DoJ: Reminding People About the Law = Illegal

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

When I reported on September 19 that partisan career lawyers in the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice were planning on criminally targeting Republican political activists and candidates, this was treated with disbelief by some.  In fact, Rick Hasen, a liberal law professor at Loyola who runs the popular Election Law Blog , a website concentrating on voting and election developments, expressed his skepticism “of such anonymous claims.”

Well, those claims have proven all too real to former Republican congressional candidate Tan Nguyen, who ran for office in the 47th Congressional District of California in 2006 against incumbent Loretta Sanchez.  On October 1, the Civil Rights Division announced the indictment of Nguyen for obstruction of justice for supposedly making “misleading statements to investigators” regarding a letter that was sent to Latino voters during the election.  This investigation and indictment represents a particularly egregious example of the government persecuting someone for engaging in perfectly legal behavior.  Essentially, Nguyen is being prosecuted for having informed voters of the truth, although it is a truth disliked by the career lawyers in the Civil Rights Division.

The letter (in Spanish) that is the basis of the indictment was apparently sent out to Latino voters by the California Coalition for Immigration Reform (CCIR).  It told voters that if they were a citizen of the United States, they should “participate in the democratic process of voting.”  However, the letter warned voters that if they were residing in this country illegally, “voting in a federal election is a crime that could result in jail time” and for which they could be deported.  The letter made clear that voting in any election “if you are not a citizen of the United States” would be “useless and dangerous.”

It is important to realize that everything said in this letter is absolutely true.  There are a number of federal statutes that make it illegal for someone to falsely claim citizenship when registering to vote or to vote in federal elections if not a citizen.  But informing voters that they have to be citizens to vote is highly offensive to the political left, especially organizations like La Raza or MALDEF, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, and their allies in the career ranks of the Civil Rights Division.

As described in the September 19 article, lawyers in the Civil Rights Division said at an internal DOJ training session this summer that they considered sending mailers informing individuals of the citizenship requirement for voting an example of voter “suppression.”  Although they acknowledged there was no federal criminal statute making this illegal, they proposed using federal grand juries to go after anyone who engaged in this type of behavior.  They have now fulfilled that promise.

http://proteinwisdom.com/pub/?p=2074

BTW - They're putting Joe the plumber out of business: http://hotair.com/archives/2008/10/16/good-news-toledo-moves-to-shut-down-joe-the-plumber/

You people better be ready to defend your freedom.

[NHSparky]

I used to live quite literally two blocks from Sanchez's district.  Thankfully, I was on the side of the street where Dana Rohrbacher was my Congressman.  Tan's office in 2006 was down the street from my house on Harbor Blvd.

The issue here is not whether or not Tan sent the mailings--it's apparent he at least knew about it.  But 1--he lied about it, 2--sent them ONLY to Spanish-speaking households where there are several nationalities, including Vietnamese, Mexican, American, etc., in the district.  Had he sent them in several languages to ALL or at least distributed them equally throughout the district, there really isn't much that can be said.

He did something wrong, IMHO.  He tried to cover his ass, and he got caught.  Right message, wrong delivery.

[Rick]

It was the illegal Mexicans who got Laura Shancez elected. I know of no illegal Vietnamese, and they tend to vote Republican. He stepped up to stop a fraudulent election and I see nothing wrong with it.

[NHSparky]

It was the illegal Mexicans who got Laura Shancez elected. I know of no illegal Vietnamese, and they tend to vote Republican. He stepped up to stop a fraudulent election and I see nothing wrong with it.

But by singling out one group, it does give the appearance of voter intimidation.  I agree--it sucks, but if you're going to win, there's a wrong way to do it, and there's a right way to do it.

And FWIW, there are illegal Vietnamese.

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

But by singling out one group, it does give the appearance of voter intimidation.  I agree--it sucks, but if you're going to win, there's a wrong way to do it, and there's a right way to do it.

And FWIW, there are illegal Vietnamese.

I'm sympathetic to your case but we don't judge laws by appearances, only facts.

We aren't here to coddle the morbid, contrived fantasies of liberals.

[NHSparky]

I'm sympathetic to your case but we don't judge laws by appearances, only facts.

We aren't here to coddle the morbid, contrived fantasies of liberals.

Okay...FACT is, he singled out a particular group.  That's a 14th Amendment issue right there.

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

Okay...FACT is, he singled out a particular group.  That's a 14th Amendment issue right there.

And that group is precisely where the vote fraud was coming from and it was directed to the benefit of someone from that group.

That's the real racism right there.

[DumbAss Tanker]

But by singling out one group, it does give the appearance of voter intimidation.  I agree--it sucks, but if you're going to win, there's a wrong way to do it, and there's a right way to do it.

And FWIW, there are illegal Vietnamese.

Actually the "Lying about it" part of what you originally posted, if true, is the only legal basis for an Obstruction of Justice charge, there is nothing wrong with sending that mailer to only one group of language speakers.

[NHSparky]

And that group is precisely where the vote fraud was coming from and it was directed to the benefit of someone from that group.

That's the real racism right there.

Look--I used to live there--I'm not excusing Sanchez.  I saw first-hand what her shenanigans did.  But honestly, it was only a matter of time before that district went Dem anyway.  Dornan wasn't exactly the most stable guy.

Tan could and should have run his campaign above board.  If he had been straight up, he would have done, as all other candidates have done in his district (and mine) to issue fliers in multiple languages (hey, it's CA--deal with it).

What the guy did was single out ONE group.  Not very "big tent" or diverse of him.  He screwed up, and now he's paying for it.  Had he sent out fliers to everyone, he could have and would have gotten away with telling DOJ to pound sand.

He wasn't indicted for sending (or knowing about the sending) of the flyer.  He's indicted because he lied about it.  Period.