Almost every day for the past six weeks, current and former federal employees have been posting messages of despair in the subreddit r/fednews. Messages such as, “Was part of the Valentine’s Day Massacre. I received my final SF-50 and saw the word “Termination” in section 5-B. I cried all over again. I’ve never been fired from a job. I’ve always worked hard for any role I’ve had. It took over 10 years to get into the federal government and only six months to get booted out. This was so unfair. Does this anguish ever end?” and “Was fired from IRS on Feb 20th. Got rejected again from job application. Understanding its only been 2 weeks, just feel like I am in another world. I don’t know how to go forward. Almost like you have to abandon what you know are norms and reinvent yourself to weather the storm. Keep pushing the ball forward. T-rump and E-lon keep saying in the end it will better. Hope one day, at least E-lon feels the pain we are all going through and have to push that ball forward too…”
There seems to be little question that much of what the White House is doing, especially in regard to the record number of layoffs, is illegal. Earlier this afternoon (Thursday), U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell ruled that the president’s firing of Gwynne Wilcox from the NLRB violated federal law that allows for a board member to be removed only for “neglect of duty or malfeasance in office,” and declared her termination void. The email sent to Wilcox on behalf of the president stated that she and another board member have not “been operating in a manner consistent with the objectives of my administration.”
Following through the constant barrage of headlines winds a trail of evidence that this White House is engaged in influence peddling, extortion, and possibly even racketeering in violation of the 1970 RICO Act. For those who slept through that class in school, The RICO Act (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) was originally intended to combat organized crime, particularly the Mafia, but its scope has broadened significantly over time to be used against a wide range of criminal enterprises.
“When you see important societal actors — be it university presidents, media outlets, C.E.O.s, mayors, governors — changing their behavior in order to avoid the wrath of the government, that’s a sign that we’ve crossed the line ….” said Steven Levitsky, a professor of government at Harvard. When one puts together all the various pieces, the evidence against the administration becomes overwhelming.
Not that anyone should be surprised. Retribution was one of Felonious Punk’s primary platform planks in his 2024 election campaign. His hand was hardly down from the swearing-in ceremony when he revoked the security details of high-profile critics like Gen. Mark A. Milley, a retired Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman who faces death threats from Iran, and said he would pull the security clearances of lawyers at a prominent law firm who are representing Jack Smith, the special counsel who investigated him.
Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi had been an ardent supporter of Ukraine right up until the blow-up in the Oval Office last Friday. The Senator then quickly removed from social media a picture he had posted with President Zelensky.
Voters on both sides of the aisle have expressed frustration at the lack of response by their elected officials. Democrats were especially disappointed when no one followed Al Green out the door when he was ejected during the president’s address to Congress. The silence from all elected officials, an obvious reluctance to exercise their Constitutional obligation to reign in the Executive Branch, demonstrates just how frightened they are.
Democrat Eric Swalwell of California told the New York Times, “I’m friends with a lot of these guys, and I had wrongly assumed that what was holding them back from speaking out against Trump was they were afraid of losing their jobs,” he said in an interview. “But what they’re afraid of is their own personal security. They tell me that their wives tell them, ‘Don’t contribute to us getting harassed at church or the grocery store or at the club.’” Security details are such a part of Swalwell’s life that his daughter recently included a member of his security detail in a drawing of her family for her kindergarten class!
The intimidation tactics are strong. The threat is real. Punk knows that there are plenty of right-wing Neanderthals willing to act out in violent ways on his behalf. Just one social media post from Muskrat sends stock prices sliding and can result in C-Suite executives losing their jobs.
This raises the question of how close the White House is to violating the RICO Act. We’ll let you judge for yourself. RICO defines “racketeering activity” broadly, listing a wide range of predicate offenses including but not limited to Federal Crimes: Such as bribery, extortion, fraud, money laundering, drug trafficking, murder, kidnapping, arson, robbery, and State Crimes: Including murder, kidnapping, gambling, arson, robbery, bribery, extortion, dealing in obscene matter, and drug offenses. By our count, extortion and fraud have definitely been committed and there seems to be a high chance that bribery (promise of support at re-election would count) could be added to the list.
Even if we determine that Punk & Co. has been involved in predicting offenses, though, doesn’t mean that anyone can be convicted. To be convicted under RICO, a person must have engaged in a “pattern of racketeering activity,” which generally means committing at least two predicate offenses within a 10-year period that are related and amount to or pose a threat of continued criminal activity. Ten-year period? Uhm, try six weeks! I’m not sure a RICO violation has ever been put together as quickly as this one!
RICO prohibits specific activities related to racketeering and enterprises such as acquiring or maintaining an interest in or control of an enterprise (the Executive Branch) through a pattern of racketeering activity or Conducting or participating in the affairs of an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity. Toss conspiracy to commit said crimes in there for the trifecta. Ding! Ding! We have a winner!
Don’t expect anyone to be filing charges anytime soon, though. Last year’s SCOTUS decision granted broad immunity to the executive branch when it is actin in an “official capacity.” While RICO itself might be argued as a partial abrogation in certain contexts, the extent to which it overrides sovereign immunity for government agencies is a complex legal question and could be a major hurdle in a RICO case against a government entity. It could be argued that using RICO to target government agencies could unduly interfere with the functioning of the executive or legislative branches. Courts might be hesitant to apply RICO in a way that could be seen as overly intrusive into government operations.
There is very little precedent for RICO cases being successfully brought against government branches or agencies themselves. RICO has primarily been used against private individuals and organizations, including organized crime groups, unions, and businesses.
The fact is that too many people are running scared. Resistance against these unlawful acts requires standing up against threats and intimidation. One has to realize that losing a political race is small compared to losing an entire democracy. The stakes are high. Punk & Co., along with Muskrat et. al. have broken numerous laws. There is no good reason for the law to not triumph over politics, but the pressure has to come from outside the DC Beltway.
