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13 June 2008

"Impeachment is not on the table." -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi / "Yes it is, I'm putting it on the table right now." -- Dennis Kucinich


Articles of Impeachment
for President George W. Bush

filed by U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich
(Democrat, Cleveland Ohio)

House Resolution 1258
Introduced in Congress 9 June 2008

Resolved, that President George W. Bush 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 for high crimes and misdemeanors.

In his conduct while President of the United States, George W. Bush, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully 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 committed the following abuses of power.

1. Article I - Creating a Secret Propaganda Campaign to Manufacture a False Case for War Against Iraq.

2. Article II - Falsely, Systematically, and with Criminal Intent Conflating the Attacks of September 11, 2001, With Misrepresentation of Iraq as a Security Threat as Part of Fraudulent Justification for a War of Aggression.

3. Article III - Misleading the American People and Members of Congress to Believe Iraq Possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction, to Manufacture a False Case for War.

4. Article IV - Misleading the American People and Members of Congress to Believe Iraq Posed an Imminent Threat to the United States.

5. Article V - Illegally Misspending Funds to Secretly Begin a War of Aggression.

6. Article VI - Invading Iraq in Violation of the Requirements of HJRes114.

7. Article VII - Invading Iraq Absent a Declaration of War.

8. Article VIII - Invading Iraq, A Sovereign Nation, in Violation of the UN Charter.

9. Article IX - Failing to Provide Troops With Body Armor and Vehicle Armor

10. Article X - Falsifying Accounts of US Troop Deaths and Injuries for Political Purposes

11. Article XI - Establishment of Permanent U.S. Military Bases in Iraq

12. Article XII - Initiating a War Against Iraq for Control of That Nation's Natural Resources

13. Article XIII - Creating a Secret Task Force to Develop Energy and Military Policies With Respect to Iraq and Other Countries

14. Article XIV - Misprision of a Felony, Misuse and Exposure of Classified Information And Obstruction of Justice in the Matter of Valerie Plame Wilson, Clandestine Agent of the Central Intelligence Agency

15. Article XV - Providing Immunity from Prosecution for Criminal Contractors in Iraq

16. Article XVI - Reckless Misspending and Waste of U.S. Tax Dollars in Connection With Iraq and US Contractors

17. Article XVII - Illegal Detention: Detaining Indefinitely And Without Charge Persons Both U.S. Citizens and Foreign Captives

18. Article XVIII - Torture: Secretly Authorizing, and Encouraging the Use of Torture Against Captives in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Other Places, as a Matter of Official Policy

19. Article XIX - Rendition: Kidnapping People and Taking Them Against Their Will to 'Black Sites' Located in Other Nations, Including Nations Known to Practice Torture

20. Article XX - Imprisoning Children

21. Article XXI - Misleading Congress and the American People About Threats from Iran, and Supporting Terrorist Organizations Within Iran, With the Goal of Overthrowing the Iranian Government

22. Article XXII - Creating Secret Laws

23. Article XXIII - Violation of the Posse Comitatus Act

24. Article XXIV - Spying on American Citizens, Without a Court-Ordered Warrant, in Violation of the Law and the Fourth Amendment

25. Article XXV - Directing Telecommunications Companies to Create an Illegal and Unconstitutional Database of the Private Telephone Numbers and Emails of American Citizens

26. Article XXVI - Announcing the Intent to Violate Laws with Signing Statements

27. Article XXVII - Failing to Comply with Congressional Subpoenas and Instructing Former Employees Not to Comply

28. Article XXVIII - Tampering with Free and Fair Elections, Corruption of the Administration of Justice

29. Article XXIX - Conspiracy to Violate the Voting Rights Act of 1965

30. Article XXX - Misleading Congress and the American People in an Attempt to Destroy Medicare

31. Article XXXI - Katrina: Failure to Plan for the Predicted Disaster of Hurricane Katrina, Failure to Respond to a Civil Emergency

32. Article XXXII - Misleading Congress and the American People, Systematically Undermining Efforts to Address Global Climate Change

33. Article XXXIII - Repeatedly Ignored and Failed to Respond to High Level Intelligence Warnings of Planned Terrorist Attacks in the US, Prior to 911.

34. Article XXXIV - Obstruction of the Investigation into the Attacks of September 11, 2001

35. Article XXXV - Endangering the Health of 911 First Responders

7 comments:

James J. Olson said...

Yeah, good luck with that. If we ever dug up what actually happened, what crimes were actually committed by Bush and Co., it would destroy our Government.

Vleeptron Dude said...

Or purge the government of a rogue and lawless administration, as was done once before in my lifetime.

This bill of indictment -- the 2nd one Kucinich has introduced -- may go nowhere. But already it has the votes to go forward to committee, a new achievement of legislative progress. It may not, possibly, require good luck. The war, the ruinous cost of gasoline, the economy in shambles, and even the conservative Supreme Court reasserting the central place of habeas corpus in American law ... even our 3 Monkeys members of Congress are pissed off and are inclining toward beginning impeachment investigations and hearings. Because increasing numbers of voters are telling them they want Congress to defend America from a rogue and lawless President and his lawless associates.

Watergate began when a security guard found a lock in an underground garage door duct-taped open. Two years later, the president resigned.

James J. Olson said...

Fortunately, we do not have two years left of this corrupt administration. Can the former president and other members of his administration still be brought up on charges? I think a 'no pardons' policy would set a good precedent for future administrations; one where there is actual responsibility for ones actions while in office.

Vleeptron Dude said...

I think this would be a charming moment, the sunset of Bush's presidency, to commence full-tilt hi-gear impeachment proceedings. regardless of how or when they ended, that would certainly be the perfect cherry on top of the cake of his "legacy."

Like the Caesars, who were "thereafter deified," Bush would enter the history books with the appendix "impeached," joining a select group of presidents: Nixon and Andrew Johnson (acquitted).

Vleeptron Dude said...

And it is also absolutely absolutely critically necessary that Congress re-assert its Constitutional prerogatives and responsibilities as one of the three branches of the federal government. The entire Bush presidency has been based on "fuck Congress and fuck the Supreme Court, we're the only branch with power, no one can block or stop or impede our acts and crimes."

This is the last moment that Congress has a chance to act like the Constitution intended them to act: As a bulwark to protect the people against a rogue president. Impeachment would be a reminder to future presidents that they can be brought to heel by Congress and by the Supreme Court. Nixon thought he was above the law, too. Congress and the Supreme Court showed him otherwise.

Anonymous said...

Clinton and Andrew Johnson were impeached, both acquitted. Nixon resigned before a final vote on impeachment.

Vleeptron Dude said...

Whoops, i forgot Bill Clinton! And he finished his whole 8 years! The Senate that acquitted him was a Republican majority. And people around the world still like him! He's best pals with Papa George Bush!

I don't want to give any credit to Nancy Pelosi, I think she's a total jerk. But in refusing to consider impeaching Bush since the Dems took over, it is just possible she and other Dems dread a continuing cyce of one party impeaching the other party's president, so that a recurrent cycle of paralytic permanent impeachment descends on the presidency.

For (lying about) an extramarital sexual affair, 2 branches of the US government effectively shut down for about 2 years, and were unable to do any of the public's necessary business. I think after the Senate trial, when the Senators went back to their home states to hear what the voters thought, even partisan Republicsns realized how disgusted voters were with the impeachment, and realized that if they voted Clinton guilty and removed him -- for a blowjob -- they faced a very real risk of voter anger ending their careers.