Democrat Rep Ted Leiu, Could Face Court-Martial?

Representative Ted Lieu, a Democrat representative, and Colonel in the Air Force Reserve is dancing a fine line towards a Court-Martial. As a member of the United States military, he is subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice and all rules and regulations. Officers are severely restricted in that they cannot shoe disrespect for the Commander-in-Chief. Has Mr. Lieu crossed that line?

Should Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) Be Court-Martialed?

By JOEL B. POLLAK at Breitbart.com:

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) was recently re-elected to his second term in Congress, representing a large chunk of West Los Angeles. He was also recently promoted to Colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserves.

In addition to obeying his oath of office, Rep. Lieu is subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) — including Article 88, which prohibits commissioned officers, in or out of uniform, from using “contemptuous words” against the president and other high officials.

Article 88 does not prohibit mere criticism, and there is thought to be some leeway in the interpretation of the article that allows for ordinary political debate. There are, after all, several members of Congress who serve as reservists, and they are sometimes quite impassioned in their opinions.

Yet Rep. Lieu’s recent and ongoing statements about President Donald Trump go far beyond even strident political debate and explicitly claim that the Commander-in-Chief is in fact illegitimate.

As the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday, Rep. Lieu claims “our leader is potentially unhinged … and that is highly disturbing.” He also places an asterisk next to President Trump’s name in press releases, which links to the following footnote:

***In addition to losing the popular vote, Trump — as of January 20, 2017 — is in violation of the Emoluments Clause set forth in Article I, Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution due to massive conflicts of interests and his refusal to put his global business holdings in blind trusts. Trump also benefited from Vladimir Putin ordering a multifaceted and brazen Russian influence and cyber hacking campaign with the goals of undermining faith in the U.S. democratic process, denigrating Secretary Clinton’s electability, and helping Trump’s election chances. Trump and his press secretary also routinely make stuff up.