Did Ocasio-Cortez break the law by threatening to subpoena Donald Trump Jr?

  One of the charges the left loves to throw around about Donald Trump is that he is an authoritarian-in-waiting. Mostly these charges revolve around the mainstream media with the claim he is eventually going to throw them in jail for disagreeing with him, but we have heard he was going to do the same with leftist politicians as well. (The irony of the left making this claim while at the same time trying to criminalize his entire Presidency and those on the right who disagree with their agenda is not lost on many of us.)

  With that in mind I am wondering how these same people feel about their new icon, Alexandria  Ocasio-Cortez, and the possibility she is in criminal violation of threatening a private citizen with Congressional retribution.

  In case you have not heard the story: The other day Donald Trump Jr shared a meme that has been going around on the internet which showed the new Representative from New York asking why people were afraid of socialism, with Donald Trump answering because Americans want to walk their dogs not eat them. (Personally I think the President’s family should lay off the trolling but that is neither her nor there for the sake of this post.)

 The thin-skinned Ocasio-Cortez, who has no problem attacking the right, took offense to this and decided it was a “large brain” idea to hit back at Donald Trump Jr by threatening to use Congress’ subpoena power against him if he kept on attacking her. Here is what she tweeted in response:

  After hearing complaints about this she took to Twitter again and claimed this was not a threat because she individually does not have subpoena power and she implied those who believe she can act on this must be stupid. However, where did she come up with the idea of subpoenaing a person with whom she disagrees? It is obvious to me this is the game plan of the  left and this is what has been talked about in private. This was obviously a threat and she intended to try to persuade the Congress to subpoena Donald Trump Jr if he did not leave her alone. And it appears as if this could indeed be a criminal act:

Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress, except that in any action brought against a judicial officer for an act or omission taken in such officer’s judicial capacity, injunctive relief shall not be granted unless a declaratory decree was violated or declaratory relief was unavailable. For the purposes of this section, any Act of Congress applicable exclusively to the District of Columbia shall be considered to be a statute of the District of Columbia.

(R.S. § 1979; Pub. L. 96–170, § 1, Dec. 29, 1979, 93 Stat. 1284; Pub. L. 104–317, title III, § 309(c), Oct. 19, 1996, 110 Stat. 3853.)

Here is what the Democrats are saying about this:

  That’s right, they are silent. What a shock! I guess we are going to have to wait to see if any ethics charges are brought against Ocasio-Cortez but I doubt it. Actually it might be a better plan to let this go so she keeps on talking…

malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium