Trump’s attempt to fulfill a campaign promise to his Zionist constituents might backfire and could land those involved in jail. While campaigning for the U.S. presidency, Trump promised his Christian and Jewish Zionist constituents that he would not only declare all of Jerusalem the undivided capital of Israel but that he would also move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Those were big promises that raked in millions of campaign dollars.
Those promises and the need to make good on them might also have created a legal Dilemma for Trump, his friends, and advisors, including his Vice President if it can be proven that the order resulted from a conspiracy to defraud the United States. Trump’s executive order issued December 6, 2017, declaring US recognition of Jerusalem the undivided capital of Israel and authorizing the transfer of our embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem to violate some very important and broadly accepted international laws. The problem for Trump et al is that they also violate some very important US laws, including the Constitution of the United State’s article 6.
Since both the UN Charter and the Geneva Conventions have been ratified by the US Senate, according to our Constitution’s Article 6, known as the Supremacy Clause, those rules are codified US laws that include a statutory obligation for Congress, our judiciary and our executive branch to enforce those laws. The Article 6 states:”This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.”
Whereas  violation of those laws make the Trump Executive order null and void, Trump’s advisers, VP and others who participated in the drafting, writing, and publication of the order might have in their zeal, violated another important US law and that law is USC 371, Conspiracy to Commit Offense, or to Defraud the United States. That statute states the following: “If two or more persons conspire either to commit any offense against the United States or to defraud the United States, or any agency thereof in any manner or for any purpose, and one or more of such persons do any act to effect the object of the conspiracy, each shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.
If, however, the offense, the commission of which is the object of the conspiracy, is a misdemeanor only, the punishment for such conspiracy shall not exceed the maximum punishment provided for such misdemeanor.” (June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 701; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, § 330016(1)(L), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2147.)Did Trump’s inner circle, including his V.P., know that Trump’s campaign promise was impossible to fulfill? Did they know that it could only be fulfilled by violating the UN Charter, the Geneva Conventions, and the US Constitution? Did they advise Trump of any of these facts? Did they, in fact, push Trump to sign and publicize the order knowing that it was null and void, that it violates the US Constitution and placed the US in a position of considerable danger due to possibly violent blowback? A jury or perhaps the court will ultimately decide if USC 371 was violated by the Trump team.
All we can say, for now, is that along with obviously committing a gross violation of our Constitution, they placed the US in danger and seriously compromised our status and position on the world stage as a superpower and leader of the free world. That could, in turn, lead to US isolation and a loss of trade opportunities. These violations and damages cannot be ignored, which suggests that there is a price to be paid by all involved with Trump’s illegal, null and voided Executive order.
The most important question of all, is how do we unhurt the feelings of 1.5 billion Muslims who are spread out all over the world and how do we convince the international community that such a thing as this can happen in a country of significance such as the United States without any malice from the people, the majority of whom do not support Trump’s slavishness to Israel. The people lack any representation in the US since the political system is dominated by Zionists.
The only good thing about all of this is that it exposes the Trump team’s willingness to violate the law, to incite violence and possibly bloodshed and destruction of property to get what they want. Worse of all, they were willing to hurt the United States, their own country so deeply, to fulfill a campaign promise and to please Israel, no doubt hoping for even more campaign cash for the next presidential election in 2020, trapping the US in a cycle of campaign corruption.
DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy and position of Regional Rapport.
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Anisa Abd el Fattah, Ph.D. is the Chairperson of the International Association of Muslim Women and Children, a US-based NGO. She is also the former editor of the Middle East Affairs Journal (MEAJ).