To take a yacht or not? Why it may not be legal to seize Russian oligarchs’ property.

One of the most celebrated moments of President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address came when he spoke directly to Russian oligarchs: We are joining with our European allies to find and seize your yachts, your luxury apartments, your private jets. We are coming for your ill-begotten gains.

The Russian oligarch has become a universally despised embodiment of the Putin regime after the Ukrainian invasion. Not surprisingly, the seizure of obscenely opulent yachts like the 213-foot yacht owned by Alexei Mordashov in Italy and Igor Sechin s 280-foot yacht in France has been praised as a victory in defense of democracy. Resorts, planes and other property also have been seized. (Putin moved his yacht, Graceful, out to sea before the invasion, according to Insider)

Seizing property owned by the super wealthy is always good politics. Biden’s line was strikingly similar to the warning of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., to wealthy Americans in the 2020 presidential campaign that she was coming after “your Rembrandts, your stock portfolio, your diamonds and your yachts. Warren’s pledge rested on highly dubious constitutional assumptions but was repeated by other Democratic candidates.

via news.yahoo.com

Jonathan Turley.