Good day all. One of the reasons that a majority of the American People now see the FBI as a flat out threat is their use of a legal doctrine called “Asset Forfeiture.” This allows law enforcement to basically steal someone’s property claiming that is was gained as part of a criminal enterprise with no actual proof provided.
The issue here is that many of the people who have their money and property basically stolen by law enforcement are not charged with a crime and in most cases aren’t criminals. The stolen assets are then auctioned off and the proceeds, in many cases, rolled into that department’s budgets.
One of the most egregious instances was a recent raid on a safe deposit box facility. The FBI got a warrant to search the premises, then broke into hundreds of safe deposit boxes and confiscated the assets. There are a number issues with this, the main one being that the judge who authorized the warrant specified in the warrant that the FBI had NO authority to break into the safe deposit boxes. They did so anyway and stole over $80 million dollars of cash, precious metals and jewelry. Now congress is once again looking to reign this in. Here are the details from Fox News:
Bipartisan legislation could halt the federal government’s decades-long practice of seizing billions of dollars from Americans who never face criminal charges.
“The lawless seizure and ‘forfeiture’ of people’s private property by police officers is becoming standard operating procedure in many parts of the country,” Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Democrat who co-sponsored the bill, said in a statement. “We want to restore the presumption of innocence, fair judicial process, and the opportunity to be heard.”
Now to begin with, I consider Raskin to be lawless himself. He was one of the members of the January 6th Kangaroo Committee, and as far as I’m concerned, is a corrupt member of the Deep State. However, like a broken clock, he can be correct once a day. (Using the 24 hour clock that is)
Raskin and Republican Rep. Tim Walberg reintroduced a bill on March 9 that would overhaul federal civil asset forfeiture laws, which allow the government to seize and sometimes keep property from citizens who, in many instances, have never been charged with a crime. If passed, the legislation would force agencies to make a case for seizure to a judge, remove financial incentives around forfeiture and raise the level of proof needed to allow for seizures.
One thing they might try is actually convicting people of breaking the law. As it is now, if some agent decides they want something, they just take it and claim “Criminal proceeds.” It’s almost impossible to get the stolen assets back too.
“Seizing property and handing it over to the government without proof of wrongdoing is fundamentally un-American,” Rep. Tony Cárdenas, another Democrat who co-sponsored the Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration (FAIR) Act, said in a statement. “In the United States, we are innocent until proven guilty, and the government may not seize our property without just cause.”
“It’s past time to reform our civil asset forfeiture system and make it fairer for the American people,” he added. It’s time to flat out end civil asset forfeiture.
One of the things that is bringing this to a head is the raid I mentioned on the safe deposit box company in Kalifornistan. People had their life savings flat out stolen by the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Earlier this month, Los Angeles resident Linda Martin filed a class-action lawsuit against the FBI after her life savings were seized along with $86 million worth of other Americans’ property in a 2021 raid of a safe deposit box company. Despite never being suspected of, charged with or convicted of a crime, Martin has received no indication if her money will ever be returned.
Not to worry, It won’t be.
“I felt misled. I felt angry,” Martin previously told Fox News. “I’m advocating for just not myself, but for everyone, because there’s a lot of people that don’t know what to do.”
My first thought would have been asking the local District Attorney to file criminal charges against the FBI agents and DoJ lawyers who were involved in the raid with Grand Theft and, since they were carrying guns, armed robbery. Since the warrant told them not to break into the boxes, and they did it anyway, that would be proof of intent to break the law. Then I remembered who the DA is out there.
An Institute for Justice report found that 78% of all forfeiture cases processed by the Department of Justice between 2000 and 2019 were administrative, meaning agencies decided to seize property with no judicial oversight. Similarly, 96% of the Treasury Department’s forfeiture cases were administrative, according to the 2020 report.
Can anyone tell me where that is in any way constitutional? Right off the bat I see this as a violation of both the 4th and 5th amendments.
Fourth Amendment
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Fifth Amendment
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Of course, the criminal class is opposed to losing one of their sources of funding. The last time this came up, we had the incompetent Jeff “Sleepy” Sessions saying they needed to be able to commit grand theft.
“Civil asset forfeiture is a key tool that helps law enforcement defund organized crime, take back ill-gotten gains, and prevent new crimes from being committed, and it weakens the criminals and the cartels,” then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in 2017. “Civil asset forfeiture takes the material support of the criminals and instead makes it the material support of law enforcement.”
In addition to requiring judges to hear forfeiture cases, the bill places the burden of proof on the federal government, requiring “clear and convincing evidence” that seized property was linked to criminal activity. It also guarantees legal representation for those fighting to reclaim their assets.
I consider this to be a good start, but as I’ve said, and as many others have said, you need to convict someone in court before you go after their property. One of the tactics the goons in the DoJ like to do is to make it impossible for a defendant be be able to afford competent legal representation. Stealing all their money Seizing or freezing their assets is almost a standard tactic to insure they get a conviction.
The FAIR Act would eliminate the financial incentives around forfeiture cases by depositing any proceeds to the general fund of the Treasury, rather than back to the seizing agency.
The FAIR act was previously introduced to the House in 2021 but failed to reach a floor vote. It’s also been introduced in the Senate twice since 2014, where it also hasn’t received a floor vote.
“Protecting Americans’ property rights isn’t a partisan issue, and we’re glad to see lawmakers from across the aisle working together to pass true reforms,” Institute for Justice Senior Attorney Dan Alban said in a press release.
I suspect it has a much better chance now. The FBI and DoJ are no longer seen by many as upholders of the law. In fact, a large percentage of Americans consider the Federal Bureau of Investigation to be as bad as the criminals they have allegedly been going after. The Department of Justice, under Merrick Garland is so politicized it is now seen as the enforcement arm of the Democrat party.
I have no idea if the FAIR act will make it to the floors of the House and Senate for a vote. Even if it does and passes, I don’t see that crooked senile pedophile in the Oval Office signing it. If you want this to pass, then reach out to your senators and representatives. Since there are those on both sides of the aisle that want to see it passed, putting pressure on the rest might actually accomplish something this time.
Thatisall
(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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~The Angry Webmaster~
I have always wondered what the substantiative difference, if any, is between Asset Forfeiture and Armed Robbery. As far as I’ve been able to determine it seems only the bling varies.