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Bonifaz Memo to Conyers
MEMORANDUM
To: Rep. John Conyers, Jr.
From: John C. Bonifaz
Date: May 22, 2005
RE: The President's Impeachable Offenses
The recent release of the Downing Street Memo provides new and compelling evidence that the President of the United States has been actively engaged in a conspiracy to deceive and mislead the United States Congress and the American people about the basis for going to war against Iraq. If true, such conduct constitutes a High Crime under Article II, Section 4 of the United States Constitution: "The President, Vice President, and all civil officers of the United States shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors."
In light of the emergence of the Downing Street Memo, Members of Congress should introduce a Resolution of Inquiry directing the House Judiciary Committee to launch a formal investigation into whether sufficient grounds exist for the House of Representatives to exercise its constitutional power to impeach George W. Bush, President of the United States.
The Downing Street Memo
On May 1, 2005, The Sunday Times of London published the Downing Street Memo. The document, marked "Secret and strictly personal - UK eyes only," consists of the official minutes of a briefing by Richard Dearlove, then-director of Britain's CIA equivalent, MI-6, to British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his top national security officials. Dearlove, having just returned from meetings with high U.S. Government officials in Washington, reported to Blair and members of his Cabinet on the Bush administration's plans to start a preemptive war against Iraq.
The briefing occurred on July 23, 2002, months before President Bush submitted his resolution on Iraq to the United States Congress and months before Bush and Blair asked the United Nations to resume its inspections for alleged weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
The document reveals that, by the summer of 2002, President Bush had decided to overthrow Iraqi President Saddam Hussein by launching a war which, Dearlove reports, would be "justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD [weapons of mass destruction]." Dearlove continues: "But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy." Dearlove also states that "[t]here was little discussion in Washington of the aftermath after military action."
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw states that "[i]t seemed clear that Bush had made up his mind to take military action, even if the timing was not yet decided." "But," he continues, "the case was thin. Saddam was not threatening his neighbours, and his WMD capability was less than that of Libya, North Korea, and Iran."
British officials do not dispute the document's authenticity, and, on May 6, 2005, Knight Ridder Newspapers reported that "[a] former senior U.S. official called [the document] 'an absolutely accurate description of what transpired' during the senior British intelligence officer's visit to Washington." "Memo: Bush made intel fit Iraq policy," The State, Knight Ridder Newspapers, May 6, 2005.
Why a Resolution of Inquiry is Justified
On May 5, 2005, you and 88 other Members of Congress submitted a letter to President Bush, asking the President to answer several questions arising from the Downing Street Memo. On May 17, 2005, White House press secretary Scott McClellan told reporters that the White House saw "no need" to respond to the letter. "British Memo on U.S. Plans for Iraq War Fuels Critics," The New York Times, May 20, 2005, A8.
The Framers of the United States Constitution drafted Article II, Section 4 to ensure that the people of the United States, through their representatives in the United States Congress, could hold a President accountable for an abuse of power and an abuse of the public trust. James Madison, speaking at Virginia's ratification convention stated: "A President is impeachable if he attempts to subvert the Constitution." James Iredell, who later became a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, stated at North Carolina's ratification convention:
The President must certainly be punishable for giving false information to the Senate. He is to regulate all intercourse with foreign powers, and it is his duty to impart to the Senate every material intelligence he receives. If it should appear that he has not given them full information, but has concealed important intelligence which he ought to have communicated, and by that means induced them to enter into measures injurious to their country, and which they would not have consented to had the true state of things been disclosed to them, - in this case, I ask whether, upon an impeachment for a misdemeanor upon such an account, the Senate would probably favor him.
On July 25, 1974, then-Representative Barbara Jordan spoke to her colleagues on the House Judiciary Committee of the constitutional basis for impeachment. "The powers relating to impeachment," Jordan said, "are an essential check in the hands of this body, the legislature, against and upon the encroachment of the Executive." Impeachment, she added,
is chiefly designed for the President and his high ministers to somehow be called into account. It is designed to "bridle" the Executive if he engages in excesses. It is designed as a method of national inquest into the conduct of public men. The framers confined in the Congress the power, if need be, to remove the President in order to strike a delicate balance between a President swollen with power and grown tyrannical and preservation of the independence of the Executive.
The question must now be asked, with the release of the Downing Street Memo, whether the President has committed impeachable offenses. Is it a High Crime to engage in a conspiracy to deceive and mislead the United States Congress and the American people about the basis for taking the nation into war? Is it a High Crime to manipulate intelligence so as to allege falsely a national security threat posed to the United States as a means of trying to justify a war against another nation based on "preemptive" purposes? Is it a High Crime to commit a felony via the submission of an official report to the United States Congress falsifying the reasons for launching military action?
In his book Worse Than Watergate (Little, Brown and Company-NY, 2004), John W. Dean writes that "the evidence is overwhelming, certainly sufficient for a prima facie case, that George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney have engaged in deceit and deception over going to war in Iraq. This is an impeachable offense." Id. at 155. Dean focuses, in particular, on a formal letter and report which the President submitted to the United States Congress within forty-eight hours after having launched the invasion of Iraq. In the letter, dated March 18, 2003, the President makes a formal determination, as required by the Joint Resolution on Iraq passed by the U.S. Congress in October 2002, that military action against Iraq was necessary to "protect the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq..." Dean states that the report accompanying the letter "is closer to a blatant fraud than to a fulfillment of the president's constitutional responsibility to faithfully execute the law." Worse Than Watergate at 148.
If the evidence revealed by the Downing Street Memo is true, then the President's submission of his March 18, 2003 letter and report to the United States Congress would violate federal criminal law, including: the federal anti-conspiracy statute, 18 U.S.C. - 371, which makes it a felony "to commit any offense against the United States, or to defraud the United States, or any agency thereof in any manner or for any purpose..."; and The False Statements Accountability Act of 1996, 18 U.S.C. - 1001, which makes it a felony to issue knowingly and willfully false statements to the United States Congress.
The United States House of Representatives has a constitutional duty to investigate fully and comprehensively the evidence revealed by the Downing Street Memo and other related evidence and to determine whether there are sufficient grounds to impeach George W. Bush, the President of the United States. A Resolution of Inquiry is the appropriate first step in launching this investigation.
The following is suggested language for this resolution:
Directing the Committee on the Judiciary to undertake an inquiry into whether sufficient grounds exist to impeach George W. Bush, the President of the United States.
Whereas considerable evidence has emerged that George W. Bush, President of the United States, has engaged in a conspiracy to deceive and mislead the United States Congress and the American people as to the basis for taking the nation into war against Iraq, that George W. Bush, President of the United States, has manipulated intelligence so as to allege falsely a national security threat posed to the United States by Iraq, and that George W. Bush, President of the United States, has committed a felony by submitting a false report to the United States Congress on the reasons for launching a first-strike invasion of Iraq: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Committee on the Judiciary is directed to investigate and report to the House of Representatives whether sufficient grounds exist to impeach George W. Bush, President of the United States. Upon completion of such investigation, that Committee shall report thereto, including, if the Committee so determines, articles of impeachment.
Conclusion
The Iraq war has led to the deaths of more than 1,600 United States soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians. Thousands more have been permanently and severely injured on both sides. More than two years after the invasion, Iraq remains unstable and its future unclear. The war has already cost the American people tens of billions of taxpayer dollars at the expense of basic human needs here at home. More than 135,000 U.S. soldiers remain in Iraq without any stated exit plan.
If the President has committed High Crimes in connection with this war, he must be held accountable. The United States Constitution demands no less.
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Oh, you just figured that out?
It is true, we are living a nightmare and because Bush and his propaganda dominate the media, we must persist in getting rid of the scum that has taken over our country. You know the score and need to pass it on to all of your friends. The entire Bush Regime needs to be indicted. Impeachment is relatively a minor charge. The Bush people are corrupt including Bush Sr. who was photographed standing just outside the entrance of the Texas Book Depository where JFK was shot. Check out the grandparents of Bush; they made the Bush fortune building up weapons for Hitler's war. This was the blueprint that Bush followed. THEY ARE ALL TRAITORS TO THE U.S. AND NEED TO BE INDICTED AND IMPRISONED FOR LIFE!
Bush should not only be impeached, but should also be tried for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Just a small sampling of some of his regime's offenses:
1) starting two internationally illegal wars without UN approval
2) condoning the use of torture and other forms of cruel and inhuman punishment
3) trying to rescind the application of the Geneva Conventions to "enemy combatants" and "unlawful combatants", vague terms created solely to avoid applicability of the Geneva Conventions
4) lying to the American people about the reasons for going to war in Iraq
5) increasing the risk of further terrorist atrocities against the US as a result of his reckless international policies
6) authorizing the NSA to spy on US citizens without approval from the FISC
7) support for the colonial and internationally illegal policies of the state of Israel in defiance of UN resolutions
These are just some of the grave offenses for which Bush and some of the key players in his regime could be prosecuted. It is up to the people of this country to act up and let their voices be heard, to let the people in Washington who supposedly represent us know that we are SICK OF THE LIES, DECEIT, MANIPULATION, TERROR, TORTURE, MILITARISM, AND TOTALITARIANISM THAT THIS ADMINISTRATION HAS EMBRACED.
Bush and his cronies belong in an insane asylum, inside a giant prison, inside another insane aslyum. Forget the other ways to try them, just put them away.
As a 30 yr military retiree, I find you people very SICK with your HATRED of my country.
I am a nurse who works for the dept of veteran's affairs-I love my country and its veteran's. I have also seen their mental and physical war related wounds up close and personal. So it is for this reason and the fact that I love America so much that I don't want ANY ONE ELSE to be injured or killed in any war especially for reasons proven later to be false or unconfirmed. If we are after terrorists them we should go for them alone and not waste the lives of poor innocents-(ours and those of sovereign nations)! When we lose loved ones who serve in the military we cry bitterly even when we understand why-much more is the pain when you don't! And I don't -not in this Iraq war!
If we are going to call America a christian-democracy then we need to do what Christ did and set the example-take the high ground. If we act like the terrorists then we are no better and Jesus himself said turn the other cheek. We can't throw the baby out with the bath water and behave as moslem extremists do or our so called promotion of world democracy is just an excuse for selfish tyranny, thievery and nation building!! We cannot give up our democratic rights (with manipulation of patriot acts))in the name of being at war or we give up our very identity as the land of the free and home of the brave! America was never meant to be like a land of kings and tyrants!
By us turning the other cheek it doesn't mean just sit back let America be destroyed by enemies but to forgive and heal which can be more painful than striking out(Jesus also compared the difficulty of being one of his followers and getting in to heaven to a camel going thru the eye of a needle). He also said do unto others as we would have them do unto us. So we have to value the opinions of other nations before we take war actions and the lives of world citizens because we would want the same consideration. We can't be christian in name as a country but not in action because then we are hypocrites! We need to regain our national soul and pride and recapture the true American dream described our constitution! We have strayed greatly from that!
I did agree with the Afghanistan conflict due to 9-11 because the links to it with al qaeda were well founded -as far as I know. The wealthy who take tax cuts and Republicans who say they love America should enlist their children and send them to Iraq as well and properly fund our wars with money, supplies and troops when they go! We owe at least that to heroes like our troops who put their lives on the line for America!!
Lastly when we are attacked we should protect our nation BUT not swing blindly hitting any and every one we desire or pick a nation that has something to offer us or go in just because we don't LIKE who is in power there. Iraq had oil and a dictator. Other countries have dictators too and have threatened America-so the only answer to me left for going to Iraq is the OIL!! I say NO BLOOD FOR OIL!!!! God Bless America -send our troops home -ASAP!!!
Cheryl K.,
I certainly agree with you that to espouse Christian beliefs while acting as a terrorist state is hypocritical, to say the least. However, I have to disagree with your labeling the U.S.A. as a Christian-Democracy.
I believe the First Amendment of the Constitution makes it clear that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.
Many of us non-Christians are very capable of espousing strong moral character while not bowing at the alter to some non-verifiable entity created to placate the masses into some sort of obedience. (That's just my opinion at least- I may be wrong of course.)
My point is that I belief it is best to be careful when bringing religion into a conversation regarding foreign policy/war. Too many people today seem to be wearing blinders with regards to their Christian beliefs. Historically no religion is superior to another with concerns to extremism and attempts to claim that their's is truly the word of God.(With the exception of Buddhism and perhaps some Eastern religions-I'm referring to the Big Three-Judaism, Chritianity, and Islam.)
We who are for peace hold the moral high ground despite of religious belief or philosophy. In this day and age war is not the answer. Particulary the type of war that is currently praticed by our government, which is all about empire and securing natural resources. Manifest Destiny lives in the minds of many in this nation. Until minds are de-briefed from this dangerous form of mass brainwashing this policy will rule for decades to come.
T. Jefferson: Dissent is the highest form of Patriotism.
Sir, this is not a football team! This is a country with a constitution. George bush is not a quarter back! Hell, he is not even a quarter president. He, his administration, saddly, many members of congress senate and the military acts of treason will haunt them and the families his nobal cause has brought home under the cover of night and media blackout in plastic flaged drapped cardboad boxes! and all of our great grand children will still be paying interest of th dept his global "security" ambisions have charged!
Ex-cuse me?! YOUR country??
You are a sorry advertisement for the quality of thought that goes into making a 30 year veteran. What have you been doing in the place of reading and thinking for the thirty years?
I am a Nam-Vet and I remember very well how we Nam-Vets were treated by the goverment and the people. While we were being spit on and treated like criminals the goverment was signing a full and complete pardon for all those that left the country so that they would not have to serve. I remember the cheering crowds as the draft dodgers came home. I lost a good job that was going to be my coreer because of the hate all my follow employees had for me.
I say all this to show that the american people are not good at making right choices. I do not believe that they will even now make the right choice. They reelected Bush did they not? I know what the polls are saying, but I hear no great cry from the people calling for Bush to be impeached. I see alot of talking but no action. I remember how fast the impeachment of Clinton went. Bush well never be impeached. The american people will never demand it and as far as the congress and the senate go they do not represent the american people for we are a capitalist nation now so they represent those that have the money and the lobbist. Did no one learn anything from the 2000 elections????? The vote of the american people was throw out by the surpreme court and there was no outcry. This country is no longer ruled by the common people. It is ruled by the wealthy people and so are the common people. Welcome to the new United Capitalist States of America were money is power.
As a draft-dodging veteran of the Viet Nam War who was jailed and whose family was harrassed by the FBI, I can assure Mr. Fitzpatrick that all of us, conscripts and draft-dodgers alike, were screwed by the same corrupt corporatized and hegemonic system that now threatens us. There were no cheering crowds for any of us, and we were all spit on.
The Bush Administration, like the Nixon Administration, is a gangster-driven criminal conspiracy that seeks unlimited power for itself and for succeeding executives. Impeachment and prosecution under the War Crimes Act of 1996 are a necessary start if we're to build a democracy here in the US.
Your unfortunate experience shows the importance of a basic education in Civics, Ethics and Morality,to say nothing of the realities of Politics.
It was your obligation to weight the consequences of your accepting the draft or enlistment before you make the decision. Did you really believe that you are excused because things didn't turn out the way you wanted? The only two people you have to live with in the last analysis is yourself and G-d.
If we dont get rid of Bush then the U.S. is in trouble. Our rights are being violated and Bush does not care. How could he,he probably cant read the constitution. If it was up to bush he would be king of the world. He is trying to take over. Im only 16 and I know that. How could America be that stupid to elect the dumbest president in the history of the United States. Everybody needs to realize that bush is messing us over and he will keep doing it until somebody does something.
For 16 yrs, you sure know a lot I see dumn assed that are much older and still think this war was right. I just can't understand there thinking or if they think at all. I will go one step further and say Bush needs to be on trial for all the lies he and his band of liars have done. And I would love to be on the Jury because that man would die just like all the people he has murdered. This county needs to wake up and throw out the trash in the white house and stop thinking oh well it will go away I think not our luck the man will sign alaw and say he can have life term in the white house. Wait til Aug. 31, he will claim that Iran is going to nuke us and here we go again Bush to concor another country every thing he touches turns into Blood shed, but wealth for him and his Cronies
Bush and his administration have violated the Constitution and the Bill of Rights that all of us took an oath to defend freedom loveing people need to wake up before its to late, the Patriot act should be thrown out and never considered ,we already have enough laws that can be used to fight any threat that we may have , the Constitution puts limits on goverment th keep it from becomeing opressive as it is becomeing at this time, Bush has to be held accountable for his actions agstance a free loveing country and violateing his oath to uphold the Constitution
YOU BUNCH OF MALCONTENTS; YOU WOULD NOT KNOW FREEDONG IF IT CAME UP A BIT YOU IN THE ASS. GET YOUR HEADS OUT OF YOUR ASSES AND DO SOMETHING WITH YOUR LIFES, OR BETTER YET, MOVE TO VENEZUELA AND JOINT HUGO CHAVEZ, FIDEL CASTRO AND DANIEL ORTEGA AND SING CUMBAYA. YOU SHOULD BE RIGHT AT HOME THERE
"If true, such conduct constitutes a High Crime under Article II, Section 4 of the United States Constitution: "The President, Vice President, and all civil officers of the United States shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors."
Bonifaz is right that Conyers must impeach. Bonifaz always tells the power guys how they went off the track. A good writer and American.
Crimes were committed on the American people and the Iraqis.
I as a tax payer do not want my tax dollars going to this treasonous President and VP on more day (let alone their security and benefits after leaveing office). They have robbed us enough.
Fact is they dipped into our treasury at will without the Treasury Department denying them access. Congress controls the purse under the Constitution.
Robbery on a grand scale here at home and in Iraq has been a fact of their administration. Trillions of it missing.
What are the chances that this very powerful person named George W. Bush will be required to pay for the deaths of so many of our military people plus mis-leading our country into a needless war?
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