Not everybody agrees on every detail of Constitutional interpretation, but James Madison and George Mason have opinions that ought to carry a little weight, since they wrote the thing. And they both thought impeachment would be applicable if a president were ever to pardon someone for a crime that he himself had something to do with.
So, along comes President Allhat Nocattle, who commutes the sentence (and will surely later pardon the crime) of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the crime of obstruction of justice. Libby was, of course, obstructing an investigation into a crime that evidence shows us involved the Vice President and the President directly. Libby was Chief of Staff to the Vice President.
This would be impeachable, were Bush not directly implicated. The drafters of the Constitution created a single executive in order to hold him accountable for the entire executive branch. When Bush promised to fire anyone in the White House who was involved in leaking the identity of undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame, he was simply doing his job. When he then refused to fire those involved, he was betraying his oath of office.
Of course, as Scott McClellan has been pointing out on television, Bush would have had to fire himself if he were firing everyone involved in the leak, since he authorized it. But we already knew this from Cheney's handwritten notes exhibited at Libby's trial.
Then there's the little matter of treason. The leaking of Plame's identity, exposing an entire network of supposedly valuable spies working to counter the proliferation of nuclear weapons is not just any random crime. It's treason. An impeachment hearing is just the beginning of what would be not only appropriate but required by the oath of office taken by every member of Congress.
Last Monday evening, Congressman Dennis Kucinich introduced the following article of impeachment along with 34 others:
Article XIV MISPRISION OF A FELONY, MISUSE AND EXPOSURE OF CLASSIFIED INFORMATION AND OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE IN THE MATTER OF VALERIE PLAME WILSON, CLANDESTINE AGENT OF THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
In his conduct while President of the United States, George W. Bush, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty under Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution "to take care that the laws be faithfully executed", has both personally and acting through his agents and subordinates, together with the Vice President,
(1) suppressed material information;
(2) selectively declassified information for the improper purposes of retaliating against a whistleblower and presenting a misleading picture of the alleged threat from Iraq;
(3) facilitated the exposure of the identity of Valerie Plame Wilson who had theretofore been employed as a covert CIA operative;
(4) failed to investigate the improper leaks of classified information from within his administration;
(5) failed to cooperate with an investigation into possible federal violations resulting from this activity; and
(6) finally, entirely undermined the prosecution by commuting the sentence of Lewis Libby citing false and insubstantial grounds, all in an effort to prevent Congress and the citizens of the United States from discovering the deceitful nature of the President's claimed justifications for the invasion of Iraq.
In facilitating this exposure of classified information and the subsequent cover-up, in all of these actions and decisions, President George W. Bush has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as President, and subversive of constitutional government, to the prejudice of the cause of law and justice and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States. Wherefore, President George W. Bush, by such conduct, is guilty of an impeachable offense warranting removal from office.
David Swanson is the author of the upcoming book "Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union" by Seven Stories Press and of the introduction to "The 35 Articles of Impeachment and the Case for Prosecuting George W. (more...)
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Of all the crimes committed by this gang of cretins calling themselves the bush administration I have always thought that this was one of the most reprehensible, blatant, arrogant, examples of hubris of all.
What I wouldn't give to see them all brought down on conviction of treason for this offence.
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Mr M (8 articles, 0 quicklinks, 66 diaries, 2845 comments [654 recommended, 27 rejected]) on Sunday, Jun 15, 2008 at 10:15:23 AM
Nancy Pelosi was not involved in Plamegate, was she?
Nancy Pelosi may be trying to save herself and her cohorts from being implicated in crimes that she allowed to happen. The beauty of the Plame case is that I don't think Nancy Pelosi was in the know on this one. If she was, please correct me if I am wrong. Some of the other 35 and counting impeachable offenses were done in clear view of Pelosi, who doesn't want to get impeached herself.
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Mary Jacobs (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments) on Sunday, Jun 15, 2008 at 1:01:19 PM
What are the specific crimes that Nancy and other Dem's are afraid will be brought to light if Impeachment were to continue? Is there an succinct article that I can read and begin to circulate around?
And who else do we have to clean house with?
Maybe it's time we start asking them all to step down or spread the net of Impeachment wider. We could use some fresh faces in Washington.
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August Adams (11 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 585 comments [12 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Sunday, Jun 15, 2008 at 7:15:04 PM
"The Most Insidious of Traitors" said George H. W. Bush
Disclosing a CIA agent's identity, or directing others to do so, remains a crime of high treason against our nation-"the most insidious of traitors" stated former President George H. W. Bush in describing such persons who betray the identity of our covert CIA agents-something Richard B. Cheney and George W. Bush are charged with in Article XIV.
In the Constitutional Convention George Mason argued that the president might use his pardon power to "pardon crimes which were advised by himself", or "before indictment or conviction, to stop inquiry and prevent detection".
James Madison replied, "if the President be connected in any suspicious manner with any person, and there be grounds to believe he will shelter him, the House of Representatives can impeach him; they can remove him if found guilty".
James Madison went on to say that "the President could be suspended when suspected, and his powers would devalue on the Vice President, who could himself be suspended until impeached and convicted, if he were also suspected".
Excerpts of George Mason and James Madison taken from a Report within and released by the House Judiciary Committee in 1974 in the aftermath of the Watergate crisis.
Calling John Conyers.
John Conyers are you there? You have the power. Let's have some impeachment hearings. This is your time to act. The American people are depending on you to lead on this.
John Conyers. Where are you?
Calling John Conyers.
Please answer up!
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Gene Cappa (43 articles, 28 quicklinks, 113 diaries, 348 comments [33 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Sunday, Jun 15, 2008 at 6:25:23 PM
John Conyers and Nancy Pelosi are WORSE then Bush and the domestic axis of evil. They're worse because they hold offices that are constitutionally mandated to provide a check on abuse of power by the executive. There was an overwhelming mandate in November 2006, and they simply ignored the people.
We, the People, have no representatives in Washington, we vote, then we get a ride for 4 years. We need to start making visible noise from coast to coast - noise that cannot be ignored.
Impeachment signs - in front lawns. Impeachment signs on overpasses. Impeachment signs in car windows. Impeachment resolutions passed at local town hall meetings. Criminal charges filed in towns from coast to coast.
But alas, nothing. We're all waiting for change in November. lol
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August Adams (11 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 585 comments [12 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Sunday, Jun 15, 2008 at 7:20:41 PM
I hadn't laughed all day but "President Allhat Nocattle" busted me up! SO true and so funny.
Yes, impeachment needs to occur. I am hoping Plame's civil suit may bring more info to light regarding Cheney, Bush, and Rove and all the other criminals in this administration. However, that may be too late. Although, it is never too late for a war crimes charge on Bush.
I agree with the Pelosi situation. She has to be enmeshed to some degree with the Bush criminal group. She needs to be voted out if anything. However, Shirley Gulob lost to her in the Primary. Sheehan has a chance but you can bet Nancy's funding will overwhelm Cindy's so TV will hurt Cindy Sheehan. Too many ppl are unaware of how corrupt the DLC is and that's why Pelosi and other incumbants get re-elected so often.
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shirley reese (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 592 comments [98 recommended, 1 rejected]) on Sunday, Jun 15, 2008 at 10:18:33 PM
Didn't Special Prosecutor Fitzgerald (and the idiots in congress) spend a million or two and tons of time investigating the so-called Plame outing and came up with the same conclusion most sensible Americans came up with a long, long, long time ago: Plame was not a covert agent and therefore no crime was committed? Armitage, who was not part of the White House staff, is the one who gave her name to Novak. Novak and Armitage both said that. If you actually read the Novak article the mention of Plame is in about paragraph 3000 and it took a week or two before anyone actually noticed it because it was totally insignificant and most Beltway people knew who Plame was and where she worked anyway. If it was a big deal and someone was trying to mess with Plame's and her worthless husband's reputation it would have been page one news. There was no coverup, Armitage just took a while, for obvious reasons, to own up to it and Novak did what most honest reporters do - protect his source. Plame and her husband are a pair of clowns as are the people who keep this silly thing alive.
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Mad Jayhawk (3 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 652 comments [56 recommended, 3 rejected]) on Sunday, Jun 15, 2008 at 11:59:09 PM
"Off The Table" stands while 35 counts to impeach Bush were recently read into the Congressional Record. ( click here )
I don't think the Constitution meant proceed with impeachment if it's convenient, or if it's politically wise, or if there are no other important items on the 'to do' list... it seemed clear that if there was reasonable just cause, impeachment shall be pursued. If this is true, isn't Pelosi in violation herself? Though I am a strong Obama supporter, it seems like everyone in Congress swore to protect and defend the Constitution. How can "Off The Table" be used to block action which is backed up with a mountain of evidence? --especially since in doing so, that very act, may in and of itself, be an impeachable offense!
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Cliff (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 6 comments) on Monday, Jun 16, 2008 at 3:23:41 AM
With this administration there is no shortage of impeachable offenses, this article simply add another.
With this congress, however, there seems to be a shortage of progressive members willing to take on the constitutional responsibility of impeachment. Next time, lets make sure that progressives are in the majority, keeping in mind that, although most progressives are Democrats, not all Democrats are progressive.
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PrMaine (13 articles, 13 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 510 comments [22 recommended, 1 rejected]) on Monday, Jun 16, 2008 at 6:18:30 AM
Simple answer: Armitage didn't commit a crime. He openly said that he is the one that he was the one who gave Plame's name to Novak. Novak confirmed it. For Armitage to have committed a crime Plame would have had to be a covert CIA agent as defined by the law. She wasn't.
It is not a crime to identify a CIA employee not currently involved in covert assignments. Plame was working in a non-classified position at a CIA and living an open above-board life with her husband and kids in the suburbs. Her political, spot-light seeking scumbag husband used her, repeatedly lied about the situation, and now is thoroughly discredited in most intelligent people's eyes.
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Mad Jayhawk (3 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 652 comments [56 recommended, 3 rejected]) on Monday, Jun 16, 2008 at 12:56:16 PM
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