I know it's the middle of the election cycle and this is not on anybody's radar, but it has really been bothering me. It seems no matter who is running the country there are always some scandal at the top. Inevitably the people running the executive departments are called before Congress where they plead the 5th and nothing is ever resolved. I find this extremely distasteful. These people are being paid to run their agencies according to the law not in any manner they see fit. As a result, I want to start writing letters to the Congress critters about passing a new law requiring any government employee in the senior executive service who claims 5th amendment protections before Congress be immediately fired and barred from any further federal government employment including contractor positions. In addition to no further federal government employment, they would be ineligible to obtain a positive result on any federal background investigation.

My reasoning is very simple. If these people believe their actions were illegal, whether they were legal or not, that means they believed they were not running their agencies in the manner required. These employees are in positions to affect huge numbers of people. I don't think this would run afoul of any Constitutional protections, since there isn't a criminal charge or prosecution for it. You can be forced to testify against yourself in a civil trial. Even at the federal level if you quit showing up to your job, you will be fired, or if you show up but refuse to do anything you will be fired. Neither of those instances are criminal violations.

What say you? Any ideas?

 

I completely agree with you but I'd say it needs to be taken even further. (1) NO government employee should be allowed to plead the 5th on any issue regarding their government service. (2) that stipulation should be part of the pre-employment agreement before they are allowed to be hired for any government job. And this specifically includes elected officials! It's time that we brought transparency and honesty back to the Civil Service!

In the current case of Hillery's illegal E-mail server; how far do you think that would have gotten if the employees involved had been operating under those rules and KNEW that one day they might have answer for their actions instead of being sheltered by Hillery and the State Department and the Democratically controlled Justice Department and allowed to simply ignore the summons and questioning from the federal courts and/or Congress?

 

You can't take away a person's right to plead the 5th. But, firing them if they do take the 5th is a great idea. That means they think they did something they could be prosecuted for. I think city, state, federal employee unions should be done away with. With the unions, it's almost impossible to fire anyone. With the unions they have managed to increase their salaries much higher than the general public who is paying for their salaries and they get tremendous benefits that the public doesn't get.

Do you remember when Hillary testified before Congress and stated, "I do not recall." about 50 times? Lying piece of crap!

 

Pleading the 5th has become the standard cop-out for breaking the law and knowing that you will be protected by the leadership as long as you keep your mouth shut. I agree that the 5th can not be taken away but there needs to be limits placed on its use in .gov business. Or... We actually get real prosecutors who will find the truth and not just be puppets that cover their political allies. Hildabeast should be swinging from the gallows for her crimes against the Republic instead of possibility being the next President.

 

The FBI just gave immunity from prosecution to the guy who set up the Hidebeast's home server. They supposedly don't do that unless there is a grand jury to testify before. The investigation into the 2000 plus classified emails on her private server continues. Hopefully, it will end up with her in an orange jump suit. Except, I'm sure the potus acting through the attorney general Loretta Lynch will protect her so she can be elected.

 

I'm not sure that obummer is going to stick his neck out too far to protect hildabeast. There's no love lost between them and because she secretly hired Sydney Blumenthal when obummer explicitly told her not to will not be forgotten. If it comes down to his legacy or saving her she's toast. His ego is huge and Bill's insults when he was running for president have not been forgotten. She could be in real trouble but if there's one thing Clinton Inc. is good at it is dodging the law.

 

I think this is a great idea, plead the 5th and the pension should stop also. If a semi-civil servant wont tell us what they do/did at work then why in the sam hill should we pay them in their "Golden" years?????

 

The reason I didn't include all employees is because many of the non-SES employees already have this requirement. It's not spelled out exactly as plead the 5th and your fired, but it's basically a standard that if your are not forthcoming you can be fired.


If you support it write you Congress critters. The more letters the harder it will be to ignore. Also talk to your friends/family about the idea. The more the merrier.

 

Congress is the employer of Federal civil servants. I cannot sit in front of my employer and tell them "I'm not going to tell you what I did because then you will know that I did something wrong." Why should Federal employees have that right with no consequences while the rest of the working public is responsible to their employers for their actions on the job? The government governs on behalf of and with the trust of the citizens. Any federal employee who refuses to answer questions about their actions is probably not working on behalf of the citizens at large and surely no longer holds the public trust.

I do believe that any Federal employee who refuses to describe their at-work activities to their employer should be fired. If there are criminal charges to be laid as a result of their statements, let them plead the fifth in that context.

 

Well put! x2.