"From Checks and Balances to Executive Despotism" by Bruce Fein

On June 8, 2008, Bruce Fein delivered the following speech, "From Checks and Balances to Executive Despotism," to the second Future of Freedom Foundation conference, "Restoring the Republic," held in Reston, Virginia.

Bruce Fein commands impressive experience and influence in the corridors of both national and international power. He graduated from Harvard Law School with honors in 1972. After a coveted federal judicial clerkship, he joined the U.S. Department of Justice where he served as assistant director of the Office of Legal Policy, legal adviser to the assistant attorney general for antitrust, and the associate deputy attorney general. Mr. Fein then was appointed general counsel of the Federal Communications Commission, followed by an appointment as research director for the Joint Congressional Committee on Covert Arms Sales to Iran. He recently served on the American Bar Association's Task Force on Presidential signing statements. He is a columnist for the Washington Times.