Is lying about the reason for a war an impeachable offense?

[Xipe Totec]

Oldie, but goodie:

By John W. Dean
FindLaw Columnist
Special to CNN.com
Friday, June 6, 2003 Posted: 5:17 PM EDT (2117 GMT)

(snip)

To put it bluntly, if Bush has taken Congress and the nation into war based on bogus information, he is cooked. Manipulation or deliberate misuse of national security intelligence data, if proven, could be "a high crime" under the Constitution's impeachment clause. It would also be a violation of federal criminal law, including the broad federal anti-conspiracy statute, which renders it a felony "to defraud the United States, or any agency thereof in any manner or for any purpose."

It's important to recall that when Richard Nixon resigned, he was about to be impeached by the House of Representatives for misusing the CIA and FBI. After Watergate, all presidents are on notice that manipulating or misusing any agency of the executive branch improperly is a serious abuse of presidential power.

- John Dean,
former counsel to the president of the United States.


http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/06/06/findlaw.analysis.dean.wmd/index.html

[ClusterFreak]

1. 'Scuse me while take a quaff of a tall, cool drink.....

...:beer:

If anyone would know about what it's like to be 'cooked'....it just might be Nixon's White House counsel.

[Xipe Totec]

2. The voice of experience...

Smooth, and satisfying.

It is amazing how many of the same Watergate players are involved this time around.

[banana republican]

3. NO!!!! IT IS TREASON

Levying War upon the US is defined in the Constitution as TREASON....

[whalerider55]

4. much as i respect john dean...

there's one problem with this.

war? what war? who declared a war?

didn't congress simply pass a bill (and the buck) saying the president could do what he wants when he wants to?

when is a war not a war, constitutionally...

we haven't declared war on any country in more than sixty years, yet more than a hundred thousand soldiers have died in uniform- korea, vietnam, panama, kuwait, afganistan, iraq...

hey, since congress passed the buck, let me set this standard.

if someone is bureid in arlington with a bullet in them, it's a war...

whalerider

[rumpel]

5. here is Dean's newest article

Waiting For The Valerie Plame Wilson Grand Jury: The Big Question Is Whether Dick Cheney Was a Target
By JOHN W. DEAN
----
Friday, Oct. 21, 2005
Washington is truly abuzz with rumors about what Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald may, or may not do, as his grand jury comes to the close of its almost two-year investigation of the leak of Valerie Plame Wilson's covert status at the CIA. As I write, it appears that Fitzgerald will act within the next few days.

Unidentified government officials, The New York Times reports, say that Fitzgerald "will not make up his mind about any charges until next week." With his grand jury expiring on October 28, 2005, he is down to only a few options:

http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20051021.html

[hootinholler]

6. This is an important observation.

Cool another count to go after.

It's been demonstrated outside of the Grand Jury that Cheney and Rumsfeld set up an intel operation outside of the purview of the Intelligence committee. They were called WHIG and OSP. The interconnections are well documented. Along with documented links to SIMSI (Italian intel) where the Niger forgeries surfaced. In fact an Italian agent bypassed the CIA after they rejected his story.

The question is to do this in order to begin a war of aggression Treason? Or to raid the treasury via the credit line of this nation, would that become Treason?

-Hoot

[Oerdin]

7. Impeachment will not happen

The Reoublicans control the Congress and they will never vote for it. Bush could be caught raping little boys and selling state secrets to the North Koreans and they would not move an inch.

[journalist3072]

8. It's not enough to say

That the Republicans would never vote for it. We must SHAME them into voting for it.

We can never let them forget that they are the ones who lowered the standard for what is considered an impeachable offense.

[Silverhair]

10. Shame them? LOL !!

[journalist3072]

11. I know....

Many of them really don't have a conscience, and are just concerned with their own political viability.

So it's hard to shame them into anything. But we must do it. They lowered the bar for impeachment, and now THEY must live with the consequences of lowering that bar.

[Silverhair]

9. Bush will NOT be removed from office via impeachment.

My thanks to DUer elperromagico for this post, which I am reposting.

1. The House Judiciary Committee deliberates over whether to initiate an impeachment inquiry.

2. The Judiciary Committee adopts a resolution seeking authority from the entire House of Representatives to conduct an inquiry. Before voting, the House debates and considers the resolution. Approval requires a majority vote.

At present, the political composition of the House is 232 Republicans, 202 Democrats, and 1 independent.
In order for the House Judiciary Committee to begin an impeachment inquiry, at least 218 aye votes must be cast. If every Democrat and Bernie Sanders voted "aye," 15 Republican votes would still be needed.

3. The Judiciary Committee conducts an impeachment inquiry, possibly through public hearings. At the conclusion of the inquiry, articles of impeachment are prepared. They must be approved by a majority of the Committee.

At present, the political composition of the House Judiciary Committee is 21 Republicans and 16 Democrats.

In order for articles of impeachment to be approved by the Committee, at least 19 "aye" votes must be cast. If every Democrat voted "aye," 3 Republican votes would still be needed.

4. The House of Representatives considers and debates the articles of impeachment. A majority vote of the entire House is required to pass each article. Once an article is approved, the President is, technically speaking, "impeached" -- that is subject to trial in the Senate.

In order for those articles of impeachment to be passed, at least 218 aye votes must be cast. If every Democrat and Bernie Sanders voted "aye," 15 Republican votes would still be needed.

5. The Senate holds trial on the articles of impeachment approved by the House. The Senate sits as a jury while the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court presides over the trial.

6. At the conclusion of the trial, the Senate votes on whether to remove the President from office. A two-thirds vote by the Members present in the Senate is required for removal.

The present composition of the US Senate is 55 Republicans, 44 Democrats, and 1 independent.

In order to remove a President from office, 67 votes are necessary in the Senate. If every Democrat and Jim Jeffords voted "aye," 22 Republican votes would still be needed.

7. If the President is removed, the Vice-President assumes the Presidency under the chain of succession established by Amendment XXV.
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All roadmaps that anybody who is dreaming about impeachment have ever posted have ALWAYS involved a significant number of Repubs supporting the impeachment. One or two - maybe. But over a dozen in each house - NO WAY !