Sean MacBride Quotes

If the law is upheld only by government officials, then all law is at an end.

I expect VA's inspector general and the FBI to work closely together so that we can identify and eliminate the flaws that allowed this leak and prosecute any criminal acts.

A state is better governed which has few laws, and those laws strictly observed.

We have now recently launched the national integrity plan.

The state is obliged to fight corruption within the government.

Tasmania needs a watchdog, not a lap dog.

We simply cannot afford to allow our government to go unscrutinised, most of all in amid the bleak seeming imperatives of the 'war on terror'.

In a government of laws, existence of the government will be imperiled if it fails to observe the law scrupulously.

Compared to publicity…internal checks upon bureaucratic misbehavior…have but negligible value.

Regulatory enforcement mechanisms need to be sure and they need to be swift.

Counter-corruption agencies cannot make a difference unless they are independent of the government actors they are supposed to monitor, restrain, and punish.

We as IG’s [inspectors general] depend on whistle blowers.

The U. S. Government tends to be vindictive in these cases when it comes to people who have exposed their wrongdoing. U. S. political Officials who … violate the Constitution of the United States—they get promotions; the people who expose them, like Mr Snowden, get indictments.

In my administration, I'm going to enforce all laws concerning the protection of classified information. No one will be above the law.

I never will support any Government in fraudulently concealing from the King the rights of his people.

We must be intransigent when it comes to respecting our Constitution and our laws.

Although governments will also benefit from improved access to information, increased transparency will allow people at home and abroad to better observe and critique what governments do and to hold leaders accountable for their decisions. As a result, governments will find it harder to adopt strategies that require secrecy or violate international norms.

Agencies and the executive branch need to enforce the law. They don't need to fill in the spaces if Congress doesn't act.

My job is to follow the law, not to make up the law that has been promulgated by the people or the people's representatives.

In business, you learn from mistakes. In government, they never do.

The ruler who possesses methods of government does not follow the good that happens by chance but practices according to necessary principles. Law, methods, and power must be employed for government: these constitute its 'necessary principles.'

Ultimately, what we want to do is see the president follow the laws.

The president does not have the option of choosing which laws he will follow and which he will ignore.

The FBI's cover-ups and stonewalling on Wray's watch add to his credibility problems.

People are unwilling to enforce the laws on the books. Instead, they make more laws. Why can't we get this right?