Movement to impeach George W. Bush
Encyclopedia
During the presidency of George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

, several American politicians sought to either investigate Bush for allegedly impeachable offenses, or to bring actual impeachment charges on the floor of the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 Judiciary Committee. The most significant of these efforts occurred on June 10, 2008, when Congressman Dennis Kucinich
Dennis Kucinich
Dennis John Kucinich is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1997. He was furthermore a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2004 and 2008 presidential elections....

, along with co-sponsor Robert Wexler
Robert Wexler
Robert Wexler is the president of the Washington-based S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace.Wexler was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing , from 1997 until his resignation on January 3, 2010.-Early life:Wexler was born in Queens, New York to Sonny and...

, introduced 35 articles of impeachment
Articles of impeachment
The articles of impeachment are the set of charges drafted against a public official to initiate the impeachment process. The articles of impeachment do not result in the removal of the official, but instead require the enacting body to take further action, such as bringing the articles to a vote...

  against Bush to the U.S. House of Representatives. The House voted 251 to 166 to refer the impeachment resolution to the Judiciary Committee on July 25, where no further action was taken on it. Bush's presidency ended on January 20, 2009 with the completion of his second term in office, rendering impeachment efforts moot.

Kucinich/Wexler impeachment articles

The Kucinich/Wexler impeachment resolution contained 35 articles covering the Iraq war, the Valerie Plame affair, creating a case for war with Iran, capture and treatment of prisoners of war, spying and or wiretapping inside the United States, use of signing statements, failing to Comply with Congressional Subpoenas, the 2004 elections, medicare, Hurricane Katrina, global warming, and 9/11.

The 2003 invasion of Iraq was the most substantial portion of the articles of impeachment introduced by Kucinich and Wexler. 15 of the 35 articles directly relate to alleged misconduct by Bush in seeking authority for the war, and in the conduct of military action itself. Five other articles address allegations partially or tertiarily relating to the war, including the "outing" of Valerie Plame
Valerie Plame
Valerie Elise Plame Wilson , known as Valerie Plame, Valerie E. Wilson, and Valerie Plame Wilson, is a former United States CIA Operations Officer and the author of a memoir detailing her career and the events leading up to her resignation from the CIA.-Early life :Valerie Elise Plame was born on...

, treatment of prisoners (both in Iraq and from operations in Afghanistan and other countries), and building a case for Iran being a threat based in part on alleging Iranian actions in Iraq.

Justification for invasion

The first 4 impeachment articles charge the president with illegally creating a case for war with Iraq, including charges of a propaganda campaign, falsely representing Iraq as responsible for 9/11, and falsely representing Iraq as an imminent danger to the United States.

Legitimacy of invasion

Articles 5 - 8 and 12 deal with the invasion of Iraq and include charges that funds were misspent before the war, that the war was in violation of HJRes114, that Iraq was invaded without a war declaration, that the war is a violation of the UN Charter, and that the purpose of the war was to control the country's oil supplies.

Conduct of the Iraq war

Articles 9, 10, 11, and 13 deal with conduct of the war, including failing to provide troops with body armor, falsifying US troop deaths and injuries, establishing a permanent military base in Iraq, and creating a secret task force to develop energy and military policies with respect to Iraq and other countries. Articles 15 and 16 cover contractors in Iraq and charges that the president misspent money on contractors and provided them with immunity.

Treatment of detainees

Articles 17-20 concern the treatment of detainees, the "kidnapping" and detention of foreign nationals, and the use of torture.

Attempt to overthrow the government of Iran

Article 21 claims that the president misled congress and the American people about threats from Iran, and supported terrorist organizations within Iran, with the goal of overthrowing the Iranian government.

NSA warrantless surveillance controversy

Articles 24 and 25 charge the president with illegally spying on American citizens, directing US telecom companies to create databases of citizens, and violating the fourth amendment of the US constitution.

Signing statements

Article 26 concerns the presidential use of signing statements.

2004 elections

Articles 28 and 29 charge the president with tampering with the 2004 elections and violating the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Medicare

Article 30 states "Misleading Congress and the American People in an Attempt to Destroy Medicare."

Katrina

Article 31 concerns the supposed failure to plan and respond to Hurricane Katrina.

Global warming

Article 32 charges the president with "Systematically Undermining Efforts to Address Global Climate Change."

9/11

Articles 33, 34 and 35 concern 9/11, alleging that the president failed to respond to prior intelligence, obstructed post 9/11 investigations and endangered the health of 9/11 first responders.

Democrats in Congress

On June 16, 2005 Rep. John Conyers
John Conyers
John Conyers, Jr. is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1965 . He is a member of the Democratic Party...

 (D-MI
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

) assembled an unofficial meeting to discuss the Downing Street memo
Downing Street memo
The "Downing Street memo" , sometimes described by critics of the Iraq War as the "smoking gun memo", is the note of a secret 23 July 2002, meeting of senior British Labour government, defence and intelligence figures discussing the build-up to the war, which included direct reference to classified...

 and to consider grounds for impeachment.

Conyers filed a resolution on December 18, 2005 to create an investigative committee to consider impeachment. His resolution gained 38 co-sponsors before it expired at the end of the 109th Congress
109th United States Congress
The One Hundred Ninth United States Congress was the legislative branch of the United States, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives, from January 3, 2005 to January 3, 2007, during the fifth and sixth years of George W. Bush's presidency. House members...

. He did not reintroduce a similar resolution for the 110th Congress
110th United States Congress
The One Hundred Tenth United States Congress was the meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, between January 3, 2007, and January 3, 2009, during the last two years of the second term of President George W. Bush. It was composed of the Senate and the House of...

.

Keith Ellison
Keith Ellison (politician)
Keith Maurice Ellison is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2007. He is a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. The district centers on Minneapolis. He was re-elected in 2010. Ellison is a co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.He is the first Muslim to be elected to the...

 was the leading figure behind the resolution to impeach Bush brought to the Minnesota State House of Representatives
Minnesota House of Representatives
The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower house in the Minnesota State Legislature. There are 134 members elected to two-year terms, twice the number of members in the Minnesota Senate. Each senate district is divided in half and given the suffix A or B...

 in May 2006. Ellison was elected to the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 in November 2006. During the campaign and when he was named to the House Judiciary Committee
United States House Committee on the Judiciary
The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, also called the House Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is charged with overseeing the administration of justice within the federal courts, administrative agencies and Federal law enforcement...

, Ellison repeatedly called for an investigation into a possible impeachment. In support of his candidacy, he “received a $1,000 contribution from ImpeachPAC”. Later, on April 22, 2007, Ellison met with constituents and listed new conditions for his support for impeachment hearings, such as verifiable facts and the backing of a majority of the American people.

At another unofficial hearing convened by Conyers on January 20, 2006, Rep. Jerrold Nadler
Jerrold Nadler
Jerrold Lewis "Jerry" Nadler is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1992. He is a member of the Democratic Party.The district includes the west side of Manhattan from the Upper West Side down to Battery Park, including the site where the World Trade Center stood...

 (D-NY
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

) called for the committee to explore whether Bush should face impeachment, stemming from his decision to authorize domestic surveillance without court review.

On May 10, 2006, House Speaker
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, or Speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives...

 Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Patricia D'Alesandro Pelosi is the Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives and served as the 60th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011...

 (D-CA
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

) indicated she was not interested in pursuing impeachment and had taken it "off the table", reiterating this phrase on November 8, 2006. In July 2007, Pelosi stated that she "would probably advocate" impeaching Bush if she were not in the House nor Speaker of the House.

On December 8, 2006 (the last day of the 109th Congress), then-Representative Cynthia McKinney
Cynthia McKinney
Cynthia Ann McKinney is a former US Congresswoman and a member of the Green Party since 2007. As a member of the Democratic Party, she served six terms as a member of the United States House of Representatives. In 2008, the Green Party nominated McKinney for President of the United States...

 (D-GA) submitted a resolution, H. Res. 1106. The bill expired along with the 109th Congress.

John Conyers brought up the subject of impeachment on the July 8, 2007 broadcast of This Week with George Stephanopoulos
This Week (ABC TV series)
This Week is ABC's Sunday morning political affairs program.The Sunday morning talk show has aired on Sunday mornings on ABC since 1981; the program is initially aired at 9:00 AM ET, although many stations air the program later, especially those in other time zones...

,
stating:
We're hoping that as the cries for the removal of both Cheney and Bush now reach 46 percent and 58 percent, respectively, for impeachment, that we could begin to become a little bit more cooperative, if not even amicable, in trying to get to the truth of these matters.


Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich
Dennis Kucinich
Dennis John Kucinich is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1997. He was furthermore a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2004 and 2008 presidential elections....

's major point in the Democratic Presidential Debate
Democratic Party (United States) presidential debates, 2008
The 2008 Democratic Presidential Debates were political debates prior to and during the 2008 Democratic Primaries. The debates began on April 26, 2007, in Orangeburg, South Carolina.-Election 2008:...

 on October 30, 2007 was that Bush and Cheney should be impeached for the Iraq war. On November 6, 2007, Kucinich introduced a resolution to impeach Vice President Cheney
Impeachment of Dick Cheney
In April 2007, Representative Dennis Kucinich filed an impeachment resolution against Vice President Dick Cheney seeking his trial in the Senate on three charges. After months of inaction, Kucinich re-introduced the exact content of H. Res 333 as a new resolution numbered in November 2007...

 in the House of Representatives.

In November 2007, Joe Biden
Joe Biden
Joseph Robinette "Joe" Biden, Jr. is the 47th and current Vice President of the United States, serving under President Barack Obama...

, then a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008, stated that he would move to impeach if President Bush were to bomb Iran without first gaining congressional approval. However, no such bombing occurred during the rest of Bush's term.

On June 9, 2008, Representative Dennis Kucinich
Dennis Kucinich
Dennis John Kucinich is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1997. He was furthermore a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2004 and 2008 presidential elections....

 (D-Ohio), introduced a resolution, , to impeach president George W. Bush, which included 35 counts in the articles of impeachment. At the end of the evening on June 10, Kucinich offered a motion to refer HRes 1258 to the House Judiciary Committee. On June 11, the House voted 251-166 to send the resolution to the Committee.

On July 14, 2008, Kucinich introduced a new impeachment resolution limited to a single count.

State-level Democratic party actions

On March 21, 2006 the New Mexico Democratic Party, at a convention in Albuquerque
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As...

, adopted a plank to their platform saying “the Democratic Party of New Mexico supports the impeachment of George Bush and his lawful removal from office.”

On March 24, 2007, the Vermont Democratic State Committee voted to support JRH 15, a state legislative resolution supporting impeachment, calling for its passage as "appropriate action."

On January 2, 2008, Betty Hall (D), an 87-year-old, fourteen-term State Representative, introduced New Hampshire House Resolution 24 in the State-Federal Relations and Veterans Affairs Committee of the New Hampshire House of Representatives
New Hampshire House of Representatives
The New Hampshire House of Representatives is the lower house in the New Hampshire General Court. The House of Representatives consists of 400 members coming from 103 districts across the state, created from divisions of the state's counties. On average, each legislator represents about 3,300...

. The resolution was "petitioning Congress to commence impeachment procedures" against Bush and Cheney for "high crimes and misdemeanors", including domestic spying, illegal detentions, signing statements, electioneering, the breaking of international treaties, and war crimes. The bill further asserted that "section 603 of Jefferson's Manual of Parliamentary Practice states that an impeachment may be set in motion by the United States House of Representatives by charges transmitted from the legislature of a state".

On February 20, 2008, the bill was ruled "Inexpedient to Legislate" to pass by a 10 to 5 vote within committee, which passed the resolution on to the full House for a vote. The bill was tabled
Table (parliamentary)
In parliamentary procedure, a motion to table has two different and contradictory meanings:*In the United States, table usually means the motion to lay on the table or motion to postpone consideration; a proposal to suspend consideration of a pending motion...

 in the New Hampshire House of Representatives on April 16, 2008. After three efforts to have the bill removed from the table were unsuccessful, it died on the table on September 24, 2008.

Further reading

  • John Bonifaz
    John Bonifaz
    John C. Bonifaz is a Boston-based attorney and political activist specializing in constitutional law and voting rights, and founder of the National Voting Rights Institute. He is also a former candidate for Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth...

    , Warrior King: The Case for Impeaching George Bush, (2003) ISBN 1-56025-606-0
  • Dave Lindorff
    Dave Lindorff
    Dave Lindorff is an investigative reporter, a columnist for CounterPunch, and a contributor to Businessweek, The Nation, Extra! and Salon.com...

     & Barbara Olshansky
    Barbara Olshansky
    -The Case for Impeachment:Olshansky is author with Dave Lindorff of The Case for Impeachment: The Legal Argument for Removing President George W...

    , The Case for Impeachment: The Legal Argument for Removing President George W. Bush from Office, (2006) ISBN 0-312-36016-9
  • Dennis Loo & Peter Phillips
    Peter Phillips
    Peter Phillips is the son of Anne, Princess Royal of the United Kingdom.Peter Phillips or Philips may also refer to:* Peter Philips Peter Phillips (born 1977) is the son of Anne, Princess Royal of the United Kingdom.Peter Phillips or Philips may also refer to:* Peter Philips Peter Phillips (born...

    , Eds., Impeach the President: the Case Against Bush and Cheney, (2006) ISBN 978-1-58322-743-5
  • John Nichols
    John Nichols
    John Nichols may refer to:* John Nichols , author of The Milagro Beanfield War* John Nichols , British diplomat and Ambassador to Switzerland* John Nichols , English cricketer...

    , The Genius of Impeachment: The Founders' Cure for Royalism, (2006) ISBN 978-1595581402
  • Elizabeth de la Vega, U.S. v. Bush, (2006) ISBN 978-1-58322-756-5
  • Charles Black, Impeachment: A Handbook (Yale Fastback Series), (1998 Reissue) ISBN 0-300-07950-8
  • Glenn Greenwald
    Glenn Greenwald
    Glenn Greenwald is an American lawyer, columnist, blogger, and author. Greenwald worked as a constitutional and civil rights litigator before becoming a contributor to Salon.com, where he focuses on political and legal topics...

    , How Would a Patriot Act? Defending American Values from a President Run Amok
    How Would a Patriot Act?
    How Would A Patriot Act? Defending American Values From A President Run Amok is a New York Times best selling book by constitutional lawyer and blogger Glenn Greenwald that appeared in May 2006...

    , (2006) ISBN 0-9779440-0-X
  • Elizabeth Holtzman
    Elizabeth Holtzman
    Elizabeth Holtzman is an American lawyer and former Democratic politician, pioneer woman officeholder, four term U.S. Representative , two term District Attorney of Kings County , and New York City Comptroller .Her role on the House Judiciary Committee during the Watergate scandal drew national...

     with Cynthia Cooper, The Impeachment of George W Bush A Practical Guide for Concerned Citizens, (2006) ISBN 156025940X
  • Marjorie Cohn
    Marjorie Cohn
    Marjorie Cohn is a professor of law at the Thomas Jefferson School of Law, San Diego, California, and a former president of the National Lawyers Guild.In 1978 Cohn received a job in the International Association of Democratic Lawyers...

    , Cowboy Republic: Six Ways the Bush Gang Has Defied the Law, (2007) ISBN 0977825337
  • Charlie Savage
    Charlie Savage
    Charlie Savage is a newspaper reporter in Washington, D.C., with the New York Times, which he joined in May 2008. In 2007, when employed by the Boston Globe, he was the recipient of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting on the issue of Presidential Signing Statements, specifically the use...

    , Takeover: The Return of the Imperial Presidency and the Subversion of American Democracy, (2007) ISBN 0316118052

External links

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