Telling Trump and Bolton How US Law Can Help Puerto Rico Today

by Mary W Maxwell, LLB

At present the US’s sanctions on Venezuela are outrageous. The White House makes statements about the troubles “caused by” President Maduro. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!

I fear a military invasion for regime change. But quite possibly the campaigning by US presidential hopeful Tulsi Gabbard  — which is going on apace right now during Congress’ summer recess – will have the effect of making Trump less surefooted about regime change.  Anti-war is Tulsi’s main theme and although the MSM hardly mentions her – or it – folks are attending her meetings in great numbers.

Yesterday in Boston I mentioned the name of Tulsi to a taxi driver. He got so excited we nearly had an accident on Tremint St.  He said “She doesn’t want war! (Almost yelling): “She says we should not go into other people’s homes.”  I am not sure if he was referring to a raid – a la the Lakemba raids in Sydney – which took place in Beantown last week, or if he meant regime change. He is thrilled by her candidacy.

Anyway, this article is about Puerto Rico. It recently had a regime change, but not by foreign meddling. Rather the people protested loudly on the streets about government corruption. The funny thing about Puerto Rico is that it is a US territory, and is under the rule of the federal government as is the case in Australia for the Northern Territory.

So the US president has much say in what happens there. I have just received, from a citizen in New York, a copy of a letter he sent to Trump in August, 2019, with copies addressed to Bolton, Pompeo, and Haspel. Please peruse it, O Gumshoe Readers.  Most Americans would be startled by it.  Here it is, abridged and with emphasis added.

Dear President Trump,

With the recent resignation of Governor Ricardo Rossello and the probable appointment of Justice Secretary Juanda Vazquez, the People of Puerto Rico are jubilant despite still troubling problems posed by years of corruption in government. There is no indication that Puerto Rico’s two party system with its present corrupt politicians has changed in any significant ways with the resignation and removal of the Governor Rossello.

In my travels to other Caribbean countries, I witnessed corrupt governments calling themselves democratic, but led by selfish autocratic despots who cared very little about the peoples’ health, safety and welfare. Those countries included Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Haiti, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, and Nicaragua.

Unlike their Central American counterparts, tne People of Puerto Rico live in a United States Territory. Their territorial government comes under the auspices, protection and support, based upon the supremacy of the United States Federal laws and Presidential powers as outlined below. President Donald J. Trump can take the initiative to put in place real change and hope for the People of Puerto Rico.

Territorial Jurisdiction, Puerto Rico — Protecting Territorial Persons’ Health and Safety

President Donald Trump is in a unique and commanding position to remedy the situation there, and to secure the civil rights of Puerto Rico’s citizens.

Under several titles of the United States Code, as well as the U.S. Constitution, Article VI, Clause 2, President Trump can remove the present corrupt governor and his entourage while reestablishing the rule of law by providing Puerto Rico’s citizenry with moral support and an end to the people’s trial and tribulations.

Before delving into the details, I am a former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) special agent, relief supervisor, and pilot-in command. In addition, I am a former US Army Lt. Colonel and served two combats tours during the Vietnam War (1967-68; 1970-71); and, I was part of the Desert Shield Task Force in the late 1980s.

Five Pertinent Items in the USC

(1) According to the United States Code Annotated 48

“Except as otherwise provided, nothing in this chapter shall be construed as impairing or in any manner relieving a territorial government from compliance with Federal laws or … federally delegated program protecting the health, safety, and environment of persons in such territory.”

(2) According to 48 USCA 734

“United States laws extend in to Puerto Rico… “

Reference is made to Executive Order No. 1000 and a Presidential Memorandum, Nov. 30, 1992, “Administrative Treatment of Puerto Rico as a State.” That Presidential Memorandum by George Bush noted that: “The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico…(is) subject to relevant portions of the Constitution and laws of the United States…” and that “the will of its people regarding their political status should be ascertained periodically by means of a general right of referendum.”.

(3) Notes of Decisions, NOD. Although creation of the Commonwealth granted Puerto Rico authority over its own local affairs, Congress maintained similar powers over Puerto Rico as it possesses over federal states (see United States v. Guinones,1985).

(4) Title 48 Territories and Insular Possessions. There are nineteen other sections dealing with Puerto Rico in 48 USCA §§731 through 749, covering every aspect of Puerto Rico’s government, its organization, authority, and powers bestowed upon it by the United States Government.

(5) Of course, there are different USCA titles that also cover legal aspects, many which are also applicable to Puerto Rico. An example is United States Code Annotated Title 18. Crimes and Criminal Procedure Provisions.

Under former President Obama, the people of Puerto Rico were suffering from corrupt government officials. in fact, such has been the people’s misfortune, probably due to its “special status” as a territory.

The President’s Advisory Commission was established on Oct. 5, 1948 (13 F.R. 5854). The nine-member Commission, designated by the President, makes recommendations to. him “…concerning the exercise of his power under section 49b(3)of the Organic Act of Puerto Rico [section 793b of this title] to examine and hold hearings on (any) inapplicability of Federal laws to Puerto Rico…” Furthermore, “The Commission shall continue to exist until the President terminates its existence by Executive order.”

Such language was promulgated under President Harry S. Truman’s administration…. It is now time to conduct your own examination of the Commission’s nine-member panel as to who appointed them, are they still avoiding the ‘people’s issues and complaints relative to corruption-in-government… Or, are the Commission nine-members part and parcel of the problem?

Political Turmoil Facing U.S. Presidents

Perhaps, it’s the wrong time for any presidential or federal intervention with Puerto Rico’s government and its political and governmental leaders who have been accused of corruption. Yet, the people’s complaints deal with the purloining and mismanagement of their territorial government funding in such vital areas as education, infrastructure, healthcare and other essential services. And perhaps, there may be a more urgent time in the future whereas the powers of the President for intervening would be demanded by the people.

I will now address “…the ways and means to a highly successful action and results…” under the present circumstances.

Presidential Powers – Protecting Territorial

By no means or reason are the nature and history of our great nation oblivious to actions that can be taken against others, whether persons, territories, countries or foreign and domestic political fractions, that pose, or could pose serious issues to America’s own national security interest and our overall personal welfare.

Since President James Monroe’s term in 1817-25, his Monroe Doctrine established the U.S. policy of opposition to outside interference in the Americas. Surely, our nation’s elected leaders have the ways and means to end the corruption-in-government in the territory of Puerto Rico. From the Barbary Coast pirates in the early 1800s, the United States has mounted operations against hostile groups and nations that interfere with our national security interests.

I have personally seen this in my own US Army and FBI careers, including in the Iraqi-Iranian War, the U.S. Invasion of Grenada, etc. In some of our “foreign incursions,” as well as many domestic operations, there have been actual necessities, along with contrived situations, presented to the America people for our actions.

Most of all, there have been some kind of “trigger mechanisms” that alerted and impelled national support for those required actions on the part of our President or by unknown groups or “privateers” who were somehow endorsed clandestinely or surreptitiously by our government. The problem presented currently by the people of Puerto Rico needs little or no encouragement to prompt a proper U.S. response; however, such a response may well wait until truly dire consequences occur based upon the Governor of Puerto Rico taking harsh police or military actions that result with injuries or deaths to the People.

Former Clandestine Operations

It would be foolish not to pay heed to some clandestine operations in the past, especially ones that I was involved with during the Vietnam War Era and, later, during my FBI investigations primarily in “false-front” CIA operations. Nearly every informed historian knows why the “Gulf of Tonkin Resolution” was passed by Congress after the off-shore conflict between the US Navy vessels and the so-called North Vietnamese Navy intruders whose gunboats “allegedly” fired upon a US Navy destroyer. For national security interests, for SEATO Treaty commitments and due to the involvement of US Intelligence agencies, the United States latched onto a power position in the Republic of (South) Vietnam (RVN), often deposing its leaders and installing their own (CIA) from an elite group, the RVN [Republic of Viet Nan] ruling class.

RVN General “Big Ming” and General Nuyen Van Thieu are two examples. Such men helped the US maintain our presence in Southeast Asia, as well as trying to save RVN from a communist takeover. From other experiences in Central America (circa 1970s) and in the Caribbean Island area, especially Grenada (circa early 1980s), I became involved. My FBI investigations into Soviet Eastern Bloc and Asian countries also developed sensitive information about US “participation and involvement” overseas.

Intelligence operations by the US, friendly allies and hostile foreign powers are masked by other methods. An old “Washington (D.C.) City Paper” article,” dated Dec. 4, 1992, entitled “The K-Team” related the operations of a group calling themselves “privateers” (person or persons endorsed by the US Government to conduct clandestine operations in our national interests).

That privateer group mentioned in the City Paper was under FBI investigation since the 1950s without any FBI agent, except for one, who handled the case knowing that the privateers, “Castle Securities, Inc.” was much more than a financial organization! Only a naive fool would not conclude that ‘The K-Team” was more than privateers, (especially the last FBI agent assigned to the investigation — myself!)

In writing to you and several other high-ranking officials of this Presidential Administration, I would like to provide further information based upon my own professional experiences that will be quite useful to you and for the sake of our Nation for which I risked my life-and-liberty both in wartime and in peacetime.

The Presidential Dilemma 

I realize that caution must be exercised by our President, while at the same time, this is a great opportunity for him to rally much more than his own party’s loyalty, but to generate support from the many dissident or opposing forces who complain about prejudice or discrimination based on racism.

The question raised by any dramatic action or involvement by our President must be consistent with the very outcries from the Puerto Rican People and the voices of the continental US public and officials.

There are trigger-mechanisms that would rally people. Such mechanism, for lack of a better name, would be the present public demonstration that might lead to injuries, property destruction and economic losses or that would affect our US economy in general. From a political standpoint, I believe the ongoing unrest and demonstrations in Puerto Rico would engender a proper and timely response from the President and, with that, would greatly enhance his reelection and dispel the notion of any racism coming from dissident groups.

There are so many instances, events and troubling investigations to inform you about which I would not want to disclose in this letter. During the former leadership of many FBI directors, there was serious mismanagement in terms of informant use and payments, unavailable investigative resources, lack of accountability for personnel and equipment, training and service requirements and many other aspects concerning both the Foreign Counter-Intelligence (FCI) and Organized Crime (OC) divisions.

During the 1990s, TIME Magazine did a number of stunning reports on former FBI Director Robert Mueller. There is so much more to tell you about misfeasance and malfeasance by our own intelligence and counter-intelligence agencies. For example, the continuing rivalies between those agencies, resulting in little or no meaningful information for our national leaders.

Regarding terrorism investigations, another sinister result occurred which was published in a book entitled “The Terror Factory.” It concerned over 500 FBI investigations into terrorist activities, to which only five (5) individuals were actual terrorists.

The rest 495 were merely youthful persons who had some anger due to their “lot-in-life.” All 495 could hardly be considered a threat, much less capable of carrying out any terror until persuaded by eager FBI agents who aggravated them, aiding-and-abetting schemes to pose a threat. That resulted in arrests prior to any real actions and awards for the agents who set them up!

Thank you for taking the time considering my suggestions.. I will provide much more information upon your request. I look forward to hearing from your office.

Godspeed in your endeavors.

Respectfully yours,

Richard Taus, Inmate 91A1040,

Clinton Correctional Facility,

Dannemora New York, 12929