As a former chair of a Government Oversight congressional investigative subcommittee, I am calling on Congress to investigate whether or not the Biden Administration initiated the destruction of the Nord Stream pipeline, near Denmark’s Bornholm Island, on September 26, 2022.

Veteran investigative journalist Seymour Hersh’s comprehensive account of the Biden Administration’s role in the bombing of Nord Stream has provided a road map for a series of congressional inquiries necessary to confirm or disconfirm Administration culpability. 

President Biden’s own statements predicting the end of Nord Stream , preliminary to  the devastating attack on its infrastructure, point to the necessity of determining whether or not the president was speaking from his singularly informed position of the Chief Executive, as Hersh indicated.

A deconstruction of Hersh’s detailed narrative, (published two months ago on Substack), makes possible the development of a stream of subpoenas to determine the details of the planning and execution of the dismantling of Nord Stream by explosives.

This is a proper subject for a investigation, under Congress’ Article One, Section 8, Clause 18, constitutional powers to gather information, including to inquire on the administrative conduct of office.

The bombing of Nord Stream was an unconstitutional Act of War, involving the destruction of billions of dollars of energy infrastructure and wreaking havoc on the energy markets of Europe. The destruction of this major energy pipeline has affected over 80 million people, threatened the viability of continent’s manufacturing base and its overall economic stability.

The Administration did not have congressional approval, required under Article I, Section 8; nor did they consult with congressional leaders regarding the use of military assets for an attack on Nord Stream.

The President cannot cling to “Executive Privilege.”   The President takes an oath to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution (Article II, Section 1, U.S. Constitution)…and to “take care the laws be faithfully executed.” (Article 2, Section 3, U.S. Constitution.) Executive privilege cannot be invoked to cover up violations of domestic or international law.  Production of presidential records relating to Nord Stream can be compelled.

Several foreign governments have investigated the undersea demolition. They have, however,  withheld information from not only their constituents, but also from members of their parliaments, further necessitating the exercise of United States’ congressional authority.  Last week, the U.N. Security Council turned down a Russian request for an investigation of the Nord Stream bombing. 

The American people have a right to know if their government, as has been reported, was involved in secretly perpetrating an Act of War, using US military personnel and the expenditure of US tax dollars, without the people’s knowledge and without the assent of their elected representatives. 

In order to be of assistance to my former colleagues, based on my experience in guiding subcommittee investigations (with the assistance of congressional staff), and with express appreciation for Seymour Hersh’s diligent investigation, I offer an example of (but by no means all-inclusive)  congressional subpoena:

                                                             Subpoena

                             By Authority of the House of Representatives

                             of the Congress of the United States of America

To the Secretary of the Navy:  You are hereby commanded to be and appear before (name of committee) at the time and the date (specified below) to produce the things identified in the attached schedule, touching matters of inquiry committed to said committee….

                                                             Schedule A

You, the Secretary of the Navy, in accordance with the attached schedule instructions, are required to produce in unredacted form all records described below:

1.     All records in the possession, custody, or control of the United States Department of the Navy or the Office of General Counsel of the Department of the Navy, with the terms “Nord Stream 1,” “Nord Stream 2,” “Baltic Sea,”  “Norway,” “Bornholm Island, Denmark,” “Navy Divers,” “Diving and Salvage Center,” “C-4 explosives,” “timing device,“ “sonar buoy,” “NATO,” BALTOPS 22,” “Congress,” and “Congressional Investigation,” that were generated between January 20, 2021 to the present date.

2.     All records indicating the listing of employees operating out of the Diving and Salvage Center in Panama City, Florida.

3.     All records indicating the training, tasks and missions of the members of the U.S. Navy Diving Team.

4.     All records indicating contracts let by the Diving and Salvage Center.

5.     All records indicating C-4 explosives, the chain of custody, the manner in which the explosives are secured, stored, inventoried, requisitioned, transported and used.

6.     All records indicating timing devices for purposes of detonating C-4 explosives; the storage, inventory, requisition, transportation and use of same.

7.     All records indicating the planning, practice for, the initiation of, or the coordination with, other agencies to advise, conduct, execute or otherwise inform the preparation for and the placement of C-4 explosive devices upon the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines in the Baltic Sea.

8.     All records indicating the planning of and the coordination with the NATO operation known as Operation BALTOPS 22.

9.     All records indicating meteorological assessments for use in planning actions in the Baltic Sea.

10. All records indicating oceanographic mapping, wave studies, visual and sonar studies of the movement and timing of maritime traffic and the transit of marine mammals in the Baltic Sea.

11. All records indicating US submarine monitoring of the Nord Stream pipelines off Bornholm Island, Denmark.

12. All records indicating meetings, communications, planning sessions, and coordination with, any division or asset of the Department of the Navy, with the Norwegian Navy.  

13. All records indicating forecasts of, or assessment of, post-attack damages to the Nord Stream pipelines.

Definitions:

The following definitions apply both to terms within the Subpoena, Schedule A, these instructions and these definitions:

1.     The term “record” means any written, recorded, or graphic matter of any nature whatsoever, regardless of how recorded, and whether original or copy,  but not limited to, the following: memoranda, reports, expense reports, books, manuals, instructions, financial reports, working papers, records, notes, letters, notices, confirmations, receipts, appraisals, pamphlets, magazines, newspapers, prospectuses, intra-office and inter-office communications, electronic mail (emails) text messages, instant messages, contracts, cables, notations of any type of conversation, telephone calls, call logs, voicemail, meeting or other communication,  bulletins, printed matter, computer printouts, invoices, transcripts, diaries, analyses, returns, summaries, minutes, bills, accounts, estimates, projections, comparisons, messages, correspondence, press releases, circulars, financial statements, reviews, opinions, offers, studies and investigations, questionnaires and surveys, and work sheets and all drafts, and amendments of any of the foregoing, as well as any attachments or appendices thereto, and graphic or oral records or representations of any kind in the possession of your department.

Similar congressional subpoenas can be sent to the White House, the National Security Agency, the State Department, the Energy Department, the Treasury Department, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency.

Congress must investigate the bombing of the Nord Stream pipelines.  Listed above are some of the documents that must be obtained, and the list is by no means exclusive. 

If the Administration, as has been charged by a veteran investigative journalist, did indeed conspire to blow up the Nord Stream pipelines, it marks a radical shift in the use of the presidential war power, a usurpation of the role of Congress and, unless checked, could lead to further reckless decisions that put us on an irrevocable path toward World War III.