The fifth amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America guarantees that the government is constrained from depriving a citizen of his life, liberty or property without due process.
In contravention of this guarantee, the following executive order, signed by George W. Bush on 17 July 2007, gives Henry Merritt Paulson, who became Treasury Secretary on 10 July 2006, the power to seize any person's assets without warning, on "suspicion" alone, that they might, in future, commit an unlawful act.
George W. Bush is simply an amoral man grown so accustomed to power that it has overwhelmed him, exposing a puny impious egomaniac, for whom the sacred covenant is become but "a ........... piece of paper." He is now a man condemned to be remembered as one who forsook the lighted path of legitimate restraint, wandering instead into the dark realm of pure license.
Here, the elements germane to this crime are highlighted in red, and a link is provided to the official press release:
Office of the Press Secretary
July 17, 2007
Executive Order: Blocking Property of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, as amended (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.)(IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.)(NEA), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code,
I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, find that, due to the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States posed by acts of violence threatening the peace and stability of Iraq and undermining efforts to promote economic reconstruction and political reform in Iraq and to provide humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people, it is in the interests of the United States to take additional steps with respect to the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13303 of May 22, 2003, and expanded in Executive Order 13315 of August 28, 2003, and relied upon for additional steps taken in Executive Order 13350 of July 29, 2004, and Executive Order 13364 of November 29, 2004. I hereby order:............
Section 1. (a) Except to the extent provided in section 203(b)(1), (3), and (4) of IEEPA (50 U.S.C. 1702(b)(1), (3), and (4)), or in regulations, orders, directives, or licenses that may be issued pursuant to this order, and notwithstanding any contract entered into or any license or permit granted prior to the date of this order, all property and interests in property of the following persons, that are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United States, or that are or hereafter come within the possession or control of United States persons, are blocked and may not be transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in: any person determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense,
(i) to have committed, or to pose a significant risk of committing, an act or acts of violence that have the purpose or effect of:
(A) threatening the peace or stability of Iraq or the Government of Iraq; or
(B) undermining efforts to promote...........GEORGE W. BUSH
THE WHITE HOUSE,
July 17, 2007.
