Cliff LyonArticles of Impeachment - Bush Cheney
Follows is a preliminary review of 14 possible articles of impeachment under which Bush and Cheney could be removed from office. This is in no way a recommendation of impeachment, but is rather a reference designed to undergird a discussion about impeachment and its purpose and appropriateness in the next congress.
I have invited Professor Firmage to address this issue and hope he will post his thoughts in the coming days.
1. Leaking classified information by disclosing the identity of Valerie Plame to reporters.
The President and Vice President unlawfully leaked classified information, the identity of a Non-official Cover, Valerie (Wilson) Plame, to a person or persons not authorized to receive such information, namely, Robert Novak, a reporter for the Chicago Tribune, and Matt Cooper, a reporter for Time Magazine.
Law violated:
National Security Act of 1947.
Whoever, having or having had authorized access to classified information that identifies a covert agent, intentionally discloses any information identifying such covert agent to any individual not authorized to receive classified information, knowing that the information disclosed so identifies such covert agent and that the United States is taking affirmative measures to conceal such covert agent’s intelligence relationship to the United States, shall be fined under title 18, United States Code, or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.
(b) Whoever, as a result of having authorized access to classified information, learns the identity of a covert agent and intentionally discloses any information identifying such covert agent to any individual not authorized to receive classified information, knowing that the information disclosed so identifies such covert agent and that the United States is taking affirmative measures to conceal such covert agent’s intelligence relationship to the United States, shall be fined under title 18, United States Code, or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.Whoever, in the course of a pattern of activities intended to identify and expose covert agents and with reason to believe that such activities would impair or impede the foreign intelligence activities of the United States, discloses any information that identifies an individual as a covert agent to any individual not authorized to receive classified information, knowing that the information disclosed so identifies such individual and that the United States is taking affirmative measures to conceal such individual’s classified intelligence relationship to the United States, shall be fined under title 18, United States Code, or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.
(d) A term of imprisonment imposed under this section shall be consecutive to any other sentence of imprisonment.
2. Lying to congress — passing false information about Iraq’s WMD capacities.
George Bush and Dick Cheney passed false information to Congress about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction capabilities, to wit, their possession of chemical weapons, biological weapons, and delivery systems. Furthermore, George Bush and Dick Cheney passed false information to Congress by falsely stating that Iraq was an imminent threat to the United States and that military action was therefore necessary.
Law violated:
Whoever, in any matter within the jurisdiction of any department or agency of the United States knowingly and willfully falsifies, conceals or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact, or makes any false, fictitious or fraudulent statements or representations, or makes or uses any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any false, fictitious or fraudulent statement or entry, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.
3. Extraordinary Renditions.
George Bush and Dick Cheney authorized the arrest and transporting of prisoners to secret jails in Morocco, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, and Eastern Europe for detention and torture without trial.
Law violated:
6th Amendment of the Constitution.
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.
4. Detentions without Trial.
George Bush and Dick Cheney detained thousands of people at Guantanamo Bay without the possibility of trial and without access to effective counsel.
Law violated:
6th Amendment (see above).
5. Torture.
George Bush and Dick Cheney either ordered or caused other foreign countries to perform torture on suspects illegally detained under sections 3 and 4 of these articles.
Law violated:
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
6. Misappropriation of Funds.
George Bush and Dick Cheney diverted funds from Afghanistan to Iraq as documented in Bob Woodward’s “Plan of attack” and failed to notify Congress of such appropriations.
Law violated:
The President shall notify the congressional committees specified in section 634A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 at least 15 days in advance of each obligation of assistance under this section in accordance with the procedures applicable to reprogramming notifications under section 634A.
7. Bombing Iraq without Congressional Approval.
George Bush and Dick Cheney authorized over 21,000 bombing missions on Iraq without Congressional approval before passage of the Iraq War Resolution in October 11th, 2002.
Law violated:
To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;
8. Conspiracy to pass false information.
George Bush and Dick Cheney conspired to pass false information about the nature of the intelligence on Iraq to the US Congress in conjunction with British Prime Minister Tony Blair for the purposes of triggering a war with Iraq as documented in the Downing Street Minutes.
Law violated:
18 USC 1001 (see above).
9. Lying about Niger connection.
George Bush and Dick Cheney lied to Congress at the State of the Union and elsewhere by falsely stating that Iraq had procured Uranium from Niger.
Law violated:
18 USC 1001 (see above).
10. Contempt of Congress.
George Bush and Dick Cheney showed a contempt of Congress by stating their intentions to violate laws passed by Congress or cause others to do so over 750 times.
11. Illegal wiretaps.
George Bush and Dick Cheney repeatedly bypassed the court system by ordering wiretaps without authorization from judges and without obtaining a warrant.
Law violated:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
12. Concealment of the existance or nature of Domestic Intelligence Programs.
George Bush and Dick Cheney concealed the nature and extent of the JPEN program, used for the purpose of domestic intelligence.
Law violated:
Whoever, with intent to avoid, evade, prevent, or obstruct compliance, in whole or in part, with any civil investigative demand duly and properly made under the Antitrust Civil Process Act, willfully withholds, misrepresents, removes from any place, conceals, covers up, destroys, mutilates, alters, or by other means falsifies any documentary material, answers to written interrogatories, or oral testimony, which is the subject of such demand; or attempts to do so or solicits another to do so; or
Whoever corruptly, or by threats or force, or by any threatening letter or communication influences, obstructs, or impedes or endeavors to influence, obstruct, or impede the due and proper administration of the law under which any pending proceeding is being had before any department or agency of the United States, or the due and proper exercise of the power of inquiry under which any inquiry or investigation is being had by either House, or any committee of either House or any joint committee of the Congress—
Shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years or, if the offense involves international or domestic terrorism (as defined in section 2331), imprisoned not more than 8 years, or both.
13. Destruction of Evidence.
George Bush and Dick Cheney destroyed evidence in conjunction with Plamegate.
Law violated:
18 USC 1505 (see above).
14. The use of White Phosphorus in Iraq.
George Bush and Dick Cheney authorized the use of White Phosphorus in Iraq in November 2004 during the Fallujah offensive.
Law violated:
US Army Field Manual, Chapter 5, section 3.
(4) Burster Type White phosphorus (WP M110A2) rounds burn with intense heat and emit dense white smoke. They may be used as the initial rounds in the smokescreen to rapidly create smoke or against material targets, such as Class V sites or logistic sites. It is against the law of land warfare to employ WP against personnel targets.
November 25th, 2006 at 11:04 am
I wouldn’t dream of defending Bush and Cheney, but in the interest of accuracy I’d like to point out that the “law of land warfare” is not a law in the strict sense. It’s a compendium of treaty provisions and customary rules that are supposed to be followed by the US Army and Marines.
While it is clear that WP was deliberately used against entrenched insurgents during the second assault on Fallujah, I have not seen evidence that this tactic was authorized at the highest levels of government.
November 25th, 2006 at 12:36 pm
(Rumsfeld is out of office but…) If we used the Constitution to impeach Bush & Cheney (and even charged them in some way) I think yes that would improve our standing in the “global community”. If we used any other means, then no, I think it would signal to the country and the world that our government and Constitution were no longer as stable as they have been for a long time. It would indicate that we have lost respect for our system of government and that it no longer worked as the institution that binds and governs us. It would be an indication to all citizens that they are no longer constrained by the constitution and that power in this country can be seized by a means other than election. In fact if someone were to try to carry the notion to the level of “organization” for such a purpose it would probably at some point be the equivalent of treason.
In actuality I think all it would take for the 2008 election to bring us back to complete Republican control of all three branches is for something to cause the moderates and conservatives to feel threatened even more than they do now. At the moment (in my opinion) the war and heavy handed treatment of the liberties that we expect our public officials to preserve is what has caused the shift in power that has occurred. If we want things to continue to improve I think the best course is to continue to illustrate to voters that Republicans are leading in a dangerous direction and that progressives within the Democratic party offer the best choice. I say progressive Democrats not because I disagree with all other progressives or wish to exclude them, but because the Democratic Party is the entity that has the strength to oust conservative politicians and change the direction of the country.
November 25th, 2006 at 1:44 pm
and so they are waiting for what? Their Duty to bite them in the arse? Re-establishement of our civil liberties weakened in the past 6 years would be a start. Impeachment is mandatory so as to halt the bush careening wreck from taking any more crazy twists at the wheel. Hurry up for Gods sake! Are democrats afraid of what they may lose, how much furthur do they want to rule a country down that for all intents and purposes has ceased to exist as it was created?
November 26th, 2006 at 10:56 am
This from a contributing editor of the National Review(very conservative). If the process is not undertaken, then the dems will have lost the chance to rule. Without impeachment the party loses everything.
Defeating The Bill Of Rights
Bush’s Lone Victory
By Paul Craig Roberts
11-25-6
George Orwell warned us, but what American would have expected that in the opening years of the 21st century the United States would become a country in which lies and deception by the President and Vice President were the basis for a foreign policy of war and aggression, and in which indefinite detention without charges, torture, and spying on citizens without warrants have displaced the Bill of Rights and the US Constitution?
If anyone had predicted that the election of George W. Bush to the presidency would result in an American police state and illegal wars of aggression, he would have been dismissed as a lunatic.
What American ever would have thought that any US president and attorney general would defend torture or that a Republican Congress would pass a bill legalizing torture by the executive branch and exempting the executive branch from the Geneva Conventions?
What American ever would have expected the US Congress to accept the president’s claim that he is above the law?
What American could have imagined that if such crimes and travesties occurred, nothing would be done about them and that the media and opposition party would be largely silent?
Except for a few columnists, who are denounced by “conservatives” as traitors for defending the Bill of Rights, the defense of US civil liberty has been limited to the American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch. The few federal judges who have refused to genuflect before the Bush police state are denounced by attorney general Alberto Gonzales as a “grave threat” to US security. Vice president Richard Cheney called a federal judge’s ruling against the Bush regime’s illegal and unconstitutional warrantless surveillance program “an indefensible act of judicial overreaching.”
Brainwashed “conservatives” are so accustomed to denouncing federal judges for “judicial activism” that Cheney’s charge of overreach goes down smoothly. Vast percentages of the American public are simply unconcerned that their liberty can be revoked at the discretion of a police or military officer and that they can be held without evidence, trial or access to attorney and tortured until they confess to whatever charge their torturers wish to impose.
Americans believe that such things can only happen to “real terrorists,” despite the overwhelming evidence that most of the Bush regime’s detainees have no connections to terrorism.
When these points are made to fellow citizens, the reply is usually that “I’m doing nothing wrong. I have nothing to fear.”
Why, then, did the Founding Fathers write the Constitution and the Bill of Rights?
American liberties are the result of an 800 year struggle by the English people to make law a shield of the people instead of a weapon in the hands of government. For centuries English speaking peoples have understood that governments cannot be trusted with unaccountable power. If the Founding Fathers believed it was necessary to tie down a very weak and limited central government with the Constitution and Bill of Rights, these protections are certainly more necessary now that our government has grown in size, scope and power beyond the imagination of the Founding Fathers.
But, alas, “law and order conservatives” have been brainwashed for decades that civil liberties are unnecessary interferences with the ability of police to protect us from criminals. Americans have forgot that we need protection from government more than we need protection from criminals. Once we cut down civil liberty so that police may better pursue criminals and terrorists, where do we stand when government turns on us?
This is the famous question asked by Sir Thomas More in the play, A Man for All Seasons. The answer is that we stand naked, unprotected by law. It is an act of the utmost ignorance and stupidity to assume that only criminals and terrorists will stand unprotected.
Americans should be roused to fury that attorney general Alberto Gonzales and vice president Cheney have condemned the defense of American civil liberty as “a grave threat to US security.” This blatant use of an orchestrated and propagandistic fear to create a “national security” wedge against the Bill of Rights is an impeachable offense.
Mark my words, the future of civil liberty in the US depends on the impeachment and conviction of Bush, Cheney, and Gonzales.
Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration. He was Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal editorial page and Contributing Editor of National Review. He is coauthor of The Tyranny of Good Intentions.
He can be reached at: paulcraigroberts@yahoo.com
November 27th, 2006 at 9:27 pm
Richard et al.
Here is some journalistic and eye witness/documentary evidence of the massacre in Fallujah and the violation of the laws of land warfare authorized at least by top Pentagon officials. Was Rumsfelds resignation a cover for these grave violations of the Chemical Weapons Treaties and US Law?
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/11/17/1515223&mode=thread&tid=25
The U.S. government has now admitted its troops used white phosphorus as an incendiary weapon against Iraqis during the assault on Fallujah a year ago. Chemical weapons experts say such attacks are in violation of international law banning the use of chemical weapons. We speak with columnist George Monbiot and the news director of RAI TV, the Italian TV network that produced the film “Fallujah: The Hidden Massacre.”
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/11/08/1516232&mode=thread&tid=25
We have just aired the North American exclusive broadcast of the Italian state broadcaster RAI that today on this first anniversary of the siege of Fallujah broadcasts this documentary. It is called Fallujah: The Hidden Massacre. Here to discuss chemical weapons allegations, we’re joined on the telephone by Maurizio Torrealta. He is news editor for the Italian state broadcaster RAI, co-producer of this documentary. He joins us from Italy. Jeff Englehart is with us. He served as an army specialist in Iraq in Fallujah, interviewed in the film. He is joining us from Colorado, maintains the weblog, “Fight to Survive.” You can find it at http://www.FTSSoldier.blogspot.com, on the line with us from Colorado Springs. And on the phone from Baghdad is Lieutenant Colonel Steve Boylan, spokesperson for the U.S. military in Iraq. We welcome you all to Democracy Now! Let us begin with our spokesperson on the phone with us from Iraq, Lieutenant Colonel Steve Boylan of the U.S. military. Your response to the documentary, Fallujah: The Hidden Massacre?
And this interview on BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4440664.stm
“It was used as an incendiary weapon against enemy combatants,” spokesman Lt Col Barry Venable told the BBC - though not against civilians, he said.
It was a clear violation of the Chemical Weapons Conventions not seen in this region since the Iran-Iraq War when Saddam used Serin gas obtained from US sources on the Iranians. This was authorized by CentCom Richard. I’m sorry, there is not an easier explanation. At minimum Rumsfeld is criminally responsible. I suspect Bush and especially Cheney are implicated in this also.
Who was responsible for the no bid Blackwater Contract that became the excuse for the Fallujah cock fight? Rumsfeld . . . nah! It was Cheney. The Dark Emporer of Death, the Evil Sith Lord, War Lord, War Criminal Mastermind himself. Cheney must be impeached. He has committed serious treason with respect to failure to protect this country on 09/11/01 by willful refusal to order shoot downs of Flight 11 not once, not twice but three times refused. And the cock crowed . . .
This man is a tyrant on par of cruelty with Emporer Nero, Henry VIII, or Ghengis Khan. This is a war profiteer, continuing to profit from his stock options with Halliburton/KBR, cheif reconstruction, logistics and material support contactor for Iraq and New Orleans. Coming soon to a city, state or nation near you!
The Faction of Conservatives whose sensibilities we offend are nothing more than the tendencies of a war hungry nationalist element in the body politic. AND IF THINE RIGHT EYE OFFEND THEE . . . PLUCK IT OUT. That is to say, a fascisitic element exists among our population. How I wish the worker’s organizations and unions would have defeated the Nazi/Fascist organizers in Europe during the 1930’s by aggressively out-organizing them and firmly clearing away support for the rising regime. 4th Reich anyone?
If real investigations of this beast get underway any REASONABLE CONSERVATIVE can thank their fellow Americans later.
IMPEACH BUSH - CHENEY 2007~!
Justice and Freedom’s day are nigh at hand. Full court press on the Administration and their foul, decreptic neo-con war apparatus and police state.
November 29th, 2006 at 7:26 am
If there’s any problem with impeachment, it is not having enough desk-space on which to pile all the evidence in an organized fashion. We need more desks.
November 29th, 2006 at 10:22 am
Uh, we would like to impeach bush, but the hollow eyed, looks like a doe in the headlights, pelosi won’t do it. There is absolutely nothing at hand for bush. 2 years is too little time, we would need witnesses to drop dime on bush/cheney then impeach bush before he had time to pardon them. Too little time. Waxman already has all the evidence needed yet nothing happans as the clock ticks. What is going on there in dem land? What excuses besides “The American people don’t want divisive politics anymore” do the dems have?
We would gladly have divisive politics if the intent was to prosecute a sitting executive that has committed provable crimes against the Constitution, and the prospect of war crimes internationally. I am so ahamed that this is the spineless remnant of the party “Ol Hickory” founded. Were I more than a whip, I would place my boot, firmly up pelosis’ and waxmans’ arse, so as to en-COURAGE them to do something that used to be called their job.
November 29th, 2006 at 11:24 am
Whipman, I’d love to see you kick Big Dick, and Smirks ass as well.
January 23rd, 2007 at 4:06 pm
dental…
With toy poodle breeders rs outward show, sum a at crinkle at Nautical deck of Often….
August 21st, 2007 at 5:34 am
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