The Daily Beast reports:
Dennis Rodman was already having a rotten month, between the trip to rehab and the global condemnation for cozying up to a dictator. Now things may be about to get much worse. The U.S. Treasury Department is investigating whether he violated the law that prohibits the importing of luxury goods into North Korea.
On his third and most recent trip to Pyongyang this month, Rodman reportedly brought several gifts for the young Kim’s 31st birthday. They allegedly included hundreds of dollars’ worth of Irish Jameson whiskey, European crystal, an Italian suit, a fur coat, and an English Mulberry handbag for Kim’s wife, Ri Sol-ju.
But these gifts, reportedly worth more than $10,000, may not have been all. Michael Spavor, a Beijing-based consultant who facilitated and joined Rodman’s trip, tweeted a photo of Rodman apparently displaying several bottles of his own brand “Bad Ass Vodka” for Kim Jong Un and his wife.
These gifts could be more than tasteless. They could also put Rodman in legal jeopardy. They appear to be violations of United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1718, adopted in 2006, and UNSCR 2094, adopted in 2013.
Perhaps more importantly, Rodman may have violated an American law called the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), as implemented by Executive Order 13551, which President Obama signed in 2010, which makes it a violation of U.S. law for any person determined by the Treasury and State Departments “to have, directly or indirectly, imported, exported, or reexported luxury goods to or into North Korea.”
The Treasury Department, in consultation with the State Department, is currently looking into the allegations that Rodman violated that law, one U.S. official told The Daily Beast.[...]The regulations state that the civil penalties for such a violation could be up to $250,000 or twice the value of the illicit transaction. The maximum criminal penalty Rodman could face, if prosecuted and convicted, is a $1 million fine and up to 20 years in prison. Rodman could also be placed on a list of Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs), who can have their property and assets in the United States frozen by the government, although that measure is typically reserved for foreign entities, not American citizens.
As I noted in my initial Rodman commentary, free trade is a peacemaker. It's clear that Rodman, in his very small way, has done more for peace than any operatives of the empire and they just hate that.
"your honor, Nothing my client gave as gifts is luxurious, upscale, maybe even ostentatious but not luxurious"
ReplyDeleteI think Rosanne when she sung the national anthem at the World Series got it just right, especially, when she got that last part.
ReplyDeleteYou are giving a false dichotomy here - Rodman or our holy politicians. Neither are right in doing what they are doing - American politicians for the obvious reasons and Rodman for rubbing elbows with a known mass murderer and tyrant. If some celebrity from New Zealand came over and hung out in the White House and was entertained at the taxpayer's expense by Obama, you would be annoyed. That, not even considering the fact that the DPRK government is much more exploitative of its people and Rodman is a beneficiary of that. Why the double standard?
ReplyDeleteMost US presidents are mass murderers.
DeleteIt's ok. Obama and Eric Holder will never prosecute a black, unless that black guy is a republican.
ReplyDeleteThe USG MSM bootlicker MSM of course won't give Rodman an ounce of credit for it, but the North Koreans of late are striking a much more moderate tone, and suggesting renewed negotiations on their nuclear program and reunification talks with South Korea.
ReplyDelete