Please list your charge(s) for Impeachment here.

[Toucano]

Please don't say something vague like "Katrina", but rather give me the HIGH CRIME or MISDEMEANOR charge that you can prove George W. Bush has committed.

My best guess is the recent advisement to Harriet Meirs that she ignore a subpoena from Congress, but I've been a bit out of the loop so perhaps there's something better.

[Phredicles]

1. Admitting to violation of the 1978 FISA Law with warrantless wiretaps;

I'm gonna have to guess it's on tape, too.

[Toucano]

2. Okay that's a good one.

But do we have the tape or is it just a hunch?

[ClassWarrior]

6. That's the big one. He admitted it - flaunted it, even - with cameras rolling.

NGU.

[MADem]

18. Yeah, but was there a SIGNING STATEMENT attached to the Patriot Act or some other chunk of

legislation where he gave himself PERMISSION to ignore that law?

Try calling that Signing Statement illegal. He'll run to his new pals, Roberts and Alito, and his old pals, Fat Tony and Thomas, and get his newly conservative swinger to go along with the program, and what was possibly illegal in the NORMAL world will be declared, forevermore (unless saner heads prevail eventually) legal--that the Dunce can change the law with the stroke of a pen.

That's the tricky bit--navigating those kinds of issues without having THIS Supreme Court tell us what's "Constitutional" for a Chief Executive in the old signing statement arena...

[Toucano]

23. Good point. n/t

[Phredicles]

25. The ubiquitous signing statements in themselves represent a flagrant abuse of power;

And it's also a good example of why impeachment is necessary: It's one of the last recourses left to congress that would not have to go though the stacked court.

[MADem]

39. No, that's not true. Go back and have a look at how long it took to get Clinton to the show.

It was over the course of many, many months--and that's just the OFFICIAL steps, not all the finger wagging and snarky talking head shit that preceded the preparation of Articles of Impeachment.

The Supremes can show up at night, deliberate for a few hours, cough up a majority opinion, and before those Articles are even DELIVERED to the Senate, that "crime" can suddenly be the LAW of the LAND. Look how fast they were able to fix the Gore win and hand it to Bush.

It's why the Congress is exercising caution. There are plenty of people here who refuse to see that fact, but they've gotta get the baaastid on something SOLID. Something that plenty of other Americans have been convicted doing. Not "He lied to Congress" or "Illegal War" or those other tired horseshit phrases I hear over and over again--they may be true, but if you can't prove it, it's just a jerkoff exercise in pouting and hectoring, and it may make people feel good about themselves, but in the meantime, kids continue to die in Iraq.

I say end the war first, now, immediately. Then see what's what.

[porphyrian]

3. Here are some archived lists of the same thing:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=5657070

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=4631340

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=3983168

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=3763963

[BuyingThyme]

4. Actively waging war against the CIA in order to make a false case for war,

including the exposure of a CIA front aimed at tracking the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction -- an exposure which has endangered the lives of every American citizen.

[Toucano]

5. Yes, but can you prove that George W. Bush did that.

I guess Fitzgerald couldn't?

[BuyingThyme]

7. I can prove that Karl Rove and Dick Cheney, the Chimp's #1 & 2,

conducted the operation under the authority of the Chimp. It's in the record. That's all I need.

[Toucano]

10. I believe that Cheney claimed he was authorized by executive order

to determine what information was classified and what was not.

If under that authority he committed a crime, the president is not culpable any more than he could be convicted of treason if a general (another subordinate) sold military secrets.

I don't think this one will stick.

[BuyingThyme]

11. Impeachment has to do with conduct,

not necessarily statute.

[Toucano]

19. Yes, conduct that us CRIMINAL under a statute.

I think the statute probably matters.

[BuyingThyme]

34. No, statute may be a part of it, but not necessarily.

[Poiuyt]

9. There are different standards for impeachment than for a regular court of law

Someone who was involved with the Nixon impeachment was talking about it the other night. They were all schooled by Constitutional scholars. She said that it was more about abuses of power than anything else.

[mmonk]

20. Correct. That's what some don't get.

Constitutional crimes aren't codified per se. It's about abuse of power and malfeasance.

[Toucano]

24. But it doesn't have to be a Constitutional crime.

I thought Clinton was impeached under a federal perjury statute?

[mmonk]

36. My point was it doesn't have to be violation of a statute.

By the way, impeachment of Clinton on those grounds was a joke (and generally known to be). The crimes the administration has committed are not.

[MilesColtrane]

42. Let's say you're right for a moment.

Hypothetically then, Bush could be tried for being a fascist, or a scumbag.

Now how would you go about proving he is atually is one of these things if there is no legal definition for them.

Clinton wasn't impeached and tried for lying, which isn't a crime. He was impeached for perjury and obstruction of justice.

I have no doubt that Bush and Cheney have broken actual laws that are on the books. It's up to Congress to lay out the charges.

[Toucano]

21. I'm sure that's very interesting and useful, but considering Nixon

wasn't impeached, I'm not sure it's a perfect model.

Bush obviously won't be shamed into resigning from office - he has none.

I just want to put the best case forward.

[piedmont]

28. Nixon resigned to avoid impeachment.

So yeah, it is a good model.

[Toucano]

38. Do you think Bush would resign to avoid impeachment?

I think if we want to remove him, we need to convict. He doesn't give a rats ass what the world thinks of him. He doesn't even care if it hurts his party's future because he thinks he can steal every election anyway.

[piedmont]

40. No, and that's good too. He won't avoid impeachment.

And yeah, we're not just dicking around here. Of course we want a conviction.

[ComerPerro]

8. that's the biggest thing: proof. That's the beauty of refusing to turn over evidence and documents

no one can show concrete proof if you withold information, and the Bush administration knows this.

[Phredicles]

27. But surely refusing to turn over evidence is

obstruction and therefore impeachable as well.

[ComerPerro]

29. obstruction is all they would get him on, IF Repigs would convict (which they wont)

[Phredicles]

30. It at least rises to the level of lying about a BJ.

[ComerPerro]

32. which did not produce a conviction

[wildbilln864]

12. Criminal negligence on 91101! eom

[mikelewis]

13. For Seven Minutes at Booker Elementary School... he did nothing for which he should be impeached.

[mmonk]

14. You can start with this list.

http://www.impeachpac.org/?q=articles

[Poiuyt]

15. Here:

1) Conspired to exceed his constitutional authority to wage war in that: George W. Bush has violated the U.N. Charter, Article 2, paragraph 4, by threatening the use of force against the territorial integrity and political independence of Iran. Bush

2) Has conspired to exceed his constitutional authority to wage war, in that: He misappropriated funds with which to conduct the preliminary stages of this war, prior to receiving any funding or any form of authorization from Congress.

George W. Bush has violated the U.N. Charter, Article 2, paragraph 4, by threatening the use of force against the territorial integrity and political independence of Iran. Bush's threat of force against Iran has included the possibility of nuclear force. Bush has secretly supported preliminary acts of war within Iran with neither approval from nor funding by Congress.

2) Allowed the U.S. military to violate treaties to which the United States is party and has failed to investigate and prosecute high-level officials responsible for these abuse.

3) Has directed or authorized the National Security Agency and various other agencies within the intelligence community to conduct electronic surveillance outside of the statutes Congress has prescribed as the exclusive means for such surveillance, and to use such information for purposes unknown but unrelated to any lawful function of his office; he has also concealed the existence of this unlawful program of electronic surveillance from Congress, the press, and the public.

4) George W. Bush has formally declared his intent to violate the laws enacted by Congress by appending a "signing statement" to legislation, asserting his right to carve out exceptions to legislation as he sees fit, thereby arrogating to himself powers reserved solely to Congress. George W. Bush has, in several instances, gone on to act on his self-declared right to violate these laws.

5) Has violated the rights of citizens and non-citizens by arbitrarily detaining them indefinitely inside and outside of the United States, without due process, without charges, and with limited, if any, access to counsel or courts.

6) Has allowed his administration to fire United States Attorneys in retaliation for the proper performance of their jobs when that performance conflicted with the partisan interests of the President, and has failed to investigate and prosecute high-level officials responsible for this abuse.

7) as sought to mislead the people of the United States and the Congress by hiding information without justification, selectively releasing misleading pieces of information, funding misleading journalism, producing misleading video reports falsely presented as independent journalism, using the U.S. military to target journalists in Iraq, threatening officials with retribution should they reveal information, and exacting retribution against whistle blowers.

8) Has failed to take reasonable steps to protect the City of New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina, and intentionally misled the American people regarding this failure.


This is a sloppy summary of David Swanson's Articles of Impeachment. It is all explained in more detail at:

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/articles

There are more sets written by different people:

http://www.impeachpac.org/?q=articles

[Toucano]

26. Thank you. n/t

[Poiuyt]

37. One of the crimes that doesn't get talked about was when he took money appropriated

for the war in Afghanistan and used it to start fighting in Iraq before Congress had authorized him to do so. $700 million if my memory is correct.

[in_cog_ni_to]

16. Knowingly LYING about why we had to invade Iraq. Abu Ghraib ordered tortures. Extraordinary

Renditions, 700,000 innocent Iraqi murders, 3,620+ soldiers, murdered. Illegal NSA wiretaps. Refusing to turn over evidence to Congress for an investigation. Ordering ex-wh staff not to respect a subpoena from Congress. The Downing Street Memos. Using the DOJ for political purposes. Using caging lists to stop people from voting.

I know there's more, but I'm sleepy right now.:)

[True_Blue]

17. Forget impeachment

Prosecute Bush and Cheney for war crimes instead.

[mmonk]

22. Yep. They are guilty on those as well.

But these crimes are also crimes under our laws due to treaty commitments and thus impeachable crimes.

[mmonk]

31. Why we don't need anymore investigations.

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/keydocuments

[lpbk2713]

33. Several counts of election fraud/tampering in '00 and '04.

And Katherine Harris should do time in Leavenworth right along with the rest of BushCo.

[gauguin57]

35. Stealing an election outside his species.

Bush should have run for King of the Apes, not President of Human People of the United States.

[TahitiNut]

41. Here's a start ...

http://www.impeachbush.tv/impeach/articles.html

Articles of Impeachment for
President George W. Bush and
Vice President Richard B. Cheney
for high crimes and misdemeanors.
(Last updated November 8, 2006.)

Resolved, that President George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney be 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, in maintenance and support of its impeachment against President George W. Bush and his team for high crimes and misdemeanors.

Article I

In his conduct while President of the United States, George W. Bush, in violation of his constitutional oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has conspired to exceed his constitutional authority to wage war, in that:

On March 19, 2003, George W. Bush invaded the sovereign country of Iraq in direct defiance of the United Nations Security Council. This constitutes a violation of Chapter 1, Article 2 of the United Nations Charter and a violation of Principal VI of the Nuremberg Charter. According to Article VI of the United States Constitution "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;". George W. Bush has thus acted in violation of the supreme Law of the Land by the following acts:

1. Invading Iraq with United States military forces.
   
2. Sacrificing the lives of thousands of American troops.
   
3. Killing tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians and conscripts.
   
4. Rejecting possibilities for peaceful resolution of the conflict by rejecting acts of compliance by Saddam Hussein with the United Nations Resolutions, and ignoring the findings by Hans Blix that inspections were working to disarm Iraq.
   
5. Violating the Geneva Convention by abducting and transporting human beings to prisons in foreign countries where they can be tortured and subjected to inhumane treatment.

Article II
In his conduct while President of the United States, George W. Bush, in violation of his constitutional oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has subverted the principles of democracy, by the following acts:

1. Providing misinformation to the United Nations Security Council, Congress, and the American people overstating the offensive capabilities of Iraq, including weapons of mass destruction, as justification for military action against Iraq.
   
2. Repeatedly manipulating the sentiments of the American people by erroneously linking Iraq with the terrorist attacks of September 11th by Al-Qaeda.
   
3. Repeatedly claiming that satellite photos of sites in Iraq depicted factories for weapons of mass destruction in contradiction with the results of ground inspections by United Nations teams.
   
4. Stating that "Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa" in his State of the Union Address after being told by the CIA that this was untrue and that the supporting documents were forged.
   
5. Influencing, manipulating and distorting intelligence related to Iraq with the intention of using that intelligence to support his goal of invading Iraq.
   
6. Repeatedly ordering the NSA to place illegal wiretaps on American citizens without a court order from FISA.
   
7. Retaliating against whistle-blowers who try to point out errors in statements made by President Bush.
   
8. Directing millions of dollars in government funds to companies associated with White House officials in no-bid contracts that pose serious conflicts of interest. One example is Halliburton, of which Richard Cheney was once CEO.

Article III

In his conduct while President of the United States, George W. Bush, in violation of his constitutional oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has threatened the security of the American people, by the following acts:

1. Diverting military resources from pursuing known terrorists such as Osama Bin Laden who have repeatedly attacked the United States of America.
   
2. Generating ill will among the peoples of the world with an offensive and aggressive foreign policy.
   
3. Weakening the effects of International Law by defying the United Nations thus encouraging other nations to violate International law by example.
   
4. Diverting the National Guard to foreign wars where they are unavailable to serve the needs of American citizens at home who, for example, are suffering from Hurricane Katrina.
   
5. Appointing unqualified personnel to critical government positions as political favors where their incompetence places American citizens at risk. An example being the appointment of Mike Brown as head of FEMA.
   
6. Proposing military strategies involving the first use of tactical or low yield nuclear weapons in violation of the Nonproliferation Treaty, which is an inherently destabilizing strategy that encourages participants in a conflict to strike before the other side can do so.

Wherefore, George Bush, by such conduct, warrants impeachment and trial, and removal from office and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States.

More here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movement_to_impeach_George_W._Bush

And here - http://www.serendipity.li/iraqwar/impeachment_1.htm

And here's a 144-page book from the CCR - http://mhpbooks.com/aoi.html

ARTICLE I

George W. Bush, in his conduct of the Office of the President of the United States, has abused his power by violating the constitutional rights of citizens, impairing the due and proper administration of justice and the conduct of lawful inquiries, contravening the laws governing agencies of the executive branch, and failing to take care that the laws were faithfully executed by directing or authorizing the National Security Agency and various other agencies within the intelligence community to conduct electronic surveillance outside of the statutes Congress has prescribed as the exclusive means for such surveillance, and to use such information for purposes unknown but unrelated to any lawful function of his office; he has also concealed the existence of this unlawful program of electronic surveillance from Congress, the press, and the public. Wherefore George W. Bush, by such conduct, warrants impeachment and trial, and removal from office.

ARTICLE II

The impeachment of George W. Bush, President of the United States, is warranted by his initiation and continuation of the Iraq war. The initiation and continuation of the war constitutes a high crime and misdemeanor and is illegal as well. In undertaking that war, George W. Bush violated his oath of office and constitutional obligation that the laws be faithfully executed.

George W. Bush has subverted the Constitution, its guarantee of a republican form of government, and the constitutional separation of powers by undermining the rightful authority of Congress to declare war, oversee foreign affairs, and make appropriations. He did so by justifying the war with false and misleading statements and deceived the people of the United States as well as the Congress. He denied the electorate the right to make an informed choice and thereby undermined democracy.

George W. Bush also committed fraud against the United States by lying to and intentionally misleading Congress about the reasons for the Iraq war.

George W. Bush acted contrary to his trust as president, and subverted the constitutional government to the prejudice of law and justice and the manifest injury of the people of the United States. Wherefore George W. Bush, by such conduct, warrants impeachment and trial, and removal from office.

ARTICLE III

George W. Bush, in his conduct of the Office of the President of the United States, has abused his power by violating the constitutional and international rights of citizens and non-citizens by arbitrarily detaining them indefinitely in and outside of the United States, without due process, without charges, and with limited--if any--access to counsel or courts.

George W. Bush has abused his power and failed to faithfully execute the laws of the United States by allowing his administration to condone torture, failing to investigate and prosecute high-level officials responsible for torture, and officially refusing to accept the binding nature of a statutory ban on cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.

George W. Bush has offended our system of government by attempting to expand his power at the expense of the other two branches of government. Wherefore George W. Bush, by such conduct, warrants impeachment and trial, and removal from office.

ARTICLE IV


George W. Bush, in his conduct of the Office of the President of the United States, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the Office of the President of the United States and, to the best of his ability , preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has arrogated excessive power to the executive branch in violation of basic constitutional principles of separation of powers.

The conduct has included on or more of the following:

He has violated federal law by conducting surveillance of U.S citizens on U.S. soil without judicial warrant, as required by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which was specifically enacted to check executive power.

He has engaged in mass detentions both in and outside of the United States without permitting any judicial review of such detentions.

He has formally declared his intent to violate the laws enacted by Congress by appending a "signing statement" to legislation that reserves his right to carve out exceptions to legislation as he sees fit, thereby arrogating to himself legislative powers reserved solely to Congress.

In all of this, George W. Bush has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as president and subversive of constitutional government, to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States. Wherefore George W. Bush, by such conduct, warrants impeachment and trial, and removal from office.

But I wasted my time composing this post, didn't I? After all, it's so much easier to just ask what any Interidiotnet can Google for themselves.
:eyes:

[Toucano]

43. You didn't waste your time at all.

As I said, I'm not really a daily visitor here any longer and wanted to know what members of DU think, not what google can produce.

Thanks.

[TahitiNut]

44. As a long-time daily user of DU who advocates impeachment, I regard CCR as very compatible ...

... with the perspectives of the DU community. The Center for Constitutional Rights has proposed the four general Articles of Impeachment at the end of my post and they form the core of a pattern of violations of our laws, our Constitution, international law, and the trust of the American people. The ImpeachNow web site is good for identification (and citation) of the specifics forming the patterns of violations which constitute each article.

The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) is very reputable, imho ...

Founded in 1966 by attorneys who represented civil rights demonstrators in the South, the Center for Constitutional Rights is a non-profit legal and educational organization dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Michael Ratner, President, Center for Constitutional Rights

Michael Ratner has led the CCR as it focused its efforts on the constitutionality of indefinite detention and the restrictions on civil liberties as defined by the unfolding terms of a permanent war. He is currently co-counsel representing the Guantánamo detainees as well as post-9/11 immigration detainees in the U.S. Ratner has taught international human rights litigation at the Yale Law School, and currently teaches at the Columbia Law School. He has been President of the National Lawyers Guild, and Special Counsel to Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to assist in the prosecution of human rights crimes.

William H. Goodman, Legal Director, Center for Constitutional Rights

Bill Goodman’s landmark cases at CCR include Rasul v. Bush, representing the Guantánamo detainees before the Supreme Court, and Arar v. Ashcroft, the first case to challenge extraordinary rendition or outsourcing torture. Prior to joining CCR, Goodman was an active lawyer in private practice for over 33 years with the Detroit firm of Goodman, Eden, Millender and Bedrosian, the nation’s first racially integrated law partnership. In 1997-98, he was listed in the Best Lawyers in America. Goodman served as National President of the National Lawyers Guild in 1976-77.

Shayana Kadidal, Staff Attorney, Center for Constitutional Rights

Shayana Kadidal is a staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights who works on the Center’s major case on the illegal NSA domestic spying program, CCR v. Bush, as well as the Center’s Patriot Act case, and testified before Congress this past spring on the material witness statute. He is also currently working on Turkmen v. Ashcroft, representing people swept up on immigration charges after 9/11 and unlawfully detained and abused. He graduated from Yale Law School, and clerked at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

http://www.ccr-ny.org/v2/home.asp