Should We All File Suit Against The Bush Gang?

Court Case Challenges Power of President: Military Tribunals' Legitimacy at Issue

There is a principle of law called qui tam pro domino rege quam pro sic ipso in hoc parte sequitur. In US law it is part of the Federal Civil False Claims Act that provides that any citizen or resident that sees wrong doing on the part of a contractor, vendor or officer of government--especially in the areas of contracts, procurement or expenditure of federal funds--may bring suit on behalf of the United States with the full power and authority of the federal government itself. According to the Bauman & Rasor Group's "Qui Tam Information Center" it is defined as follows:

Qui Tam ("who sues on behalf of the king as well as for himself") is a provision of the Federal Civil False Claims Act that allows a private citizen to file a suit in the name of the U.S. Government charging fraud by government contractors and other entities who receive or use government funds, and share in any money recovered.

Given that President Bush and others have brought us into combat knowing that the intelligence they were relying upon was false, misleading and/or incompetent; and that billions of dollars of our tax money are being spent in pursuit of the "Bush Doctrine" inappropriately applied in the case of Iraq; and that the authority to spend money on warrantless wiretaps and surveillance of American citizens in direct conflict with the Constitution; and that contracts have been awarded without due process to companies with close ties to the president, vice president and others in the Bush administration; and our troops have been inadequately supplied and/or provided for by contracts... we have, in my view, cause for a qui tam prosecution.

What is interesting are the penalties provided for this type of prosecution:

...is liable to the United States Government for a civil penalty of not less than $5,000 and not more than $10,000, plus 3 times the amount of damages which the Government sustains because of the act of that person, except that if the court finds that—

• (A) the person committing the violation of this subsection furnished officials of the United States responsible for investigating false claims violations with all information known to such person about the violation within 30 days after the date on which the defendant first obtained the information;


• (B) such person fully cooperated with any Government investigation of such violation; and


• (C) at the time such person furnished the United States with the information about the violation, no criminal prosecution, civil action, or administrative action had commenced under this title with respect to such violation, and the person did not have actual knowledge of the existence of an investigation into such violation;

the court may assess not less than 2 times the amount of damages which the Government sustains because of the act of the person. A person violating this subsection shall also be liable to the United States Government for the costs of a civil action brought to recover any such penalty or damages.

Perhaps those of us against the war should all be filing qui tam law suits rather than protesting in the streets or writing in our blogs. Maybe this idea should be passed along to Mrs. Sheehan. It is almost a certainty that Bush and his gang will find a way, with the assistance of the Grand Old Party leadership, to get the case(s) dismissed. But in my view, Bush et al are guilty of wastefully misappropriating our tax dollars in Iraq... and while we can't get them to withdraw our troops, we should be able to hold them accountable.