“TOM FITTON IS UNAVAILABLE”
by Sharon Rondeau
(Sep. 5, 2020) — As The Post & Email reported, in his August 14 weekly update, Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton expanded on questions raised by Chapman University Professor of Law John Eastman in an August 12 Newsweek column concerning California Sen. Kamala Harris’s constitutional eligibility to serve as vice president or president.
Constitutionally, if a president becomes permanently incapacitated or passes away while in office, the vice president is immediately sworn in to assume his duties. The 12th Amendment mandates that “no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.”
Article II, Section 1, clause 5 of the Constitution requires the president to be a “natural born Citizen” to avoid the possibility of foreign allegiances and influence. In contrast, members of the U.S. House and Senate are required to simply be “a Citizen of the United States” for seven or nine years, respectively.
Harris was born in 1964 in Oakland, CA to non-U.S.-citizen parents, which Eastman hypothesized might call into question her own U.S. citizenship based on the 14th Amendment‘s “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” clause in regard to her parents.
The terms “citizen” and “natural born Citizen” are often conflated; indeed, Eastman implies in his column that a “citizen at birth” is the same as a “natural born Citizen.” Regarding Harris’s parents; status, Eastman differentiates between immigrants who become “lawful permanent residents” or, on the other hand, are in the United States on a student visa. “If the latter were indeed the case,” Eastman posited, “then derivatively from her parents, Harris was not subject to the complete jurisdiction of the United States at birth, but instead owed her allegiance to a foreign power or powers—Jamaica, in the case of her father, and India, in the case of her mother—and was therefore not entitled to birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment as originally understood.”
Further, Eastman wrote, Harris might not be eligible to hold the office of U.S. Senator. The second-to-last paragraph of his column reads:
Interestingly, this recitation of the original meaning of the 14th Amendment Citizenship Clause might also call into question Harris’ eligibility for her current position as a United States senator. Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution specifies that to be eligible for the office of senator, one must have been “nine Years a Citizen of the United States.” If Harris was not a citizen at birth, we would need to know when (if ever) she became a citizen. Her father’s biographical page at Stanford University identifies his citizenship status as follows: “Jamaica (by birth); U.S. (by naturalization).” But there is some dispute over whether he was in fact ever naturalized, and it is also unclear whether Harris’ mother ever became a naturalized citizen. If neither was ever naturalized, or at least not naturalized before Harris’ 16th birthday (which would have allowed her to obtain citizenship derived from their naturalization under the immigration law, at the time), then she would have had to become naturalized herself in order to be a citizen. That does not appear to have ever happened, yet without it, she could not have been “nine Years a Citizen of the United States” before her election to the U.S. Senate.
In his video Fitton noted that the media immediately moved to ridicule and quash any discussion of Harris’s eligibility once it was raised by Eastman, on blogs and social media. “I think it’s a more substantial issue than the left would have you believe…now the left has gone crazy saying, ‘It’s false’ and ‘You can’t even ask the question!…racist!” Fitton stated. “It’s absurd, because similar questions were asked about John McCain and Ted Cruz. I remember talking to reporters back in the day when this Obama birth-certificate issue was flopping around, and I thought there were more substantial questions about McCain’s eligibility than Barack Obama’s.”
On August 27, The Post & Email contacted Judicial Watch through its online contact form, stating:
I watched with interest your August 14, 2020 weekly update in which you broached the topic of vice-presidential and presidential eligibility requirements as they relate to Sen. Kamala Harris or any future candidate, for that matter.
Your contention that the media has attempted to silence any debate on this issue is accurate, as indicated by an NBC Nightly News segment, also aired August 14, targeting my online paper and me personally for daring to ask the question back in January 2018 after one of Harris’s constituents questioned her parents’ citizenship at the time of her birth.
In my view, the concerted effort on the part of the media to stifle discussion of “eligibility” questions of federal candidates through ridicule, shaming and propaganda is an alarming trend which threatens the very foundation of our Republic. It is the responsibility of all legal U.S. voters to inquire into the eligibility and qualifications of all candidates, from local to state to federal offices, and I applaud Judicial Watch and you personally for pushing back against the media’s doctrinaire tactics.
Attorneys and citizen scholars who have written extensively on the topic of “natural born Citizen” for my paper have delved into Emmerich de Vattel’s “The Law of Nations,” Article II of the U.S. Constitution, the 12th Amendment, the 14th Amendment, and U.S. Supreme Court cases. Examples can be found here:
https://www.thepostemail.com/2020/08/13/kamala-devi-harris-vs-the-12th-amendment/
https://www.thepostemail.com/2020/08/18/the-kamala-devi-harris-eligibility-question-part-1/
https://www.thepostemail.com/2020/08/19/the-kamala-devi-harris-eligibility-question-part-2/
I would much appreciate the opportunity to interview you about this very important subject in the near future if your schedule allows. As you mentioned in your August 14 video, questions arising over Barack Obama’s eligibility, heightened by the finding of a 5+-year criminal investigation that his “birth certificate” is a forgery, were largely extinguished by a media with an obvious agenda, effectively keeping most Americans in the dark. As you well know, there is mounting evidence that Obama’s cabinet members and other high-ranking officials were involved in surveilling the 2016 Trump campaign, transition team, and nascent presidency; what else might they have been capable of?
The article I wrote around your August 14 broadcast was well-read and widely circulated.
https://www.thepostemail.com/2020/08/21/tom-fitton-questions-harriss-eligibility/
The emergence of an organization demonstrating that it is unafraid to voice questions and concerns which the media has relegated to “conspiracy theories” and racism is a refreshing change. Whether or not Kamala Harris can be considered a “natural born Citizen” as envisioned by the Founders is a valid question, the answer to which the courts, Congress, and state governments appear too intimidated to explore. I sincerely hope we can discuss this subject in the near future.
To ensure this communication reaches you, I am also sending it as a hard-copy letter through the U.S. Postal Service.
On September 1, we received the following response:
Dear Sharon,
Thank you for your interest and support of Judicial Watch. Unfortunately Tom Fitton is unavailable.
Very best wishes for great success,
Jill Sutherland Farrell
Dir. Public Affairs
Judicial Watch Inc.
425 Third St SW, Suite 800
Washington, DC 20024
Desk 202-646-5188
Cell 703-405-8905
www.judicialwatch.org
@judicialwatch
Email sent to Tom Fitton/Judicial Watch and others today:
TOM,
I just talked to Ryan at Judicial Watch and he says he will pass my two messages along to you:
1. You are encouraged to be a guest on Blog Talk Radio hosted by Mike Volin at TEL 570-284-7477 for 1/2 hour to 1 hour (between 8 10 pm EST) from the comforts of your home or office. Topic would be “natural born Citizen” (nbC) the source of the symptoms JW is chasing, being, a non-eligible engrained foreign-thinking BRAIN in the highest office of the land, those of nbC-FRAUDS, Obama II and Kamala, too.
2. In JW’s suit against DC Mayor Bowser, as a civil engineer (PE), Bowser and other city leaders across America abandoned their oaths of office to allow “BLACK LIVES MATTER” pavement markings to disrupt public safety on our public ways. No private markings of any kind should be affixed to any public way in USA and I can help JW bring home that public safety message to Mayor Bowser, as a licensed Professional Engineer in MA, ME, NH and NY.
JD Mooers, PE, MBA, MADE IN USA
https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/03-07-02-0331
I tried to make contact with Tom Fitton and was rebuffed and routed to the Investigations Department where more often than not everything dead ends. They are happy to take your money (I am constantly barraged with Judicial Watch mailers) but not so interested in hearing from you personally. The JW mailers love to poll you, but often do not mention the issues that I am most concerned about.
Note: the first phone menu options deal with donations and the Judicial Watch store. Just sayin’.
Please give Tom Fitton the benefit of doubt. After all there is so much we would not know if it wasn’t for the numerous FOIA requests and investigations he did regarding obamagate. It also could be that he doesn’t want to comment now b/c someone else may be handling this matter. I have no doubt that there are people who are already aware she IS NOT eligible. It is going to be interesting to see what Nancy Pelosi’s confirmation of eligibilty will say this time. The Obama/Biden statement of nomination was fraudulent.
Since Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton has been on the scene, he has been an independent “pry bar” in attempting to extract the truth from those swamp creatures doing harm to this Constitutional Republic and We The People since President Ronald Wilson Reagan departed the White House.
I will give Tom Fitton the benefit-of-the-doubt that he still may be on the fence with the acceptance that a natural born Citizen (NBC) is a person born in the country to two (2) parents who are citizens of THAT country.
Let’s give Tom Fitton a little more time to think about and research Kamala’s Article II eligibility while he is possibly doing a Biden-style basement thought process while he works out the details of what constitutes an NBC.
I firmly believe Tom Fitton is a “white hat” and once he has accepted NBC definition as that what the Founding Fathers/Framers knew, maybe he will continue to be a regular future contributor to The Post & Email.
Well… We Do know He is Very Busy Defending Our Liberty’s. As evidenced weekly… Maybe now Mr. Fitton will see the request…
There is NO other Constitutional Crisis… as Ripe as This Flagrant disregard.
This is the reason why I will not contribute to Judicial Watch. Any group or organization the claims to be defenders of the Constitution cannot pick and choose which part of the Constitution they will defend; which they will ignore. Realizing that the “eligibility issue” is a third rail topic, I expect courage from those who will lead the charge to uphold out truths and our freedoms! Judicial Watch has the bully pulpit. Why does it cower in silence when questioned on this topic? No courage? No money!
Well he is awful busy.
So busy that he can’t be bothered to file an eligibility challenge against Harris?
“Whether or not Kamala Harris can be considered a “natural born Citizen” as envisioned by the Founders is a valid question”
Founder’s also said women had no voice in governance. But you keep talking? Maybe they weren’t perfect?
Neonzx, The incontrovertible answer to the “Valid question” is that Harris is NOT a Natural Born Citizen of the US. An NBC IS one born in the US to parents who are BOTH US Citizens themselves.
Thanks for everything Rob Laity The original meaning of natural born citizen was never difficult to understand, not as it was written and certainly not now after seeing 8 years of empirical evidence provided by the ineligible, American hating con-artist, Barack Hussein Obama. We now know what can happen if it is ignored. If America’s Republic does not survive it will be in large part because this important part of the Constitution was effectively changed by ignoring, lying and obfuscating so many Americans into believing “natural born citizen” and citizen are the same thing. What could not be done by the required Constitutional amendment was just done by lying and getting judges in place who wanted the original meaning to include people born and raised of parents who may have no allegiance to America….to satisfy their own agenda. Thanks for never giving up.