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(s)Elections See other (s)Elections Articles Title: It’s about to become harder for lawless FBI agents to seize innocent Americans’ life savings… There are countless innocent Americans across the nation who are victims of the unfair, lawless seizure of their of their private property, compliments of the disgraced FBI. This is happening a lot more often than you may realize. So, what exactly is the FBI up to now? Well, one very public incident in Beverly Hills back in 2021 is a perfect example of what the FBI has been engaging in, and how brazen and greedy the are when it comes to other people’s money. Back in 2021, the FBI asked for permission to remove hundreds of safe deposit boxes from a business in Beverly Hills. They were granted permission, but with very strict limits. The FBI was told they could seize the boxes, but the judge said they had to return what was inside to the owners. Sounds reasonable enough… but of course, things didn’t go as planned. LA Times: [T]he FBI is now trying to confiscate $86 million in cash and millions of dollars more in jewelry and other valuables that agents found in 369 of the boxes. Prosecutors claim the forfeiture is justified because the unnamed box holders were engaged in criminal activity. They have disclosed no evidence to support the allegation. Box holders and their lawyers denounced the ploy as a brazen abuse of forfeiture laws, saying prosecutors and the FBI were trampling on the rights of people who thought they’d found a safe place to stash confidential documents, heirlooms, gold, rare coins and cash. If the FBI wanted to search the boxes, the lawyers say, it first needed to meet the standard for a court-issued warrant: Probable cause that evidence of specific crimes would be found. The government “can’t take stuff without evidence in the hopes that you’re going to get it later,” said Benjamin Gluck, an attorney who represents box holders suing the government to retrieve their property. “The 4th Amendment and the forfeiture laws require the opposite — that you have the evidence first, and then you can take property.” And here’s the gutsy story of one of those Beverly Hills victims who’s fighting back against the feds. Experience Revolver without ads HIDE ADS NOW Fox News: Los Angeles resident Linda Martin filed a class-action lawsuit against the FBI after her life savings were seized along with $86 million worth of other Americans’ property in a 2021 raid of a safe deposit box company. Despite never being suspected of, charged with or convicted of a crime, Martin has received no indication if her money will ever be returned. “I felt misled. I felt angry,” Martin previously told Fox News. “I’m advocating for just not myself, but for everyone, because there’s a lot of people that don’t know what to do.” Sure, it’s one thing to use this procedure against organized crime and drug cartels, but now, the FBI gestapos are using it against average Americans and that’s unacceptable. An Institute for Justice report found that 78% of all forfeiture cases processed by the Department of Justice between 2000 and 2019 were administrative, meaning agencies decided to seize property with no judicial oversight. Similarly, 96% of the Treasury Department’s forfeiture cases were administrative, according to the 2020 report. Using federal forfeiture records, the Institute for Justice calculated that since 2000 the DOJ and the Treasury Department have taken in over $50 billion in total forfeiture revenue. “Civil asset forfeiture is a key tool that helps law enforcement defund organized crime, take back ill-gotten gains, and prevent new crimes from being committed, and it weakens the criminals and the cartels,” then- Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in 2017. “Civil asset forfeiture takes the material support of the criminals and instead makes it the material support of law enforcement.” The primary goal of forfeiture, according to the DOJ’s asset forfeiture policy manual, the primary goal of forfeiture is “to punish and deter criminal activity by depriving criminals of property used in or acquired through illegal activities.” But Walberg believes reform is necessary. “It’s been far too easy for the government to seize a private citizen’s property,” he said. “The FAIR Act brings important reforms to limit government overreach and restores constitutional rights.” If the bill passes, judges will have to actually hear forfeiture cases, and the burden of proof will now be on the FBI. They will have to provide “clear and convincing evidence” that any property they seize is directly linked to criminal behavior. And one more very important point about the FAIR Act is that it would eliminate “incentives” for the FBI to target Americans with forfeiture cases because any seized proceeds will now go to a general Treasury fund, instead of directly to the FBI. It’s about time the FAIR Act becomes law. God knows the weaponized FBI has enough power. It’s time to start taking back our country. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
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