by Bonner Cohen
Heartland Institute

An obscure, Maryland-based environmental group that has pocketed tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer money over the past 14 years is at the center of a congressional investigation after posting a letter on its website urging President Barack Obama to use racketeering statutes against those questioning predictions of an imminent manmade global warming catastrophe…

David Schnare, general counsel at the Energy & Environment Legal Institute says a major problem with the RICO 20’s request is for either civil or criminal legal action to be taken under RICO, there has to be an underlying crime, and in this case there are none.

“Most RICO investigations include fraud involving the collusion of multiple parties to mislead or lie in order to make a profit,” said Schnare. “In this instance there is no predicate crime.

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