Home > Congressional Hearing Spells Out Clear Case For Impeachment

Congressional Hearing Spells Out Clear Case For Impeachment

by Open-Publishing - Tuesday 24 January 2006
9 comments

Governments USA

"He is claiming absolute power that no one in American history has ever claimed. This cannot stand," said Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y.

"If you’re dealing with what appears to be a criminal conspiracy by the president, the vice president, the attorney general and others, you cannot ask the attorney general and the people under him to fairly investigate," Nadler said. "Obviously, they will dismiss this out of hand because they will not admit how real this is.

"I want to be absolutely clear, what the president ordered in this case was a crime," said Jonathan Turley "
"This type of violation should be a textbook example of an impeachment violation," ..."If you believe the president violated criminal provisions of the law, I don’t see how it wouldn’t qualify. ... If the president commits a criminal act, you are obligated to hold impeachment hearings,’’

"The implausibility of the president’s claim seems to be self-evident," said Bruce Fein, a Washington attorney who worked in the Justice Department during the Reagan administration. "I don’t think any more needs to be said about the fact that he is violating FISA."

"The Constitution was based on the principle that ’trust me’ isn’t good enough," Fein said.

President Bush’s argument that he has executive power to authorize such surveillance "flies in the face of both common sense and legal precedent," said Rep. John Conyers Jr.

"The president of the United States is violating our nation’s laws by authorizing the National Security Agency to engage in warrantless surveillance of U.S. citizens,"

"If we let domestic spying programs continue, if we let our president convince us that we are at war, so that he can do what he wants, we will allow to stand the principle that the president alone can decide what laws apply to him."

Congressman Wexler-"I am eager to hear from this distinguished panel because I can simply not understand how the Administration can justify brazenly skirting existing safeguards that were put in place after Watergate to deter wanton domestic spying on American citizens. It is outrageous that law-abiding Americans like the peace activists and retirees who make up the Truth Project in my congressional district are considered to be a credible threat to this country...

This Administration has groundlessly circumvented judicial review and taken America down a frightening path to a police state, which preys on a culture of fear while casually disregarding existing civil liberties...

"Following the September 11 attacks, the President addressed this Congress and told the American people that the terrorists hate our "democratically elected government. ... They hate our freedoms." Why then did the President circumvent this democratically elected government and disregard those very freedoms?

http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=10030
http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=10029
http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=10028
http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=10027
http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=10026
http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=10025
http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=10024

complete transcript of hearing PDF
http://www.bradblog.com/Docs/nsabrieftranscript12006.pdf

Forum posts

  • Sing it loud and clear (to "God Bless America")

    Wake up America
    It´s Time to ACT
    Work for peace now
    Release now
    Mr. Bush from his post
    Let’s send him back

    From the Coastlines
    To the Heartland
    And on Main Street
    Watch it Grow
    WAKE UP AMERICA
    for don’t you know
    WAKE UP AMERICA
    George Bush must GO!!

    • I love it ---- we should all sing this song loudly during w’s SOTU address next Tuesday. This guy is a whack job and can’t even use drug abuse or alcoholism as an excuse. Just plain old ignorance, dishonesty and unrelenting violence. God help us, for we are apparently unable to help ourselves, but hopefully that will change. Sorry, Barbara, your son is a war criminal. IMPEACH THE BASTARD !!!!!!!!!

  • I doubt they (GOP) will impeach themselves or their president. America is now in real trouble and will cause more trouble for the world.

  • If members of congress and respected legal and professionals regard the presidents actions as I do to be against everything this country is suppose to stand for and to be clearly illegal why are impeachment hearing not at the forfront of congresional discussion?

    • There seems to be an Agenda that is in play, that is contrary to the better interests of the people of America. The ultimate goal of this Agenda as of yet seems unclear but I am led to believe that there is a malice of a kind never yet perpetrated upon us. The undeclared war upon Terrorism does not warrant the behaviour or actions against the Constitution in a manner such as the actions of this present Administration. The mendacity that accompanies the policies is a defence that seems to be bolstered by the MSM and many other groups. This total deception if not left unchecked will perhaps irrevocably change the underpinning of the USA, and if allowed to continue will render our Democracy void. What hold, what information and structure that is continuing, is undeclared? The attack on the constitution has to have a purpose, a goal - and it cannot be simply the War on Terrorism that motivates it - that is just the means. The purpose perhaps is the total restructuring of our society, our financial mechanisms, the inclusion of Religion in our politics and the rendering subsequently of a new social order across the planet - to be dominated by a quasi religious core of Monarchs who say they communicate with a god. If ’belief’ is the acceptance of a ’notion’ as fact, without the evidence of proof - then my perspective may well be wrong, but then again so might the agents of the New world Order, be. Governments seem to forget that they are to serve the people and essentially are under the employ of the people within the constraints of the Rule of Law. Recently the Gov. of CA was recalled and a Movie Star inserted as a replacement - what folly. The complexities of that fiasco were never rationally explored in an open manner - there was subterfuge at play across many dimensions and the citizens of California simply responded to a given format, and voted without really ever knowing the truth. Truth gets in the way so often, it prevents so much - or perhaps there is no truth, only the power of conviction. ’I believe’, is hardly rational - unless it’s is convincing enough - said with conviction. People will follow when ’facts’ are presented in such a way that people ’believe’ them. Our vulnerability becomes apparent therefore and the herding nature, as humans on mass betrays us. But when doubt is apparent the same processes of ’belief’ come into play. I believe there is enough erosion of the Convictions of this Administration that Impeachment is the only recourse left. We have more debt as a Nation than ever before, we have less public social works and a greater private expenditure of tax payers monies than ever - all sanctioned by the belief’s of a failed business man. In the corporate world, if a CEO, he would be removed. Why doesn’t this happen in politics? So I believe (!) therefore there is a complexity at play within out Government so vast and underhand that only ill can come of it - I have doubt. I am not convinced of this Presidents honesty and what is undeclared has to be an agenda of ill, it has to be self serving. But what I do know is that History will tell the tale ultimately, this man will be vilified beyond comparison, eventually - History has a way of doing that. Impeachment is the tool to stop our decline but as long as the power is unevenly distributed it seems sadly unlikely - but please keep up the SHOUTING.

  • To let the Democratic party know how you feel about this you can post a comment here....
    http://www.dlc.org/cobrand/contact_us.cfm
    or here...
    http://democrats.org/page/s/contact

    • Why is it that the Democratic Party is just sitting still and letting this Administration committ illegal acts? If eveything I am reading is true then our world is in for a terrible future. I am sadden of what has happened to our freedom of speech and privacy. Please lets stop this Administration in its tracks!!!!

  • Impeaching George W Bush for illegal wire-tapping is like booking Jack the Ripper for littering.

    Spartacus Jones
    www.spartacusjonesmusic.com

  • tar and feather is a better solution for what has happened so far