Republican candidate will not sign the AFA presidential pledge to uphold
the Constitution
WASHINGTON, May 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Former Massachusetts
governor Mitt Romney has declined to sign the American Freedom Agenda's
(AFA) Presidential Pledge. The Pledge, which will be offered to all White
House hopefuls, commits candidates to "honor fundamental protections
against injustice, and to eschew usurpations of legislative or judicial
power, ... keystones of national security and individual freedom."
"Mitt Romney had a chance to show the American people that he is
committed to protecting their freedoms and restoring constitutional checks
and balances. He failed to do so," said American Freedom Agenda chairman
Bruce Fein. "One can only wonder why Mr. Romney will not commit himself to
oppose torture, illegal surveillance and abuse of the Constitution. Would
Romney do the same and worse if elected President?"
By rejecting the Pledge, Romney refused to repudiate:
-- Playing judge, jury, and prosecutor in the trial of war crimes
-- Kidnapping, imprisoning, and torturing individuals abroad without any
trial or formal accusation of any kind
-- Detaining American citizens for life as enemy combatants on his say-so
alone
-- Detaining as enemy combatants on his say-so alone persons who have
never been engaged in active hostilities against the United States
-- Suspending the writ of habeas corpus for aliens detained as enemy
combatants or tried as war criminals when civilian courts are open and
functioning
-- Intercepting the emails and phone calls of Americans and breaking and
entering homes on his say-so alone to gather foreign intelligence
-- Relying on claims of executive privilege or state secrets to prevent
Congress from detecting and deterring crimes and spying abuses
-- Relying on a state secrets privilege to shield the government from
legal accountability for violating constitutional rights
-- Issuing presidential signing statements that would declare his intent
to disregard provisions of bills he has signed into law that he
proclaims are unconstitutional
-- Prosecuting journalists under the Espionage Act for exposing national
security abuses
-- Listing individuals or organizations with a presence in the United
States as international terrorists or international terrorist
organizations based on notoriously dubious secret evidence
Fein concluded, "Mitt Romney's ignorance of the Constitution's checks
and balances and protections against government abuses would have alarmed
the Founding Fathers and their conservative philosophy. He is not fit to
serve in the White House."
The American Freedom Agenda was founded by conservative stalwarts Bruce
Fein, David Keene, Bob Barr and Richard Viguerie. To view the pledge,
please click here:
http://www.americanfreedomagenda.org/about/freedompledge.htm
