OLBERMANN: One more thing that may be added to this ledger, Bruce.
The conservative Web site WorldNetDaily had posted today a critique of Mr. Bush that could have read like one posted on liberal Web sites that referred specifically to this executive order that he signed last week, claiming the power to seize anyone‘s assets if he decides they have so much as received goods or services for someone who might pose a risk of committing violence in Iraq.
A, can he do this? B, can he do this to Americans in America? And C, what does that Fifth Amendment say about it?
FEIN: Well, he has claimed to do this under the International Economic Emergency Powers Act. And even if it authorized him to do that, the Constitution surely does not. Because the gist of the executive order is to impose a financial death penalty on anyone who he says on his say-so alone creates a significant risk of undermining the rehabilitation program or political reforms in Iraq.
A “significant risk.” Now they could conclude that you have a risk if you are very hostile to the various policies that he has undertaken in Iraq. And this idea that you could end your financial life unilaterally without notice is totally antithetical to the Fifth Amendment.
OLBERMANN: As clear, and as ever allegiance first to the Constitution, Bruce Fein, constitutional lawyer and former Reagan deputy attorney general. Good to talk to you, again, sir. And thanks for your time tonight.
