Mike Lee Profile picture
Jan 27 • 11 tweets • 6 min read • Read on X
🧵 1/ What Are Letters Of Marque And Reprisal And How Could They Be Used To Weaken Drug Cartels? 🚨 Image
2/ Letters of marque and reprisal are government-issued commissions that authorize private citizens (privateers) to perform acts that would otherwise be considered piracy, like attacking enemy ships during wartime

Privateers are rewarded with a cut of the loot they “bring home” Image
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3/ Legal Basis in the U.S.

The U.S. Constitution authorizes these commissions in Article I, Section 8, giving Congress the power to “grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal”

While Congress hasn’t issued one in over a century, the authority to do so still exists Image
4/ Modern Context: Mexican Drug Cartels

Using letters of marque could be a novel, but effective response to unique threats posed by drug cartels—especially in response to threats by the cartels to target U.S. planes returning illegal immigrants to their countries of origin Image
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5/ How Could They Be Applied?

- Authorization: Congress could issue letters of marque and reprisal authorizing private security firms or specially trained civilians to intercept cartel operations, particularly those involving drug shipments or human trafficking across borders

- Targets: Focus on disrupting supply lines, capturing high-value targets, or seizing assets like boats, vehicles, cash, gold, or equipment used in criminal activitiesImage
6/ Advantages

- Flexibility: Private entities operate with more agility than the government, adapting quickly with the tactics of cartels

- Cost: Would reduce the financial burden on taxpayers, as privateers receive only a cut of what they recover & return to the U.S. Image
7/ Criticism

The use of letters of marque and reprisal would undoubtedly draw criticism, especially from those inclined to elevate abstract, often-inchoate principles of what they deem “international law” above the sovereign interests of the United States Image
8/ Dismissing the possible use of letters of marque to combat Mexican drug cartels—either on the basis of “international law” or otherwise—overlooks the clear and present threat posed by those cartels to the U.S.

This could prove to be an effective alternative to war Image
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9/ We have no desire to go to war with our southern neighbor

But we also can’t ignore the fact that drug cartels are now threatening to target U.S. planes deporting illegal aliens

That sounds like a great reason to consider issuing letters of marque and reprisal Image
10/ Letters of marque and reprisal have worked well for the U.S.—and countless other countries—in the past

We’d be wrong not to consider using them against the cartels Image
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11/ Please share if you like this idea—and follow if you’d like to see more posts about letters of marque and reprisal & other amazing, little-known features of the U.S. Constitution Image

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More from @BasedMikeLee

Sep 9
🧵 1/ No other success a country enjoys—economically, intellectually, technologically, or otherwise—can compensate for a collapse in that country’s birth rate, which culminates in unmitigated societal demise
2/ Low birth rate and population collapse leads to extinction
3/ Human extinction cancels all other human advances—in knowledge, wealth, prosperity, and every other achievement
Read 8 tweets
Sep 8
🚨🧵 1/Repost if you think this is yet another good reason to end universal mail-in voting Image
2/ USPS unions like the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) & American Postal Workers Union (APWU) routinely endorse presidential candidates

Both NALC and APWU endorsed Kamala Harris in 2024 & all postal-worker unions overwhelmingly favor Democrats when they endorse Image
3/ This creates at least a potential conflict of interest, given that USPS handles tens of millions of mail-in ballots with each election—99.22 million in 2024 alone

If a union backs one candidate, could that influence ballot handling? Image
Read 10 tweets
Aug 26
🚨‼️🚨 Read this thread to find out why Democrats are celebrating all over Utah tonight:

🧵 1/ Utah’s electoral system is under attack by Democrats and their leftist allies in the Utah courts
2/ Seven years ago, Utah voters passed a law (through a ballot initiative) creating a legislative redistricting commission
3/ The Utah legislature later amended that law, which it has the power to do under the Utah Constitution
Read 11 tweets
Aug 24
1/ Utah is a Republican state—one that has been served by exclusively Republican governors for decades. And we’ve had decades of Republican majorities in both chambers of the legislature. Why, then, does Utah have a number of avowed leftists serving in its judicial system?
2/ Utah’s judicial nomination system is broken. Republican governors often end up naming left-wing judicial nominees who don’t share their views on the proper role of the courts—including basic concepts like textualism, originalism, and judicial modesty. It’s time for reform—to empower the governor to pick judges who align with the governor’s vision.
#UtahJudicialReform
3/ Here’s how it works today: For each judicial vacancy, a nominating commission (one per judicial district, plus an appellate commission for both the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals) solicits and reviews applications each time a judicial vacancy arises. Each commission consists of seven members appointed by the governor. Members of each commission must be U.S. citizens and Utah residents, and may not be legislators.
Read 7 tweets
Aug 19
🧵 1. As President Trump has made clear, it’s time to end mail-in voting

Utah should lead the way on this

Other states will follow
#ElectionIntegrity
#UtahFirst
2. Mail-in voting opens the door to fraud & undermines trust in our elections

By contrast, in-person voting with ID ensures security & transparency Image
Image
3. States like Texas & Florida are already tightening voting laws

Utah has the chance to be a model for the nation by prioritizing election integrity Image
Read 7 tweets
Aug 15
🧵 1/ The Left’s latest push to “save democracy” is just a rebrand of their war on the Constitution. This @nytimes piece calls for abolishing the Senate, ending the Electoral College, and packing the Supreme Court. Let’s break this down. Image
2/ The Constitution gives each state equal representation in the Senate, balancing raw majority rule. The Electoral College ensures smaller states aren’t drowned out by big states. These are just two of the many deliberate, counter-majoritarian design features in our Constitution. The Left calls them “undemocratic.” In a sense, they’re right, but that’s the whole point of the Constitution—to restrain government, even (especially) when the majority doesn’t want the government to be restrained. nytimes.com/2025/08/14/opi…
3/ Why? Because these constitutional protections sometimes undermine their agenda. The Constitution isn’t a tool for unchecked majority rule—it’s a shield against it. That’s why I wrote Saving Nine—to show how our Constitution and independent judiciary protect us from mob rule. Image
Read 7 tweets

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