Craig Donsanto, Co-Author of Federal Prosecution of Election Offenses

Based on a tip from a reader, I contacted, Mr. Donsanto, and had an interesting conversation with him. Here is the full text:

------------
Mr. Donsanto,

A group of concerned citizens has asked that I write you a letter in an attempt to receive some clarification in regards to what your office does and does not do.

As you are likely aware, the two major-party candidates in this year's presidential election both had questions about their eligibility raised. Because of this, many Americans took it upon themselves to research this topic, and what we have found concerns us. Let me provide you with a brief three point overview of what has been discovered.

1) Nearly every Secretary of State in the country has been contacted, and the unanimous consensus voiced by those officials is that it the legal responsibility for ensuring that candidates are eligible lies with the political party.

2) Documents have been procured which show that high-ranking officials from both major political parties have signed sworn statements that their candidates for President and Vice President are eligible to serve as President and Vice President under the provisions of the United States Constitution. Please see the attached document to view these forms.

3) When approached, the party organizations have refused to release the documents that were used in making a determination of eligibility. This leaves the public with no way of confirming or denying whether or not a candidate is eligible to serve in the office for which he/she is running. Obviously, no citizen can cast an informed vote without access to information about whether or not the candidate is eligible.

My questions for you, then, are:

1) Does your agency have the ability to investigate whether or not candidates were properly placed on the ballot - specifically, to look into whether or not the candidates were eligible under the provisions of the Constitution.

2) Is there any legal way for the citizens of this country to procure the documents that the political parties used to make their determinations of eligibility?

3) If it is not within your power to investigate this matter, could you point us in the right direction as to who might be able to help us discover whether or not the candidates are/were eligible to serve as President.

Thank you very much for your time.

Sincerely,
Your Fellow Citizen,
Justin W. Riggs

------------
Q1.

No

Q2.

Answer to question is not within my area of professional competence as it does not implicate potential federal crimes within the juriscition on my office.

Q3.

Same answer as Q2.

------------
Mr. Donsanto,

Thank you very much for your prompt and courteous reply. Two more questions for you and your colleagues to make sure I understand, and then I'll move on:

1) Is it fair to say that according to the Seventh Edition of the "Federal Prosecution of Election Offenses", being an ineligible candidate and/or placing an ineligible candidate upon the ballot are not "election offenses"?

2) Are you aware of any government agency that has oversight over the political parties, to ensure that their determination of eligibility (for their presidential candidates) is valid?

Thank you again for your time. It is much appreciated.

Justin

------------
Q1. It depends.

Q2. Not personally.

------------
I'm going to need to continue this correspondence tomorrow, and figure out what the "it depends" means. I'll let you know when I do...