Cheney Impeachment Gains Traction in House Judiciary Committee

Marjorie Cohn on 21 January, 2008 15:59:38

Common Dreams - Nine out of 23 Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee favor starting impeachment hearings against Vice-President Dick Cheney. Six of the nine are co-sponsors of H.R. 799, which contains three articles of impeachment.

Articles I and II of H.R. 799 accuse Cheney of purposely manipulating intelligence to deceive Congress and the American people about a fabricated threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, and about an alleged relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda, respectively. Article III charges Cheney with openly threatening aggression against Iran absent any real threat to the United States.

All three articles say Cheney’s actions have damaged our national security interests.

Three of the nine Judiciary Committee Democrats who advocate launching impeachment hearings against Cheney, Reps. Robert Wexler (D., Fla.), Luis Gutierrez (D., Ill.) and Tammy Baldwin (D., Wis.), co-authored an op-ed that appeared on December 27 in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

They wrote, “The issues at hand are too serious to ignore, including credible allegations of abuse of power that, if proven, may well constitute high crimes and misdemeanors under the Constitution. The allegations against Cheney relate to his deceptive actions leading up to the Iraq war, the revelation of the identity of a covert agent for political retaliation, and the illegal wiretapping of American citizens.”

There is also credible evidence that policies set in Cheney’s office authorized the torture of prisoners in U.S. custody, in violation of three treaties the United States has ratified, as well as the U.S. Torture Statute and War Crimes Act. The policies on the treatment of prisoners emanating from Cheney’s office triggered the abuse and torture, according to Lawrence Wilkerson, former Secretary of State Colin Powell’s chief of staff.

“It was clear to me that there was a visible audit trail from the Vice President’s office through the Secretary of Defense down to the commanders in the field,” Wilkerson, a former colonel, said on National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition.”

In November, the House of Representatives sent the impeachment resolution to the House Judiciary Committee for further proceedings. However many Democrats oppose impeachment, citing the year and a half of testimony about Bill Clinton’s personal relations. They think impeachment will detract from Congress’s other pressing business.

Yet, the three congresspersons noted, the Clinton impeachment “must not be the model for impeachment inquiries. A Democratic Congress can show that it takes its constitutional authority seriously and hold a sober investigation, which will stand in stark contrast to the kangaroo court convened by Republicans for Clinton.”

And, they argue, the hearings would “involve the possible impeachment of the vice president - not of our commander in chief - and the resulting impact on the nation’s business and attention would be significantly less than the Clinton presidential impeachment hearings.”

Seventy percent of American voters think Cheney has abused his powers and 43 percent say he should be removed from office, according to a Nov. 13 poll by the American Research Group. Organizations, including the National Lawyers Guild, have called for the impeachment of Dick Cheney.

Impeachment hearings against Cheney would not only fulfill the Constitution’s command that high officials who commit high crimes and misdemeanors be brought to justice. It would also deter the vice president from committing additional crimes that threaten the national security of the United States.

Any impeachment proceeding would have to start in the House Judiciary Committee. The nine Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee who favor impeachment hearings are: Robert Wexler, Fla.; Luis Gutierrez, Ill.; Anthony Weiner, N.Y.; Tammy Baldwin, Wisc.; Sheila Jackson Lee, Texas; Steve Cohen, Tenn.; Keith Ellison, Minn.; Maxine Waters, Calif.; and Hank Johnson, Ga.

Here is a list of the entire House Judiciary Committee: http://judiciary.house.gov/CommitteeMembership.aspx

For information about the campaign to impeach Dick Cheney, see http://impeachcheney.org.
Marjorie Cohn is a professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law and President of the National Lawyers Guild.
Her newest book is Cowboy Republic: Six Ways the Bush Gang Has Defied the Law.
You can visit her blog or see archived articles at www.marjoriecohn.com

New Missouri bill thumbs its nose at federal Real ID Act

By Lee Logan
POST-DISPATCH JEFFERSON CITY BUREAU
01/18/2008

JEFFERSON CITY — Missouri would defy federal drivers licensing requirements in the name of privacy under a bill filed by a crusading legislator Thursday.

Sponsored by Rep. Jim Guest, the bill would prohibit Missouri from complying with the Real ID Act of 2005.

Responding to security concerns after Sept. 11, Congress passed the program, which sets common licensing rules that essentially make it harder to falsely obtain a drivers license.

Since then, Guest, a Republican from King City in northwest Missouri, has been rounding up other states to oppose the law based on privacy concerns.

"We have a federal government that is out of control," Guest said.

The Legislature overwhelmingly passed a resolution asking the federal government to repeal the program last year; Guest's bill would go a step further by prohibiting the state from participating in the program entirely.

Guest said he has no problem with a common set of standards for drivers licenses, but he's worried about the provisions that require "machine-readable" technology in the cards, which could leave personal information in the wrong hands.

"It will make ID theft very easy in the future," he said.

Because Real ID would be required for so many common tasks, Guest said it amounts to a national identification card.

"Almost everybody would be affected by it," he said. "It is the first step to Big Brother watching you."

Nationally, the movement against Real ID has sparked wide-ranging fears that the next step might be microchipping citizens, or that the cards have a connection to the biblical prophesy of the "mark of the beast."

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security says the program provides a much-needed security boost, and that the department has worked with states on implementation.

"There's been a public outcry for more secure identification," department spokesman Russ Knocke said.

If a state decides not to comply, its citizens would be unable to use their drivers license to fly on airplanes and would need additional documentation, such as a passport.

The rules are set to take effect in May, though states have until December 2009 to fully implement the program.

The Missouri Department of Revenue would have to implement the licensing rules, which were released to states last week.

Spokesman David Griffith said the department is still reviewing the rules to determine the impact on Missouri. One of the key questions, he said, is calculating the program's cost for the state.

The Homeland Security department has estimated that the program will cost at least $3.9 billion nationwide.

More than 20 states have passed legislation or resolutions opposing the program, including several that have passed laws saying they will not participate — essentially calling the feds' bluff.

Despite the outcry, a few state legislators think Real ID isn't such a big deal.

Rep. Clint Zweifel, D-Florissant, was one of three lonely legislators to vote against the resolution last year.

"I just don't like the idea of thumbing your nose at a pretty modest security recommendation," he said, noting that the program was suggested by the bipartisan Sept. 11 commission.