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Impeachment Packet

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Texas Senate District 14
Impeachment Resolution
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Texas Senate District 25
Impeachment Resolution
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June 7, 2008
prepared by Daniel Roesler

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Warrantless Wiretapping
  3. Iraq War Promotion
  4. Torture
  5. HabeusCorpus
  6. ExecutiveRecords
  7. Subpoenas
  8. Arguments For Impeachment
  9. Arguments Against Impeachment
  10. Comparison of Arguments
  11. Final Note
  12. References

Introduction

This packet provides information about criminal acts perpetrated by President Bush and Vice President Cheney. Although the Bush Administration has implemented many poor policies, this packet only covers those of an illegal nature. This packet also explains arguments in the controversy to impeach President Bush and Vice President Cheney.

Warrantless Wiretapping

Summary

President Bush approved National Security Agency (NSA) wiretapping program that spied on American citizens inside the country without a warrant. Became public December 16, 20051.

Laws broken

"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"
"A person is guilty of an offense if he intentionally - (1) engages in electronic surveillance under color of law except as authorized by statute"

Details

Bush Administration arguments

What happened

Iraq War Promotion

Summary

President Bush and Vice President Cheney lied to Congress and the American people about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction25 and a connection between Iraq and al Qaeda25 for the purpose of getting approval to invade Iraq26. President Bush and Vice President Cheney selectively chose intelligence reports25 and lied about intelligence to the public25 used to support going to war with Iraq27.

Laws broken

"If two or more persons conspire either to commit any offense against the United States ... imprisoned not more than five years"
"knowingly and willfully - (1) falsifies, conceals, or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact;"
"Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state"
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Details

Bush Administration arguments

What happened

Torture

Summary

President Bush signed off on using torture techniques against detainees57,58. Detainees were sent to countries where more violent torture was employed, called extraordinary rendition53,54.

Laws Broken

"(a) Offense.- Whoever outside the United States commits or attempts to commit torture shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both, and if death results to any person from conduct prohibited by this subsection, shall be punished by death or imprisoned for any term of years or for life."
"(a) Offense.- Whoever, whether inside or outside the United States, commits a war crime, in any of the circumstances described in subsection (b), shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for life or any term of years, or both, and if death results to the victim, shall also be subject to the penalty of death."
"No physical or mental torture, nor any other form of coercion, may be inflicted on prisoners of war to secure from them information of any kind whatever. Prisoners of war who refuse to answer may not be threatened, insulted, or exposed to any unpleasant or disadvantageous treatment of any kind."
"No State Party shall expel, return ("refouler") or extradite a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture."

Details

Bush Administration Arguments

What Happened

Habeus Corpus

Summary

President Bush allowed American citizens to be held without charge without access to the judicial system64.

Laws Broken

"The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it."
"nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law"
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Details

Bush Administration Arguments

What Happened

Executive Records

Summary

President Bush and Vice President Cheney did not keep or destroyed archived email communications between March 2003 and October 200568,69,70.

Laws Broken

"The head of each Federal agency shall establish and maintain an active, continuing program for the economical and efficient management of the records of the agency."
"(a) Through the implementation of records management controls and other necessary actions, the President shall take all such steps as may be necessary to assure that the activities, deliberations, decisions, and policies that reflect the performance of his constitutional, statutory, or other official or ceremonial duties are adequately documented and that such records are maintained as Presidential records pursuant to the requirements of this section and other provisions of law."

Details

Bush Administration Arguments

What Happened

Congressional Subpoenas

Summary

President Bush claimed executive privilege when White House staff were subpoenaed by Congress87,88,89,90.

Laws Broken

"In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right...to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor"
"We conclude that when the ground for asserting privilege as to subpoenaed materials sought for use in a criminal trial is based only on the generalized interest in confidentiality, it cannot prevail over the fundamental demands of due process of law in the fair administration of criminal justice. The generalized assertion of privilege must yield to the demonstrated, specific need for evidence in a pending criminal trial."

Details

Bush Administration Arguments

What Happened

Arguments For Impeachment

Congress will be upholding the law.

This country is founded on a rule of law where no one is above the law. President Bush and Vice President Cheney have broken numerous laws that qualify for impeachment including torture, surveillance, conspiracy, and fraud. "The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other High crimes and misdemeanors."95

Congress will be following their oaths.

Elected representatives took an oath to uphold the Constitution. It is not a choice. It is a promise. "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God."96

Congress will be holding the Bush Administration accountable.

Contempt charges will no longer be ignored. Executive privilege can no longer be used as a means of hiding information. Congressional Democrats will be supported by the public for doing what they were elected in 2006 to do: check the Bush Administration's abuse of power.

Republicans would be forced to defend torture and other illegal acts.

Evidence of torture, conspiracy, and fraud will be presented, leaving Republicans to defend these crimes as needed or necessary. Because impeachment hearings will bring out all the specific details about the Bush Administration's crimes, Republicans will not be able to avoid specifics or speak in generalities. Republicans will be forced to either defend war crimes specifically detailed or distance themselves from the Bush Administration.

If Congressional Democrats do not hold the Bush Administration accountable, they will destroy their legacy.

Senator Obama said he would have his "Attorney General immediately review the information that's already there and to find out are there inquiries that need to be pursued....if crimes have been committed, they should be investigated."97,98 Senator Obama's Attorney General will conclude that crimes have been committed and need to be investigated. Given the public evidence, this ends in prosecution of President Bush and Vice President Cheney. The public will laud Senator Obama as savior of the Constitution, but will blame Democrats for not holding the Bush Administration accountable sooner. They will be regarded as complicit in the Bush Administration's crimes, and it will overshadow any accomplishments they have achieved. Senator Obama is the only one who can absolve himself later. Congressional Democrats need to support impeachment to preserve their legacy.

Arguments Against Impeachment

Congress does not have enough time.

Why this is false: With seven months to go, there is plenty of time to hold impeachment proceedings against President Bush and Vice President Cheney. No impeachment proceeding has taken longer than three months. Andrew Johnson's lasted only four months99. Bill Clinton's lasted four months100,101.

Impeachment hearings would prevent Congress from getting anything else done.

Why this is false: Since Democrats gained control of Congress in 2006, President Bush has vetoed 10 pieces of legislation102. It is obvious from his vetoes on Troop Readiness, Defense Authorization, and Intelligence Authorization that President Bush is not interested in compromise and will veto any legislation that does not meet his demands. Congress has only been able to override two of these vetoes103,104.

Republicans would spin impeachment hearings as a partisan witch hunt, hurting the chances of a Democratic Presidential victory.

Why this is false: Republicans would be forced defend torture, and they know it would be a losing battle. Therefore, Republicans would try their hardest to change the story, which is the true fear in this argument. Democrats worry that Republicans will try to turn the story into a "protect America" message that trivializes President Bush's methods. However, the nature of impeachment prevents the story from changing (think of President Clinton's impeachment hearings). The media would cover impeachment hearings much more than any effort to make them seem trivial. This means the message stays the same without aggressive tactics by Democrats, and Republicans are still stuck defending torture.

This changes the nature of the debate. Republicans will lose this debate, which gives them a good incentive to distance themselves from it. Impeachment hearings will cause Republicans to distance themselves from President Bush and even support a speedy trial. This means an initial uproar from Republicans, but once they realize the message can't be changed, a quick acceptance and push for it all to be over. Their own seats would now be at stake if they continue to support torture.

Senator Obama's campaign would not be affected by this series of events at all. In fact, Senator Obama might gain support because Senator McCain voted in support of using torture techniques. Congressional Democrats would also see a rise in support. They were elected in 2006 to stand up to the Bush Administration, but have yet to do so. As a result, their approval ratings are at an all time low105.

However, House Democrats did stand up to the Bush Administration once against retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies106. This controversy showed how the Republican would respond to a Bush Administration power check. Republicans tried to change the story from telecom immunity to safety and security, but the effort did not work because of Democratic efforts to not stray from the subject. Once it became clear that the story was not changing, Republicans quietly dropped out of the debate they knew they could not win.

Comparison of Arguments

Legal

Political

Final Note

Political opposition to impeachment does not come without a cost, and avoiding the issue does not remove this cost.

Representatives who oppose impeachment on political grounds are saying:

Citizens who support these Representatives are saying:

Again, avoiding the issue does not remove this cost.

References

1 Bush Lets U.S. Spy on Callers Without Courts, New York Times, December 16, 2005

"President Bush secretly authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans and others inside the United States to search for evidence of terrorist activity without the court-approved warrants ordinarily required for domestic spying"
"Under a presidential order signed in 2002, the intelligence agency has monitored the international telephone calls and international e-mail messages of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people inside the United States without warrants over the past three years"
"'Officials familiar with it say the N.S.A. eavesdrops without warrants on up to 500 people in the United States at any given time"

2 Fourth Amendment, United States Constitution

"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."

3 50 USC §1809 (a)(1), United States Federal Law

"(a) Prohibited activities - A person is guilty of an offense if he intentionally - (1) engages in electronic surveillance under color of law except as authorized by statute; or (2) discloses or uses information obtained under color of law by electronic surveillance, knowing or having reason to know that the information was obtained through electronic surveillance not authorized by statute."

4 Spying Program Snared U.S. Calls, New York Times, December 21, 2005

"A surveillance program approved by President Bush to conduct eavesdropping without warrants has captured what are purely domestic communications in some cases, despite a requirement by the White House that one end of the intercepted conversations take place on foreign soil, officials say."

5 50 USC §1803 (b), United States Federal Law

"(b) Court of review; record, transmittal to Supreme Court - The Chief Justice shall publicly designate three judges, one of whom shall be publicly designated as the presiding judge, from the United States district courts or courts of appeals who together shall comprise a court of review which shall have jurisdiction to review the denial of any application made under this chapter."

6 President's Radio Address, December 17, 2005

"To fight the war on terror, I am using authority vested in me by Congress, including the Joint Authorization for Use of Military Force, which passed overwhelmingly in the first week after September the 11th. I'm also using constitutional authority vested in me as Commander-in-Chief."

7 Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, United States Supreme Court, 2006

"4. The military commission at issue lacks the power to proceed because its structure and procedures violate both the UCMJ and the four Geneva Conventions signed in 1949."
"Whether or not the President has independent power, absent congressional authorization, to convene military commissions, he may not disregard limitations that Congress has, in proper exercise of its own war powers, placed on his powers. See Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, 343 U. S. 579, 637 (1952) (Jackson, J., concurring). The Government does not argue otherwise."

8 Resolution 302, American Bar Association, February 13, 2006

"The Authorization for Use of Military Force of September 18, 2001, Pub.L. No. 107-40, 115 Stat. 224 § 2(a) (2001) (AUMF), did not provide a statutory exception to the FISA requirements, and that any such exception can be authorized only through affirmative and explicit congressional action"

9 Georgetown University Law Center remarks, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, January 24, 2006

"Consistent with the wartime intelligence nature of this program, the optimal way to achieve the necessary speed and agility is to leave the decisions about particular intercepts to the judgment of professional intelligence officers, based on the best available intelligence information. They can make that call quickly. If, however, those same intelligence officers had to navigate through the FISA process for each of these intercepts, that would necessarily introduce a significant factor of DELAY, and there would be critical holes in our early warning system."

10 50 USC §1805 (f)(1), United States Federal Law

"(f) Emergency orders - Notwithstanding any other provision of this subchapter, when the Attorney General reasonably determines that - (1) an emergency situation exists with respect to the employment of electronic surveillance to obtain foreign intelligence information before an order authorizing such surveillance can with due diligence be obtained; and (2) the factual basis for issuance of an order under this subchapter to approve such surveillance exists; he may authorize the emergency employment of electronic surveillance if a judge having jurisdiction under section 1803 of this title is informed by the Attorney General or his designee at the time of such authorization that the decision has been made to employ emergency electronic surveillance and if an application in accordance with this subchapter is made to that judge as soon as practicable, but not more than 72 hours after the Attorney General authorizes such surveillance."

11 Vice President's Remarks at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, January 19, 2006

"A spirited debate is now underway, and our message to the American people is clear and straightforward: These actions are within the President's authority and responsibility under the Constitution and laws; and these actions are vital to our security. This is a wartime measure, limited in scope to surveillance associated with terrorists, and conducted in a way that safeguards the civil liberties of our people."

12 NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls, USA TODAY, May 11, 2006

"The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY."

13 Babak Pasdar affidavit about "Quantico Circuit" inside major wireless telecommunications carrier, February 28, 2008

"For the balance of the evening and for some time to come I thought about all the systems to which this circuit had complete and possibly unfettered access. The circuit was tied to the organization's core network. It had access to the billing system, text messaging, fraud detection, web site, and pretty much all the systems in the data center without apparent restrictions."

14 Mark Klein Interview, PBS Fronline, January 9, 2007

"We're talking about billions and billions of bits of data going across every second, right? And it's going into the router, and it's coming back from the routers in that office. So what they do with the splitter is they intercept that data stream and make copies of all the data, and those copies go down on the cable to the [NSA] secret room."

15 Bank Data Is Sifted by U.S. in Secret to Block Terror, New York Times, June 23, 2006

"The program, however, is a significant departure from typical practice in how the government acquires Americans' financial records. Treasury officials did not seek individual court-approved warrants or subpoenas to examine specific transactions, instead relying on broad administrative subpoenas for millions of records from the cooperative, known as Swift."

16 Attorney General Gonzales letter to Chairman Leahy, January 17, 2007

"I am writing ton inform you that on January 10, 2007, a Judge of the Foreign Inttelligence Surveillance Court issued orders authorizing the Government to target for collection international communications into or out of the United States where there is probable cause to believe that one of the communicants is a member or agent of al Qaeda or an associate terrorist organization. As a result of these orders, any electronic surveillance that was occurring as part of the Terrorist Surveillance Program will now be conducted subject to the approval of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court."

17 Wartime Executive Power and the National Security Agency's Surveillance Authority, Senate Judiciary Hearing, February 6, 2006

"-Senator Kohl: I appreciate that. And before I turn it back, yet the President has said, you know, with great justification, he is going to protect the American people regardless, and if there is some criticism, he will take the criticism. And yet you are saying al Qaeda- to-al Qaeda within the country is beyond the bounds?
-Attorney General Gonzales: Senator, it is beyond the bounds of the program which I am testifying about today."
"-Senator Feinstein: Has the President ever invoked this authority with respect to any activity other than NSA surveillance?
-Attorney General Gonzales: Again, Senator, I am not sure how to answer that question. The President has exercised his authority to authorize this very targeted surveillance of international communications of the enemy. I am sorry. Your question is?
-Senator Feinstein: Has the President ever invoked this authority with respect to any activity other than the program we are discussing, the NSA surveillance--
-Attorney General Gonzales: Senator, I am not comfortable going down the road of saying yes or no as to what the President has or has not authorized. I am here--
-Senator Feinstein: OK. That is fine. I just want to ask some others. If you don't want to answer them, don't answer them.
-Attorney General Gonzales: Yes, ma'am."

18 Senate Resolution 398 -- Relating to the Censure of George W. Bush

"Resolved, That the United States Senate does hereby censure George W. Bush, President of the United States, and does condemn his unlawful authorization of wiretaps of Americans within the United States without obtaining the court orders required by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, his failure to inform the full congressional intelligence committees as required by law, and his efforts to mislead the American people about the authorities relied upon by his Administration to conduct wiretaps and about the legality of the program."

19 Phone Utilities Won't Give Details About Eavesdropping, New York Times, October 16, 2007

"The carriers face a barrage of suits. The administration has sought to thwart the cases by invoking the 'state secrets' privilege, and the utilities have said little because of the suits. Letters by the companies released Monday broadly defended the cooperation with law enforcement officials."

20 Court Bars Secret Papers in Eavesdropping Case, New York Times, November 17, 2007

"In its ruling, however, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco, found that evidence about the document could not be introduced in court because it fell under the "state secrets" privilege. The court, reversing a lower court ruling, said that the district court judge had made "a commendable effort to thread the needle" but that the ruling allowing the evidence was flawed."

21 Hepting v. AT&T, Electronic Frontier Foundation, January 31, 2006

"The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed a class-action lawsuit against AT&T on January 31, 2006, accusing the telecom giant of violating the law and the privacy of its customers by collaborating with the National Security Agency (NSA) in its massive, illegal program to wiretap and data-mine Americans' communications."

22 Press Conference of the President, February 28, 2008

"Allowing the lawsuits to proceed could aid our enemies, because the litigation process could lead to the disclosure of information about how we conduct surveillance, and it would give al Qaeda and others a roadmap as to how to avoid the surveillance. Allowing these lawsuits to proceed could make it harder to track the terrorists, because private companies besieged by and fearful of lawsuits would be less willing to help us quickly get the information we need. Without the cooperation of the private sector, we cannot protect our country from terrorist attack."

23 House approves Democratic surveillance bill, USA TODAY, March 14, 2008

"The president's main objection is that the bill does not protect from lawsuits the telecommunications companies that allowed the government to eavesdrop on their customers without a court's permission after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks."

24 Judge Declines to Dismiss Privacy Suit Against AT&T, New York Times, July 21, 2006

"A federal judge on Thursday rejected a motion by the Bush administration to dismiss a lawsuit against AT&T over its cooperation with a government surveillance program, ruling that state secrets would not be at risk if the suit proceeded."

25 Whether Public Statements Regaring Iraq By U.S. Government Officials Were Substantiated By Intelligence Information, United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, June 1, 2008

"(U) Conclusion 1: Statements by the President, Vice President, Secretary of State and the National Security Advisor regarding a possible Iraqi nuclear weapons program were generally substantiated by intelligence community estimates, but did not convey the substantial disagreements that existed in the community."
"(U) Conclusion 12: Statements and implications by the President and Secretary of State suggesting that Iraq and al-Qa'ida had a partnership, or that Iraq had provided al-Qa'ida with weapons training, were not substantiated by the intelligence."
"(U) Conclusion 15: Statements by the President and the Vice President indicating that Saddam was prepared to give weapons of mass destruction to terrorist groups for attacks against the United States were contradicted by available intelligence information."

26 State of the Union, President Bush, January 28, 2003

"The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa."
"Evidence from intelligence sources, secret communications, and statements by people now in custody reveal that Saddam Hussein aids and protects terrorists, including members of al Qaeda. Secretly, and without fingerprints, he could provide one of his hidden weapons to terrorists, or help them develop their own."
"Before September the 11th, many in the world believed that Saddam Hussein could be contained. But chemical agents, lethal viruses and shadowy terrorist networks are not easily contained. Imagine those 19 hijackers with other weapons and other plans -- this time armed by Saddam Hussein. It would take one vial, one canister, one crate slipped into this country to bring a day of horror like none we have ever known. We will do everything in our power to make sure that that day never comes."

27 Addresses to the Nation, President Bush, March 19, 2008

"My fellow citizens, at this hour, American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger."
"Our nation enters this conflict reluctantly -- yet, our purpose is sure. The people of the United States and our friends and allies will not live at the mercy of an outlaw regime that threatens the peace with weapons of mass murder. We will meet that threat now, with our Army, Air Force, Navy, Coast Guard and Marines, so that we do not have to meet it later with armies of fire fighters and police and doctors on the streets of our cities."

28 18 USC §371, United States Federal Law

"If two or more persons conspire either to commit any offense against the United States, or to defraud the United States, or any agency thereof in any manner or for any purpose, and one or more of such persons do any act to effect the object of the conspiracy, each shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. If, however, the offense, the commission of which is the object of the conspiracy, is a misdemeanor only, the punishment for such conspiracy shall not exceed the maximum punishment provided for such misdemeanor."

29 18 USC §1001, United States Federal Law

"(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, whoever, in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government of the United States, knowingly and willfully (1) falsifies, conceals, or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact; (2) makes any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation; or (3) makes or uses any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry; 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."

30 United Nations Charter, Chapter 1, Article 2, Principle 4

"All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations."

31 Presidential Oath of Office, United States Constitution, Article II, Section 1, Clause 8

"Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:--'I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.'"

32 David Kay, Iraq Weapons Inspector, 1991-1992, Iraq Survey Group, 2003-2004

"It was a poor job, probably the worst of the modern NIE's, partly explained by the pressure, but more importantly explained by the lack of information they had. And it was trying to drive towards a policy conclusion where the information just simply didn't support it."

33 John Brennan, Deputy Executive Director, CIA, 1999-2004

"I think there was a feeling within the agency that intelligence was increasingly becoming the meat in the sandwich on this one; that we were being asked to do things and to make sure that that justification was out there. Responding to the requests from the Hill for that National Intelligence Estimate in a very short period of time and compressed schedule to do something as major and as significant as that, there was concern that intelligence was being pushed forward as the justification for war."

34 Bush's War, PBS Frontline, March 24, 2008

"The administration would also use the media to promote its case. September 8, 2002, was the kickoff. It began with a New York Times story....The source of the story had been the administration itself...The same day the story broke in the newspaper, the vice president and others referenced it on television...Those stories would appear, and then they would reference the very material that they'd given them and say, 'See? This is coming from The New York Times, not just us.'"
"JAMES BAMFORD, Author, A Pretext for War: George Tenet actually went out of his way to put some pressure on the National Security Council to have them take that out of the- out of the speech. MELVIN GOODMAN, Fmr. CIA Officer: I would assume that Dick Cheney was furious that this was pulled out of the October speech because, again, this is the key to the "The smoking gun shouldn't be a mushroom cloud." That's what all of this was about. And the emphasis on the Niger documents was about relevance to make the case to go to war."

35 Mission To Niger, Washington Post, July 14, 2003

"Wilson never worked for the CIA, but his wife, Valerie Plame, is an agency operative on weapons of mass destruction. Two senior administration officials told me that Wilson's wife suggested sending him to Niger to investigate the Italian report."

36 Report: No WMD stockpiles in Iraq, CNN, October 7, 2004

"Saddam Hussein did not possess stockpiles of illicit weapons at the time of the U.S. invasion in March 2003 and had not begun any program to produce them, a CIA report concludes. In fact, the long-awaited report, authored by Charles Duelfer, who advises the director of central intelligence on Iraqi weapons, says Iraq's WMD program was essentially destroyed in 1991 and Saddam ended Iraq's nuclear program after the 1991 Gulf War."

37 Al Qaeda-Hussein Link Is Dismissed, Washington Post, June 17, 2004

"The Sept. 11 commission reported yesterday that it has found no 'collaborative relationship' between Iraq and al Qaeda, challenging one of the Bush administration's main justifications for the war in Iraq. Along with the contention that Saddam Hussein was stockpiling weapons of mass destruction, President Bush, Vice President Cheney and other top administration officials have often asserted that there were extensive ties between Hussein's government and Osama bin Laden's terrorist network; earlier this year, Cheney said evidence of a link was 'overwhelming.' But the report of the commission's staff, based on its access to all relevant classified information, said that there had been contacts between Iraq and al Qaeda but no cooperation. In yesterday's hearing of the panel, formally known as the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, a senior FBI official and a senior CIA analyst concurred with the finding."

38 U.S. Military Casualties - Operation Iraqi Freedom, Department of Defense

"Total Casualties - 4,076"

39 U.S. Military Casualties - Operation Iraqi Freedom, Department of Defense

"Total Wounded - 30,182"

40 September 2007 - More than 1,000,000 Iraqis murdered, Opinion Research Business (ORB), September 14, 2007

"Given that from the 2005 census there are a total of 4,050,597 households this data suggests a total of 1,220,580 deaths since the invasion in 2003. Calculating the affect from the margin of error we believe that the range is a minimum of 733,158 to a maximum of 1,446,063"

41 Iraq war hits U.S. economy: Nobel winner, Reuters, March 2, 2008

"Meanwhile, the U.S. government is severely underestimating the cost of the war, Stiglitz and co-author Linda Bilmes write in their book, 'The Three Trillion Dollar War' (W.W. Norton), due to be published on Monday. The nearly 5-year-old war, once billed as virtually paying for itself through increased Iraqi oil exports, has cost the U.S. Treasury $845 billion directly."

42 President Bush's War Has Cost Our Country Dearly, Senate Democrats, February 28, 2008

"Current Cost of War in Iraq Is Almost $11 Billion Per Month. "In FY2007, DOD's monthly obligations for contracts and pay averaged about $12.3 billion including about $10.3 billion for Iraq and $2.0 billion for Afghanistan." [CRS Report, 2/22/08] That Amounts to... $332,258,064 Per Day; $13,844,086 Per Hour; $230,734 Per Minute; $3,845 Per Second"

43 U.S. CBO estimates $2.4 trillion long-term war costs, Reuters, October 24, 2007

"The U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could cost taxpayers a total of $2.4 trillion by 2017 when counting the huge interest costs because combat is being financed with borrowed money, according to a study released on Wednesday."

44 This Week In Petroleum - Crude Oil, Energy Information Administration, Department of Energy

"March 20, 2003 - $28.62/barrel; June 03, 2008 - $124.33/barrel"

45 Gasoline Components History, Energy Information Administration, Department of Energy

"March 2003 - $1.693/gallon, April 2008 - $3.458/gallon"

46 18 USC §2340-40A, United States Federal Law

"(a) Offense.- Whoever outside the United States commits or attempts to commit torture shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both, and if death results to any person from conduct prohibited by this subsection, shall be punished by death or imprisoned for any term of years or for life.... (c) Conspiracy.- A person who conspires to commit an offense under this section shall be subject to the same penalties (other than the penalty of death) as the penalties prescribed for the offense, the commission of which was the object of the conspiracy."

47 [[http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/18/2441.html|18 USC §2441], United States Federal Law

"(a) Offense.- Whoever, whether inside or outside the United States, commits a war crime, in any of the circumstances described in subsection (b), shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for life or any term of years, or both, and if death results to the victim, shall also be subject to the penalty of death."

48 Third Geneva Convention, Article 17 (1949)

"Every prisoner of war, when questioned on the subject, is bound to give only his surname, first names and rank, date of birth, and army, regimental, personal or serial number, or failing this, equivalent information. If he wilfully infringes this rule, he may render himself liable to a restriction of the privileges accorded to his rank or status. Each Party to a conflict is required to furnish the persons under its jurisdiction who are liable to become prisoners of war, with an identity card showing the owner's surname, first names, rank, army, regimental, personal or serial number or equivalent information, and date of birth. The identity card may, furthermore, bear the signature or the fingerprints, or both, of the owner, and may bear, as well, any other information the Party to the conflict may wish to add concerning persons belonging to its armed forces. As far as possible the card shall measure 6.5 x 10 cm. and shall be issued in duplicate. The identity card shall be shown by the prisoner of war upon demand, but may in no case be taken away from him. No physical or mental torture, nor any other form of coercion, may be inflicted on prisoners of war to secure from them information of any kind whatever. Prisoners of war who refuse to answer may not be threatened, insulted, or exposed to any unpleasant or disadvantageous treatment of any kind. Prisoners of war who, owing to their physical or mental condition, are unable to state their identity, shall be handed over to the medical service. The identity of such prisoners shall be established by all possible means, subject to the provisions of the preceding paragraph. The questioning of prisoners of war shall be carried out in a language which they understand."

49 United Nations Convention Against Torture (1984)

"Article 1 1) For the purposes of this Convention, the term "torture" means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions. 2) This article is without prejudice to any international instrument or national legislation which does or may contain provisions of wider application."
"Article 2 1) Each State Party shall take effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent acts of torture in any territory under its jurisdiction. 2) No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political in stability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture. 3) An order from a superior officer or a public authority may not be invoked as a justification of torture."
"Article 3 1) No State Party shall expel, return ("refouler") or extradite a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture. 2) For the purpose of determining whether there are such grounds, the competent authorities shall take into account all relevant considerations including, where applicable, the existence in the State concerned of a consistent pattern of gross, flagrant or mass violations of human rights."
"Article 4 1) Each State Party shall ensure that all acts of torture are offences under its criminal law. The same shall apply to an attempt to commit torture and to an act by any person which constitutes complicity or participation in torture. 2. Each State Party shall make these offences punishable by appropriate penalties which take into account their grave nature."

50 Waterboarding Recounted, Washington Post, December 11, 2007

"A former CIA officer who participated in the capture and questioning of the first al- Qaeda terrorist suspect to be waterboarded said yesterday that the harsh technique provided an intelligence breakthrough that "probably saved lives," but that he now regards the tactic as torture."

51 Abuse Of Iraqi POWs By GIs Probed, CBS News, April 28, 2004

"It turns out photographs surfaced showing American soldiers abusing and humiliating Iraqis being held at a prison near Baghdad. The Army investigated, and issued a scathing report."

52 In U.S. Report, Brutal Details of 2 Afghan Inmates' Deaths, New York Times, May 20, 2005

"At the interrogators' behest, a guard tried to force the young man to his knees. But his legs, which had been pummeled by guards for several days, could no longer bend. An interrogator told Mr. Dilawar that he could see a doctor after they finished with him. When he was finally sent back to his cell, though, the guards were instructed only to chain the prisoner back to the ceiling. "Leave him up," one of the guards quoted Specialist Claus as saying. Several hours passed before an emergency room doctor finally saw Mr. Dilawar. By then he was dead, his body beginning to stiffen. It would be many months before Army investigators learned a final horrific detail: Most of the interrogators had believed Mr. Dilawar was an innocent man who simply drove his taxi past the American base at the wrong time. The story of Mr. Dilawar's brutal death at the Bagram Collection Point - and that of another detainee, Habibullah, who died there six days earlier in December 2002 - emerge from a nearly 2,000-page confidential file of the Army's criminal investigation into the case, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times."

53 Alleged secret detentions and unlawful inter-state transfers of detainees involving Council of Europe member states, Council of Europe

"10. This collusion with the United States of America by some Council of Europe member states has taken several different forms. Having carried out a legal and factual analysis on a range of cases of alleged secret detentions and unlawful transfers, the Assembly has identified instances in which Council of Europe member states have acted in one or several of the following ways, wilfully or at least recklessly in violation of their international human rights obligations, as explained in the explanatory memorandum of the report (see Doc. 10957) which led to the present resolution"

54 Outsourcing Torture, The New Yorker, February 14, 2005

"On January 27th, President Bush, in an interview with the Times, assured the world that 'torture is never acceptable, nor do we hand over people to countries that do torture.' Maher Arar, a Canadian engineer who was born in Syria, was surprised to learn of Bush's statement. Two and a half years ago, American officials, suspecting Arar of being a terrorist, apprehended him in New York and sent him back to Syria, where he endured months of brutal interrogation, including torture. When Arar described his experience in a phone interview recently, he invoked an Arabic expression. The pain was so unbearable, he said, that 'you forget the milk that you have been fed from the breast of your mother.'"

55 Waterboarding should be prosecuted as torture: U.N., Reuters, February 8, 2008

"The controversial interrogation technique known as waterboarding and used by the United States qualifies as torture, the U.N. human rights chief said on Friday. 'I would have no problems with describing this practice as falling under the prohibition of torture,' the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, told a news conference in Mexico City. Arbour made her comment in response to a question about whether U.S. officials could be tried for the use of waterboarding that referred to CIA director Michael Hayden telling Congress on Tuesday his agency had used waterboarding on three detainees captured after the September 11 attacks."

56 Waterboarding Historically Controversial, Washington Post, October 5, 2006

"Twenty-one years earlier, in 1947, the United States charged a Japanese officer, Yukio Asano, with war crimes for carrying out another form of waterboarding on a U.S. civilian. The subject was strapped on a stretcher that was tilted so that his feet were in the air and head near the floor, and small amounts of water were poured over his face, leaving him gasping for air until he agreed to talk. 'Asano was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor,' Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) told his colleagues last Thursday during the debate on military commissions legislation. 'We punished people with 15 years of hard labor when waterboarding was used against Americans in World War II,' he said."

57 Humane Treacment of al Qaeda and Taliban Detainees, President Bush, February 7, 2002

"I accept the legal conclusion of the Department of Justice and determine that none of the provisions of the Geneva apply to our conflict with al Qaeda in Afganistan or elsewhere throughout the world because, among other reasons, al Qaeda is not a High contracting Party to Geneva."

58 Military Interrogation ofAlien Unlawful Combatants Held Outside the United States, John Yoo, Department of Justice, March 14, 2003

"These statutes suggest that to constitute torture 'severe pain' must rise to a similarly high level-the level that would ordinarily be associated with a physical condition or injury sufficiently serious that it would result in death, organ failure, or serious impairment of body functions."

59 Sources: Top Bush Advisors Approved 'Enhanced Interrogation', ABC News, April 9, 2008

"In dozens of top-secret talks and meetings in the White House, the most senior Bush administration officials discussed and approved specific details of how high-value al Qaeda suspects would be interrogated by the Central Intelligence Agency, sources tell ABC News....At the time, the Principals Committee included Vice President Cheney, former National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell, as well as CIA Director George Tenet and Attorney General John Ashcroft."

60 Force of Treaties, United States Constitution, Article VI

"This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding."

611 McCain Detainee Amendment, 2005

"(d) Cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment defined - In this section, the term "cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment" means the cruel, unusual, and inhumane treatment or punishment prohibited by the Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, as defined in the United States Reservations, Declarations and Understandings to the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Forms of Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment done at New York, December 10, 1984."

62 HR 2082, February 13, 2008

"SEC. 327. Limitation on interrogation techniques. (a) Limitation.- No individual in the custody or under the effective control of an element of the intelligence community or instrumentality thereof, regardless of nationality or physical location, shall be subject to any treatment or technique of interrogation not authorized by the United States Army Field Manual on Human Intelligence Collector Operations."

63 Roll Call Vote for HR 2082, February 13, 2008

"McCain (R-AZ), Nay"

64 Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, United States Supreme Court, 2004

"Petitioner Hamdi, an American citizen whom the Government has classified as an "enemy combatant" for allegedly taking up arms with the Taliban during the conflict, was captured in Afghanistan and presently is detained at a naval brig in Charleston, S. C. Hamdi's father filed this habeas petition on his behalf under 28 U. S. C. §2241, alleging, among other things, that the Government holds his son in violation of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments."
"We therefore hold that a citizen-detainee seeking to challenge his classification as an enemy combatant must receive notice of the factual basis for his classification, and a fair opportunity to rebut the Government's factual assertions before a neutral decisionmaker."

65 Writ of Habeus Corpus, United States Constitution, Article I, Section 9

"The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it."

66 Fifth Amendment, United States Constitution

"No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation."

67 Feds defend incarceration of 'dirty bomb' suspect, CNN, June 27, 2002

"In a document filed with the U.S. District Court in Lower Manhattan, prosecutors said Padilla's status as an 'enemy combatant' -- which the government has cited as a constitutional reason to detain him -- is not diminished by the fact that he is a U.S. citizen."

68 Countless White House E-Mails Deleted, Washington Post, April 12, 2007

"Countless e-mails to and from many key White House staffers have been deleted -- lost to history and placed out of reach of congressional subpoenas -- due to a brazen violation of internal White House policy that was allowed to continue for more than six years, the White House acknowledged yesterday."

69 White House: Hard drives tossed, USA Today, March 21, 2008

"Older White House computer hard drives have been destroyed, the White House disclosed to a federal court Friday in a controversy over millions of possibly missing e- mails from 2003 to 2005. The White House revealed new information about how it handles its computers in an effort to persuade a federal magistrate it would be fruitless to undertake an e-mail recovery plan that the court proposed. 'When workstations are at the end of their lifecycle and retired ... the hard drives are generally sent offsite to another government entity for physical destruction,' the White House said in a sworn declaration filed with U.S. Magistrate Judge John Facciola."

70 WITHOUT A TRACE: The Missing White House Emails and the Violations of the Presidential Records Act, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), April 12, 2007

"In a startling new revelation, CREW has also learned through two confidential sources that the Executive Office of the President (EOP) has lost over five million emails generated between March 2003 and October 2005. The White House counsel's office was advised of these problems in 2005 and CREW has been told that the White House was given a plan of action to recover these emails, but to date nothing has been done to rectify this significant loss of records."

71 Federal Records Act (1950), 44 USC §3101-7

"The head of each Federal agency shall make and preserve records containing adequate and proper documentation of the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, and essential transactions of the agency and designed to furnish the information necessary to protect the legal and financial rights of the Government and of persons directly affected by the agency's activities."

72 Presidential Records Act (1978), 44 USC §2203

"(a) Through the implementation of records management controls and other necessary actions, the President shall take all such steps as may be necessary to assure that the activities, deliberations, decisions, and policies that reflect the performance of his constitutional, statutory, or other official or ceremonial duties are adequately documented and that such records are maintained as Presidential records pursuant to the requirements of this section and other provisions of law."

73 Supplemental Information for Full Committee Hearing on White House E-mails, U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, February 26, 2008

"The White House has not had a reliable system for preserving White House e-mails since 2002, when the White House made the decision to stop using the Automatic Records Management System (ARMS) used by the Clinton White House. Steven McDevitt, and official in the White House Office of the Chief Information Officer from September 2002 through October 2006, informed the Committee that during his time at the White House, 'the process by which email was being collected and retained was primitive and the risk that data would be lost was high.' As early as January 2004, the National Archives warned the White House that it was 'operating at risk by not capturing and storing messages outside of the email system." An internal White House 'discussion document' from October 2005 states: 'There is operational risk in current email storage management processes. Lost or misplaced archives may result in an inability to meet statutory deadlines.'"

74 The Use of RNC E-mail Accounts by White House Officials, U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, June 18, 2007

"The number of White House officials given RNC e-mail accounts is higher than previously disclosed. In March 2007, White House spokesperson Dana Perino said that only a 'handful of officials' had RNC e-mail accounts. In later statements, her estimate rose to '50 over the course of the administration.' In fact, the Committee has learned from the RNC that at least 88 White House officials had RNC e-mail accounts. The officials with RNC e-mail accounts include Karl Rove, the President's senior advisor; Andrew Card, the former White House Chief of Staff; Ken Mehlman, the former White House Director of Political Affairs; and many other officials in the Office of Political Affairs, the Office of Communications, and the Office of the Vice President."
"There has been extensive destruction of the e-mails of White House officials by the RNC. Of the 88 White House officials who received RNC e-mail accounts, the RNC has preserved no e-mails for 51 officials. In a deposition, Susan Ralston, Mr. Rove's former executive assistant, testified that many of the White House officials for whom the RNC has no e-mail records were regular users of their RNC e-mail accounts. Although the RNC has preserved no e-mail records for Ken Mehlman, the former Director of Political Affairs, Ms. Ralston testified that Mr. Mehlman used his account 'frequently, daily.' In addition, there are major gaps in the e-mail records of the 37 White House officials for whom the RNC did preserve e-mails. The RNC has preserved only 130 e-mails sent to Mr. Rove during President Bush's first term and no e-mails sent by Mr. Rove prior to November 2003. For many other White House officials, the RNC has no e-mails from before the fall of 2006."

75 '03 White House E-Mails Not Found, Washington Post, May 7, 2008

"The Bush administration has not found disaster recovery files for White House e-mails from a three-month time period in 2003, according to court documents filed this week, raising the possibility that messages sent before and after the invasion of Iraq may never be recovered. The White House chief information officer, Theresa Payton, said in a sworn declaration that the White House has identified more than 400 computer backup tapes from March through September of 2003 but that the earliest recorded file was dated May 23 of that year."

76 Rove E-Mail Sought by Congress May Be Missing, Washington Post, April 13, 2007

"A lawyer for the Republican National Committee told congressional staff members yesterday that the RNC is missing at least four years' worth of e-mail from White House senior adviser Karl Rove that is being sought as part of investigations into the Bush administration, according to the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee."

77 Cheney's subpoenaed e-mails missing, MSNBC, February 27, 2008

"When Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald wanted to find out what was going on inside Vice President Dick Cheney's office, the prosecutor in the CIA leak probe made a logical move. He dropped a grand jury subpoena on the White House for all the relevant e-mail. One problem: Even though White House computer technicians hunted high and low, an entire week's worth of e-mail from Cheney's office was missing. The week was Sept. 30, 2003, to Oct. 6, 2003, the opening days of the Justice Department's probe into whether anyone at the White House leaked the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame."

78 White House Says It May Be Missing Attorney E-Mails, New York Times, April 12, 2007

"In January, an assistant to Mr. Jennings used a gwb43.com account to circulate a document discussing Democrats who are being singled out for defeat in 2008. 'Please do not e-mail this out or let people see it,' the e-mail read, adding, 'It is a close hold, and we're not supposed to be e-mailing it around.' Other messages have brought scrutiny as well, including exchanges between Susan Ralston, a former assistant to Mr. Rove, and Jack Abramoff, the lobbyist convicted of corruption charges. Ms. Ralston apparently preferred to e-mail Mr. Abramoff and associates on her national committee Blackberry. In one exchange, Mr. Abramoff and a colleague worried about an e-mail message that wound up in the White House system. 'Dammit,' Mr. Abramoff wrote, 'it was sent to Susan on her rnc pager and was not supposed to go into the WH system.'"

79 Immunity for Ex-Gonzales Aide Weighed, Washington Post, April 18, 2007

"A leading House Democrat said last week that he had been told that as many as four years' worth of Rove's RNC e-mails may be missing. The e-mails are also sought in a congressional investigation of the alleged politicization of the General Services Administration. When the congressional panels realized that Rove, Jennings and other White House aides used RNC accounts, they demanded access to those e-mails."

80 CREW learns Dept. of Education staff are using private e-mails in violation of federal law, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), May 16, 2007

"The use of private e-mails in the Bush administration isn't limited to White House staffers. CREW has learned that the Department of Education may not be able to provide complete information relating to its troubled "Reading First" program, because Department employees have been using non-governmental email accounts for official business. So today, CREW asked the Department of Education Inspector General's office to initiate an investigation into employees who - in violation of federal law and with the full knowledge of the Department's Office of General Counsel - have been using non- governmental email accounts for official business."

81 Bush aides' use of GOP e-mail probed, USA Today, April 12, 2007

"The White House said Wednesday it had mishandled Republican Party-sponsored e-mail accounts used by nearly two dozen presidential aides, resulting in the loss of an undetermined number of e-mails concerning official White House business. Congressional investigators looking into the administration's firing of eight federal prosecutors already had the non-governmental e-mail accounts in their sights because some White House aides used them to help plan the U.S. attorneys' ouster. Democrats were questioning whether the use of the GOP-provided e-mail accounts was proof that the firings were political."

82 Request for Reconsideration, Executive Office of the President, May 5, 2008

"Even if the Court were to conclude that preserving .pst files on computer workstations and on portable media was proper - a conclusion unsupported by the record and contradicted by the facts - requiring the EOP defendants to harvest and copy over the files themselves is unprecedented. Indeed, it would contradict the well-established rule that "[a]n injunction should be narrowly tailored to remedy the specific harm shown." Aviation Consumer Action Project v. Washburn, 535 F.2d 101, 108 (D.C. Cir. 1976). Although unwarranted, periodic instructions to EOP defendant employees to preserve any .pst files would adequately address any concerns about "losing" .pst files (however irrelevant or immaterial)."

83 Subpoena to Justice Department, U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, May 2, 2007

"Attached please find a subpoena compelling the Department by May 15 to produce any and all emails and attachments to emails to, from, or copied to Karl Rove related to the Committee's investigation into the preservation of prosecutorial independence and the Department of Justice's politicization of the hiring and firing and decision-making of United States Attorneys, from any (1) White House account, (2) Republican National Committee account, or (3) other account, in the possession, custody or control of the Department of Justice. This subpoena includes any such emails that were obtained by Mr. Fitzgerald as part of the Plame investigation."

84 White House E-mail Chronology, National Security Archive

"White House spokesperson Dana Perino comments, 'I wouldn't rule out that there were a potential 5 million emails lost.'"

85 Complain Against Office of Administration, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), May 22, 2007

"This is an action under the Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA"), 5 U.S.C. § 552, as amended challenging the failure of the Office of Administration ("OA") to respond to the expedited request of plaintiff for documents relating to the loss of email records of the Executive Office of the President ("EOP") from EOP-managed email systems and environments."

86 Complaint, National Security Archive, September 5, 2007

"This is a lawsuit brought under the Federal Records Act and The Administrative Procedure Act seeking an order requiring the defendants to recover and restore certain electronic communications created and/or received within the White House. The e-mails at issue were improperly deleted from servers maintained by the Executive Office of the President and currently exist only on back-up tapes. Unless relief is granted and the e- mails expeditiously restored from the back-up tapes, these federal and presidential records may be lost forever."

87 Bush Claims Executive Privilege in Response to House Inquiry, New York Times, December 14, 2001

"President Bush invoked executive privilege today for the first time in his administration to block a Congressional committee trying to review documents about a decades-long scandal involving F.B.I. misuse of mob informants in Boston. His order also denied the committee access to internal Justice Department deliberations about President Bill Clinton's fund-raising tactics." 27

88 Bush Asserts Executive Privilege on Subpoenas, New York Times, June 29, 2007

"On Thursday morning, the White House counsel, Fred F. Fielding, telephoned the Democratic chairmen of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, which had issued the subpoenas, to inform them of Mr. Bush's decision. The president also intends to invoke executive privilege to prevent two of his former top aides, Harriet E. Miers, the former White House counsel, and Sara Taylor, the former political director, from testifying, officials said."
"The clash pits the Congressional right to conduct oversight - in this case, an investigation into whether the Justice Department allowed partisan politics to interfere with hiring and firing of federal prosecutors - against the president's right to unfettered and candid advice from his top aides. Experts disagree about how a court might rule."

89 White House Rebuffs Congress on Tillman Papers, Seattle Times, July 13, 2007

"The White House has refused to give Congress documents about the death of former NFL player Pat Tillman, with White House counsel Fred Fielding saying that certain papers relating to discussion of the friendly-fire shooting 'implicate Executive Branch confidentiality interests.'"

90 Bush won't let aide Rove testify to Congress, Reuters, August 1, 2007

"Citing executive privilege, President George W. Bush on Wednesday rejected a subpoena for his close adviser Karl Rove to testify to the Senate Judiciary Committee in a probe over fired federal prosecutors. The committee had subpoenaed Rove to testify at a hearing on Thursday morning in its investigation of the firing last year of nine federal prosecutors, which critics said was prompted by partisan politics."

91 Sixth Amendment, United States 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."

92 United States v. Nixon, United States Supreme Court, 1974

"We conclude that when the ground for asserting privilege as to subpoenaed materials sought for use in a criminal trial is based only on the generalized interest in confidentiality, it cannot prevail over the fundamental demands of due process of law in the fair administration of criminal justice. The generalized assertion of privilege must yield to the demonstrated, specific need for evidence in a pending criminal trial."

93 House inches toward constitutional showdown with contempt vote, CNN, July 25, 2007

"The House Judiciary Committee voted Wednesday to cite two White House aides -- one current, one former -- for contempt of Congress, another step toward a constitutional showdown between the Democratic-controlled Congress and the Bush administration. The committee voted 22-17 along party lines to approve a report calling for contempt citations against former White House counsel Harriet Miers and White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten for failing to comply with subpoenas issued in the investigation into the firings of eight U.S. attorneys last year."

94 West Wing Aides Cited for Contempt, Washington Post, February 15, 2008

"The House yesterday escalated a constitutional showdown with President Bush, approving the first-ever contempt of Congress citations against West Wing aides and reigniting last year's battle over the scope of executive privilege. On a 223 to 32 vote, the House approved contempt citations against White House Chief of Staff Joshua B. Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet E. Miers over their refusal to cooperate with an investigation into the mass firings of U.S. attorneys and allegations that administration officials sought to politicize the Justice Department."
"By law, the contempt citations go to the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, Jeffrey A. Taylor, but the White House and the Justice Department have said that no executive branch employee will face a grand jury inquiry. Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey has told Congress that current and former White House officials who have refused to testify in a congressional inquiry probably did so based on the Justice Department's ruling that Bush's assertion of executive privilege was proper. That means that the Justice Department cannot now criminally charge someone for defying Congress based on its own previous legal advice, he said."

95 Impeachment, United States Constitution, Article II, Section 4

"The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors."

96 Congressional Oath of Office, 5 USC §3331

"An individual, except the President, elected or appointed to an office of honor or profit in the civil service or uniformed services, shall take the following oath: 'I, AB, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.' This section does not affect other oaths required by law."

97 Obama would ask his AG to "immediately review" potential of crimes in Bush White House, Philadelphia Daily News, April 14, 2008

"What I would want to do is to have my Justice Department and my Attorney General immediately review the information that's already there and to find out are there inquiries that need to be pursued. I can't prejudge that because we don't have access to all the material right now. I think that you are right, if crimes have been committed, they should be investigated. You're also right that I would not want my first term consumed by what was perceived on the part of Republicans as a partisan witch hunt because I think we've got too many problems we've got to solve. So this is an area where I would want to exercise judgment -- I would want to find out directly from my Attorney General -- having pursued, having looked at what's out there right now -- are there possibilities of genuine crimes as opposed to really bad policies. And I think it's important-- one of the things we've got to figure out in our political culture generally is distinguishing between really dumb policies and policies that rise to the level of criminal activity. You know, I often get questions about impeachment at town hall meetings and I've said that is not something I think would be fruitful to pursue because I think that impeachment is something that should be reserved for exceptional circumstances. Now, if I found out that there were high officials who knowingly, consciously broke existing laws, engaged in coverups of those crimes with knowledge forefront, then I think a basic principle of our Constitution is nobody above the law -- and I think that's roughly how I would look at it."

98 Video of Barack, Philadelphia Daily News, April 14, 2008

"What I would want to do is to have my Justice Department and my Attorney General immediately review the information that's already there and to find out are there inquiries that need to be pursued. I can't prejudge that because we don't have access to all the material right now. I think that you are right, if crimes have been committed, they should be investigated. You're also right that I would not want my first term consumed by what was perceived on the part of Republicans as a partisan witch hunt because I think we've got too many problems we've got to solve. So this is an area where I would want to exercise judgment -- I would want to find out directly from my Attorney General -- having pursued, having looked at what's out there right now -- are there possibilities of genuine crimes as opposed to really bad policies. And I think it's important-- one of the things we've got to figure out in our political culture generally is distinguishing between really dumb policies and policies that rise to the level of criminal activity. You know, I often get questions about impeachment at town hall meetings and I've said that is not something I think would be fruitful to pursue because I think that impeachment is something that should be reserved for exceptional circumstances. Now, if I found out that there were high officials who knowingly, consciously broke existing laws, engaged in coverups of those crimes with knowledge forefront, then I think a basic principle of our Constitution is nobody above the law -- and I think that's roughly how I would look at it."

99 Chronology, University of Missouri-Kansas City, 1999

"February 24, 1868 - Accusing Johnson of violating the tenure of Office Act, the House approves an impeachment resolution by a vote of 126-47. May 16, 1868 - The Senate votes on the 11th Article of Impeachment and is one vote short of the 2/3 majority needed to impeach the President."

100 HR 611, December 15, 1998

"Resolved, That William Jefferson Clinton, President of the United States, is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, and that the following articles of impeachment be exhibited to the United States Senate: Articles of impeachment exhibited by the House of Representatives of the United States of America in the name of itself and of the people of the United States of America, against William Jefferson Clinton, President of the United States of America, in maintenance and support of its impeachment against him for high crimes and misdemeanors."

101 The Senate Acquits President Clinton, Washington Post, February 13, 1999

"The United States Senate acquitted William Jefferson Clinton yesterday on charges that he committed perjury and obstruction of justice to hide sexual indiscretions with a onetime White House intern, permitting the 42nd president to complete the remaining 708 days of his term."

102 House rejects Bush farm bill veto, Bradenton Herald, May 22, 2008

"The farm bill marks Bush's tenth veto of his presidency, but only the second time Congress will have mustered the two-thirds vote necessary to override him. It also caps a political drama that has dragged on for several years and played to decidedly mixed reviews."

103 A Bush Veto Is Overridden for the 1st Time, Washington Post, November 9, 2007

"A year after Democrats won control of Capitol Hill, Congress delivered its clearest victory yet over President Bush yesterday, resoundingly overturning his veto of a $23 billion water resources measure -- the first veto override of Bush's presidency. The 79 to 14 vote in the Senate was followed last night by final passage of a huge, $151 billion health, education and labor spending bill. House and Senate negotiators also reached agreement on a transportation and housing bill that increases spending on highway repair in the wake of the Minneapolis bridge collapse and boosts foreclosure assistance in the midst of a housing crisis."

104 House votes to override Bush's farm bill veto, Los Angeles Times, May 22, 2008

"President Bush vetoed the long-embattled 2007 farm bill Wednesday, saying it provides subsidies for farmers at a time of record crop prices, increases farm spending by $20 billion and uses 'budget gimmicks to hide much of that increase.' Within hours, in a show of bipartisan defiance, the House overwhelmingly overrode his veto of the nearly $300-billion bill, 316 to 108."

105 Approval of Congress Ties All-Time Low, Gallup, May 14, 2008

"Congressional job approval is now a mere 18%, tying Gallup's record low on this measure seen first in March 1992 and again in August 2007."

106 House votes 213-197 to reject retroactive telecom immunity, CNet News, March 14, 2008

"The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday narrowly approved an electronic surveillance expansion without immunization for any telecommunications companies that illegally opened their networks to intelligence agencies. The 213-197 split, with most Democrats voting in favor of the bill (PDF) and most Republicans opposing it, hardly means that the political tussle over retroactive immunity is over. It now shifts to the Senate, where Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, said he was "encouraged" to see the House vote."

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