Not about politics.
Not about COVID.
Not seeking legal advice.
Just looking for the applicable law and associated sentencing guidelines.
For instance, let’s say the director of the CDC is told by The White House, “Thou shalt not address Congress, we forbids it!”
Mr. Redfield ponders his situation. He has been Forbidden from speaking to Congress about how best, if at all, to get K-12 students back into schools this fall, but he has information outlining how to do it safely, or precisely why and how, and for how long, that would be a terrible idea. He can hoard his knowledge and maybe people die as a direct result, or he can waive off the prohibition and show up anyway, potentially saving millions of registered voters and their spawn.
So what? What if he goes to Congress and addresses them as they’ve asked? What if he goes to the lobby and just answers some questions, informally? How about over lunch at Red Robin? Or in some congresscritter’s living room? What happens to him?
What bit of law is invoked, what charges, and how much time in what sort of facility does he face if he tells The White House to stuff their attempt to lock down his freedom of speech? Or does he just get fired and have to go to work at Wendy’s or something?
Feck. Totally wrong forum, was going for GQ but am easily confused, apparently.
Still… Anyone? Anyone?
I moved this to GQ with my sooper secret Level 3 powers.
The President is the head of the Executive Branch. All members are ultimately answerable. Those in the Civil Service have protections but the upper echelon are all political appointments. There are a few designated positions that the President cannot fire at will, but serving at the pleasure of the President is not an empty phrase. If the head of the CDC wants to disobey the President’s orders, the result will normally be a firing or a resignation.
I did my first a couple of days ago. Thrilling, to say the least.
For some positions, the worst thing that could happen is you get fired.
For others, you might get prosecuted under a claim that some information you gave was classified or otherwise protected.
It’s possible that an injunction could be obtained ordering you not to testify until a legal challenge was resolved, which most people would honor.
But they can’t physically prevent you from showing up and then facing the consequences.
I wish some of these guys would just quit and go work for a pharma company working on a vaccine and then go talk to the House.
Unfortunately, being a doctor doesn’t necessarily give you the skills/knowledge needed to develop vaccines.
Let me clarify:
I wish some of these guys would just quit and go work for a pharma company that’s working on a vaccine and then go talk to the House.
Or why not just put it up on YouTube and have someone else send all the Congressmen the video link?