Last Friday saw the House of Representatives' Committee on the Judiciary hold hearings into alleged abuses of power on the part of President Bush and his administration. Billed as "impeachment lite" by many in the Congress and media, the well-attended hearings nevertheless highlighted the strength of feeling surrounding the White House's disregard for so many of Common Cause's key issues.
Our Recapture the Flag campaign has focused on five key aspects, all of which were raised by committee members and witnesses in the context of the administration's alleged disregard for human rights and the rule of law. The process of `secret rendition' for terror suspects and their subsequent torture was condemned early on by committee chair John Conyers (D-MI). Secondly, the refusal of members of the executive branch, including former deputy chief of staff Karl Rove, to obey subpoenas was cited as a complete disregard for the rule of law - and echoed President Nixon's insistence that "when the president does it, that means it is not illegal".
Rep. Inslee and 15 others introduce Gonzales impeachment resolution
ByKirstin Ellison Posted on Tue Jul 31, 2007 at 04:51:07 PM EST
Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA)
As reported yesterday, today Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA) introduced a resolution in the House calling for the House Judiciary Committee to investigate whether or not Attorney General Alberto Gonzales should be impeached.
The resolution comes from six congressmen, including Inslee, who were once prosecutors. Nine others have also co-sponsored the resolution.
You can read the resolution here, and watch video of Rep. Inslee's floor speech here. From his announcement on his website, here is Rep. Inslee's rationale for introducing this measure:
During an afternoon press conference announcing the introduction of his legislation, he explained, "Impeachment should only be used as a last resort. In this case, where U.S. attorneys were fired for partisan political purposes, civil liberties and privacy rights were disregarded and testimony to the U.S. Congress was misleading at best, we need to take this serious step to restore the trust of the American people in the office of the attorney general.
"The White House is defending the indefensible actions of Alberto Gonzales," continued Inslee, who hails from Washington state, where U.S. Attorney John McKay was fired in December 2006. "If the president won't do his job, Congress will do ours."
If the resolution garners a majority vote, the Judiciary Committee will start the investigation; if the investigation determines that grounds for impeachment do exist, they can report to the full House one or more articles of impeachment to be voted on. Common Cause supports this resolution as a necessary measure to restore integrity to our justice system, and commends Rep. Inslee on his leadership in taking this action.
Rep. Jay Inslee to introduce impeachment resolution?
ByKirstin Ellison Posted on Mon Jul 30, 2007 at 05:14:04 PM EST
The "series of tubes" is starting to chatter a little bit about reports that Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA) will be introducing a resolution calling for the impeachment of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales tomorrow. We'll let you know when we hear more.
Directing the Committee on the Judiciary to investigate whether Alberto R. Gonzales, Attorney General of the United States, should be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors.
1 Resolved, That the Committee on the Judiciary shall
2 investigate fully whether sufficient grounds exist for the
3 House of Representatives to impeach Alberto R. Gonzales,
4 Attorney General of the United States, for high crimes
5 and misdemeanors.
Also, though the resolution is sponsored by Rep. Inslee, it reportedly is coming from a "group of House Democrats."
ByKirstin Ellison Posted on Mon Jul 30, 2007 at 04:22:18 PM EST
In case you missed it on Sunday, the New York Timescalled for Alberto Gonzales' impeachment in lieu of real investigation and action by the administration, following in the steps of Common Cause.
Some choice passages (emphases mine):
President Bush often insists he has to be the decider -- ignoring Congress and the public when it comes to the tough matters on war, terrorism and torture, even deciding whether an ordinary man in Florida should be allowed to let his wife die with dignity. Apparently that burden does not apply to the functioning of one of the most vital government agencies, the Justice Department.
Americans have been waiting months for Mr. Bush to fire Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who long ago proved that he was incompetent and more recently has proved that he can't tell the truth....
...It confirmed what most people long ago concluded: that Mr. Gonzales is more concerned about doing political-damage control for Mr. Bush -- in this case insisting that there was never a Justice Department objection to a clearly illegal program -- than in doing his duty. But the White House continued to defend him....
...Democratic lawmakers are asking for a special prosecutor to look into Mr. Gonzales's words and deeds. Solicitor General Paul Clement has a last chance to show that the Justice Department is still minimally functional by fulfilling that request.
If that does not happen, Congress should impeach Mr. Gonzales.
ByBob Edgar Posted on Tue Jul 24, 2007 at 04:17:54 PM EST
On the eve of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' reappearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Orlando Sentinelpublished my op-ed making the case for his impeachment.
The congressional impeachment process is specifically designed to protect the public from misdeeds by public officials. In this case, the issue is whether Gonzales tarnished the integrity of the Justice Department by politicizing it.
After all we have learned about the firings of nine US attorneys for partisan political reasons, the misleading and covering up of the situation in front of Congress, and the continued stonewalling by the White House, there is little question that major change needs to happen.
The entire episode is a blow to the integrity and credibility of our criminal-justice system. And it comes at a time of corrosive public cynicism and distrust of government that has been fueled by recent political scandals. A failure to investigate and disclose to the American people will only exacerbate those feelings.
Our attorney general and our U.S. attorneys have a long history of nonpartisanship and of enforcing the nation's laws in a fair manner. That reputation has been tarnished and must be restored. Only through impeachment proceedings will the American public know the full truth about the role that the attorney general and the White House played in this episode. Impeachment is the only remaining option to restoring the integrity of the Justice Department.
ByBob Edgar Posted on Thu Jun 14, 2007 at 01:20:23 PM EST
Today Common Cause sent a letter to the members of the House Judiciary Committee. In it, we ask that they initiate impeachment proceedings against Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
We decided to call for impeachment after long consideration of Mr. Gonzales' reckless disregard for the obligations of his office and the refusal of the President to ask for his resignation. Below is a video the Common Cause staff and I put together explaining the reasons why Gonzales must go.
This disgrace has gone on long enough. Impeachment is the only remaining option to restoring the integrity of the Justice Department. Join us in this fight, and help us demonstrate that the rule of law cannot be so callously disregarded.
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