Editions, June 10, 2014). He is also Editor-in-Chief of TruthRevolt.org. Follow Ben Shapiro on Twitter @benshapiro.