Conyers Backs Prosecution (And Other Measures), Releases Report His Staff Has Been Working on for Years
CONYERS:"Investigations are not a matter of payback or political revenge - it is our responsibility to examine what has occurred and to set an appropriate baseline of conduct for future Administrations."http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/38947.................
House Judiciary Issues Scathing Report on Bush/Cheney Imperial Presidency
By: Christy Hardin Smith Tuesday January 13, 2009 11:40 am
In a report just made public (PDF), the House Judiciary Committee issues a scathing report on the Bush/Cheney abuses against the rule of law. Entitled "Reining In the Imperial Presidency," the report details a myriad of issues which have plagued Congress and the judiciary where the Bush/Cheney administration has overstepped constitutional boundaries.
From the forward by Chairman Conyers:
...The contrast with the Bush Department of Justice could not be starker. In this Administration, too many Department leaders abandoned that proud tradition of independence and integrity, and made decisions based on political objectives rather than the facts and the law. Young political operatives were given control over the most sensitive operations of the Department, and federally protected, non-partisan law enforcement positions were used to provide political patronage. The Civil Rights Division was twisted to obtain partisan electoral advantage, rather than protect the most vulnerable among us from discrimination.
In keeping with its imperial aspirations, the Administration went to extraordinary lengths to hide its conduct from scrutiny and avoid accountability. Thus, the White House refused to respond to congressional subpoenas, and insisted that presidential aides – and even former aides – are immune from subpoena, even though numerous presidential aides have testified under congressional subpoena during past administrations, as every citizen is legally obligated to do. Here, too, the Administration was following the example set by Richard Nixon. When President Nixon suggested such a claim, Senator Sam Ervin responded: “That is not executive privilege. That is executive poppycock.”
The Bush Administration has relied on even more extreme claims in refusing to release documents subpoenaed by Congress. In the end, the Administration has been so recalcitrant in asserting this “executive poppycock” that the Committee was forced to pursue witnesses and documents in federal court. Even after the Committee secured a historic victory rejecting the Administration’s claims, the White House still refused to relent. As of this writing, the matter remains in litigation.
There have been additional transgressions against the Constitution and the country by the Bush Administration. There was the contrived and manipulated drive to a preemptive war of aggression with Iraq. In the words of the Downing Street Minutes, “the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy.” There was the unconscionable use of detention without cause; enhanced interrogation if not outright torture; extraordinary rendition; the extralegal use of national security letters; warrantless wiretaps of American citizens; the unilateral weakening of our regulatory system; the use of signing statements to override the laws of the land; and the intimidation and silencing of critics and whistleblowers who dared tell fellow citizens what was being done in their name.
more at:
http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/13/house-judiciary-issues-scathing-report-on-bushcheney-imperial-presidency/PDF:
http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/printers/110th/IPres090113.pdfupdate:
Page 14 in the Forward:
“Likewise, I believe now is when much of the work to remedy the excesses of the most
recent Imperial Presidency begins. That is why this Report recommends that the Judiciary
Committee and the Congress pursue any unresolved subpoenas and document requests left over
from the last Congress; that we create a “blue-ribbon” commission or similar select committee,
along the lines of the 9/11 Commission, to investigate these matters and report to Congress, the
President, and the public; and that the incoming Administration finally begin an independent
criminal review of activities of the outgoing Administration, such as enhanced interrogation,
extraordinary rendition, and domestic warrantless surveillance. These initiatives can and should
work collectively and without prejudice to one another.”
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