The case for impeachment of President George W. Bush

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"At the Federal level, the House of Representatives has the sole power of impeaching the President, Vice President and all other civil officers of the United States. Officials can be impeached for: 'treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.' The United States Senate has the sole power to try all Impeachments. The removal of impeached officials is automatic upon conviction in the Senate."—Wikipedia.

The case for impeachment of President George W. Bush is outlined below in books, websites, documents, articles, and SourceWatch Resources related to what are believed to be Bush's impeachable offenses.

Also see Efforts to initiate the impeachment of Vice President Dick Cheney and Congresspedia article on efforts to initiate the impeachment of President George W. Bush.

Constitutional Basis

"Bribery is one of two crimes cited in the Constitution as grounds for impeachment - and the Big Pharma/Medicaid and Big Tobacco/lawsuit settlement cases may qualify." [1] as may off-record settlements with the financial industry after the Enron collapse.

Ramsey Clark's Articles of Impeachment

  1. Seizing power to wage wars of aggression in defiance of the U.S. Constitution, the U.N. Charter and the rule of law; carrying out a massive assault on and occupation of Iraq, a country that was not threatening the United States, resulting in the death and maiming of tens of thousands of Iraqis, and hundreds of U.S. G.I.s.
  2. Lying to the people of the U.S., to Congress, and to the U.N., providing false and deceptive rationales for war.
  3. Authorizing, ordering and condoning direct attacks on civilians, civilian facilities and locations where civilian casualties were unavoidable.
  4. Threatening the independence and sovereignty of Iraq by belligerently changing its government by force and assaulting Iraq in a war of aggression.
  5. Authorizing, ordering and condoning assassinations, summary executions, kidnappings, secret and other illegal detentions of individuals, torture and physical and psychological coercion of prisoners to obtain false statements concerning acts and intentions of governments and individuals and violating within the United States, and by authorizing U.S. forces and agents elsewhere, the rights of individuals under the First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Eighth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
  6. Making, ordering and condoning false statements and propaganda about the conduct of foreign governments and individuals and acts by U.S. government personnel; manipulating the media and foreign governments with false information; concealing information vital to public discussion and informed judgment concerning acts, intentions and possession, or efforts to obtain weapons of mass destruction in order to falsely create a climate of fear and destroy opposition to U.S. wars of aggression and first strike attacks.
  7. Violations and subversions of the Charter of the United Nations and international law, both a part of the "Supreme Law of the land" under Article VI, paragraph 2, of the Constitution, in an attempt to commit with impunity crimes against peace and humanity and war crimes in wars and threats of aggression against Afghanistan, Iraq and others and usurping powers of the United Nations and the peoples of its nations by bribery, coercion and other corrupt acts and by rejecting treaties, committing treaty violations, and frustrating compliance with treaties in order to destroy any means by which international law and institutions can prevent, affect, or adjudicate the exercise of U.S. military and economic power against the international community.
  8. Acting to strip United States citizens of their constitutional and human rights, ordering indefinite detention of citizens, without access to counsel, without charge, and without opportunity to appear before a civil judicial officer to challenge the detention, based solely on the discretionary designation by the Executive of a citizen as an "enemy combatant."
  9. Ordering indefinite detention of non-citizens in the United States and elsewhere, and without charge, at the discretionary designation of the Attorney General or the Secretary of Defense.
  10. Ordering and authorizing the Attorney General to override judicial orders of release of detainees under INS jurisdiction, even where the judicial officer after full hearing determines a detainee is wrongfully held by the government.
  11. Authorizing secret military tribunals and summary execution of persons who are not citizens who are designated solely at the discretion of the Executive who acts as indicting official, prosecutor and as the only avenue of appellate relief.
  12. Refusing to provide public disclosure of the identities and locations of persons who have been arrested, detained and imprisoned by the U.S. government in the United States, including in response to Congressional inquiry.
  13. Use of secret arrests of persons within the United States and elsewhere and denial of the right to public trials.
  14. Authorizing the monitoring of confidential attorney-client privileged communications by the government, even in the absence of a court order and even where an incarcerated person has not been charged with a crime.
  15. Ordering and authorizing the seizure of assets of persons in the United States, prior to hearing or trial, for lawful or innocent association with any entity that at the discretionary designation of the Executive has been deemed "terrorist."
  16. Institutionalization of racial and religious profiling and authorization of domestic spying by federal law enforcement on persons based on their engagement in noncriminal religious and political activity.
  17. Refusal to provide information and records necessary and appropriate for the constitutional right of legislative oversight of executive functions.
  18. Rejecting treaties protective of peace and human rights and abrogation of the obligations of the United States under, and withdrawal from, international treaties and obligations without consent of the legislative branch, and including termination of the ABM treaty between the United States and Russia, and rescission of the authorizing signature from the Treaty of Rome which served as the basis for the International Criminal Court.

Issues

George W. Bush's bank records spying

George W. Bush's domestic spying

George W. Bush's phone records spying

Hurricane Katrina

Criminal Offense of Exposing Valerie Plame

See:

The Global Detention System

Rendition

Interrogation Techniques at Guantanamo Bay

ABC News reported June 15, 2005, [2] that "interrogation techniques used at Guantanamo Bay Detention Center in 2002 triggered concerns among senior Pentagon officials that they could face criminal prosecution under U.S. anti-torture laws ...

"Notes from a series of meetings at the Pentagon in early 2003 -- obtained by ABC News -- show that Alberto Mora, general counsel of the Navy, warned his superiors that they might be breaking the law.

"During a January 2003 meeting involving top Pentagon lawyer William Haynes II and other officials, the memo shows that Mora warned that 'use of coercive techniques ... has military, legal, and political implication ... has international implication ... and exposes us to liability and criminal prosecution.'

"Mora's deep concerns about interrogations at Guantanamo have been known, but not his warning that top officials could go to prison.

"In another meeting held March 8, 2003, the group of top Pentagon lawyers concluded -- according to the memo -- 'we need a presidential letter approving the use of the controversial interrogation to cover those who may be called upon to use them.'

"No such letter was issued."

On June 15, 2005, "the White House insisted that tactics used at Guantanamo Bay are now -- and have been -- legal.

"'All interrogation techniques that have been approved are lawful and consistent with our obligations,' said White House press secretary Scott McClellan."

Lying to Congress about need for preemptive war in Iraq

Pre-Preemptive War in Iraq

Tom Regan wrote in the June 30, 2005, Christian Science Monitor that the U.S. and Britain commenced a secret air attack campaign in Iraq as early as mid-2002, which documents such as the Downing Street memo may show. [3]

"Michael Smith, defense writer for the Sunday Times of London wrote this past Sunday [June 26, 2005] that 'The American general who commanded allied air forces during the Iraq war appears to have admitted in a briefing to American and British officers that coalition aircraft waged a secret air war against Iraq from the middle of 2002, nine months before the invasion began.' (This bombing capaign is referred to in the Downing Street memo.)," Regan stated.

The Raw Story reported June 27, 2005, that "A U.S. general who commanded the U.S. allied air forces in Iraq has confirmed that the U.S. and Britain conducted a massive secret bombing campaign before the U.S. actually declared war on Iraq. ... While the Downing Street documents collectively raise disturbing questions about how the Bush administration led the United States into Iraq, including allegations that 'intelligence was being fixed,' other questions have emerged about when the US and British led allies actually began the Iraq war." [4]

Iraq has replaced Afghanistan as the prime training ground for foreign terrorists

United States used weapons of mass destruction in Iraq

Destruction of Evidence from Ground Zero at the World Trade Center

Coverup of the WTC (9/11) Investigation

Plundering the Treasury

Social Security Trust Funds

Political Will

Nothing happens in politics without a "political will" to make it so. Political will to question George W. Bush is not going to come from his partisan legislators on the hill, or from his benefactors in corporate media, but there are . other sources available for garnering a momentum

Quotes

  • "All public policy should revolve around the principle that individuals are responsible for what they say and do." --George W. Bush, 1994. [5]
  • "Impeachment is the direct constitutional means for removing a President, Vice President or other civil officers of the United States who has acted or threatened acts that are serious offenses against the Constitution, its system of government, or the rule of law, or that are conventional crimes of such a serious nature that they would injure the Presidency if there was no removal." --Ramsey Clark, July 18, 2003. [6]
  • "Impeachment appears six times in the U.S. Constitution. The Founders weren't concerned with anything more than with impeachment because they had lived under King George III and had in 1776 accused the king of all the things that George W. Bush wants to do: Usurpation of the power of the people; Being above the law; Criminal abuse of authority." --Ramsey Clark, July 18, 2003. [7]
  • "I earned capital in the campaign, political capital, and now I intend to spend it. It is my style. That's what happened in the -- after the 2000 election, I earned some capital. I've earned capital in this election -- and I'm going to spend it for what I told the people I'd spend it on." --George W. Bush, November 4, 2004. [8]

Books

Resources and articles

SourceWatch articles (related to "impeachable offenses" cited in External articles)

External articles

Pro-Impeachment Websites

As of April 1st Pledge to Impeach has found some House Representatives who are WILLING to present Impeachment to the Floor of the House! We need to furnish them ALL of the petitions that have been collected to date, so they will have enough back-up! Contact PledgeToImpeach to include yours ASAP! Time is of the essence

Other Websites

Documents

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