Impeachment?! Take Him Down, Boys...

John Conyers, House Judiciary Dems Release Massive New Pre-War Intel Report, File Several Resolutions Calling for Censure of Bush, Cheney and Creation of 'Select Committee' to Investigate Impeachable Offenses

From this morning's press release:

"In brief, we have found that there is substantial evidence the President, the Vice-President and other high ranking members of the Bush Administration misled Congress and the American people regarding the decision to go to war in Iraq; misstated and manipulated intelligence information regarding the justification for such war; countenanced torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment in Iraq; and permitted inappropriate retaliation against critics of their Administration. There is at least a prima facie case that these actions that federal laws have been violated - from false statements to Congress to retaliating against Administration critics."..."The Report rejects the frequent contention by the Bush Administration that there pre-war conduct has been reviewed and they have been exonerated. No entity has ever considered whether the Administration misled Americans about the decision to go to War, and the Senate Intelligence Committee has not yet conducted a review of pre-war intelligence information, while the Silberman-Robb report specifically cautioned, that intelligence manipulation "was not part of our inquiry." There has also not been any independent inquiry concerning torture and other legal violations in Iraq; nor has there been an independent review of the pattern of cover-ups and political retribution by the Bush Administration against its critics, other than the very narrow and still ongoing inquiry of Special Counsel Fitzgerald."

Just a sample from the table of contents of the report titled THE CONSTITUTION IN CRISIS: The Downing Street Minutes and Deception, Manipulation, Toture, Retribution, and Coverups in the Iraq War :

Chapter 3. Detailed Factual Findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
A. Determination to go to War Before Congressional Authorization . . . . . . 17
1. Avenging the Father and Working With the Neo-Cons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2. September 11 and its Aftermath: Beating the Drums for War . . . . . . . . . 20
3. The Downing Street Minutes and Documentary Evidence of an
Agreement to go to War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
a. Description and Analysis of Various Downing Street Minutes
Materials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
b. Confirmation and Corroboration of Downing Street Minutes Materials . . 34
4. Manipulating Public Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
5. Using the United Nations as a Pretext for War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
B. Misstating and Manipulating the Intelligence to Justify Pre-emptive
War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Link to the PDF

Link to the report by chapters (with all the goodies)

There were three resolutions filed Sunday in conjuntion with this report. They are as follows:

1. H.R. 635 [PDF], Resolution calling for creation of a "Select Committee" :
Creating a select committee to investigate the Administration's intent to go to war before congressional authorization, manipulation of pre-war intelligence, encouraging and countenancing torture, retaliating against critics, and thwarting congressional oversight, and to make recommendations regarding grouns for impeachment.

2. H.R. 636 [PDF], Resolution calling for Censure of George W. Bush :
Censuring President George W. Bush for failing to respond to requests for information concerning allegations that he and others in his Administration misled Congress and the American people regarding the decision to go to war in Iraq, misstated and manipulated intelligence information regarding the justification for the war, counteananced torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of persons in Iraq, and permitted inappropriate retaliation against critics of his Administration, for failing to adequately account for specific misstatements he made regarding the war, and for failing to comply with Executive Order 12958.

3. H.R. 637 [PDF], Resolution calling for Censure of Richard B. Cheney :
Censuring Vice President Richard B. Cheney for failing to respond to requests for information concerning allegations that he and others in the Administration misled Congress and the American people regarding the decision to go to war in Iraq, misstated and manipulated intelligence information regarding the justification for the war, countenanced torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of persons in Iraq, and permitted inappropriate retaliation against critics of the Administration and for failing to adequately account for specific misstatements he made regarding the war.

Many, Many thanks to Brad Friedman @ bradblog.com