While this didn’t come from Conyers, it IS coming from Congressman Robert Wexler.
Our campaign for accountability for the Bush administration is making legitimate progress.
I am pleased to announce to you that the House Judiciary Committee has met my public call for Scott McClellan’s immediate testimony with action:
Today, Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers officially invited Mr. McClellan to testify under oath on Friday, June 20th at 10AM.
After all of our hard work pushing for impeachment hearings for Vice President Cheney – the McClellan hearing provides our cause with a legitimate opportunity to showcase the crimes and violations of this Administration for the American people, the mainstream media, reluctant members of the Democratic party, and sensible Republicans. This hearing provides us our first genuine opportunity to enter the public consciousness and change the dynamics that have prevented true accountability for Bush and Cheney.
Mr. McClellan was a major figure in the Valerie Plame/CIA scandal, as well as a leading propagandist for the Bush White House’s deliberate attempts to hide the true costs of this war from the American public. As such, Mr. McClellan will testify under oath (and be subject to perjury charges should he lie) and be asked about the following matters:
* What role did President Bush, Vice President Cheney , and key administration officials take in the effort to reveal the identity of covert CIA agent Valeria Plame Wilson – thus destroying her network and putting lives in jeopardy?
* What role did President Bush, Vice President Cheney, and key administration officials take regarding the firing of U.S. Attorneys or political reasons?
* What role did President Bush, Vice President Cheney, key administration officials take in conspiring to blatantly break U.S. and International laws prohibiting the use of torture?
I call on Mr. McClellen to immediately accept this invitation and testify under oath as he previously agreed to while being interviewed on national television.During the hearing I will have roughly five short minutes to question Mr. McClellan and undercover the illegalities committed by this Administration – which is why it is critically important that every representative on the Judiciary Committee hears your voice. Please let them know that you demand answers to these questions.
Nor should it stop there: Karl Rove has thumbed his nose to the Judiciary Committee’s subpoena – joining Harriet Miers, Joshua Bolten and Vice President Cheney’s Chief of Staff David Addington as the only Administration officials in history to claim Congress has no power to even bring them before a committee to be questioned.
I have called for Karl Rove to be held in inherent contempt and for the other renegade officials to appear as required by their subpoenas, or be forced to do so by the House Sergeant of Arms.
What the Judiciary’s request of McClellan proves is that if we stay vigilant – if we call loudly and repeatedly for accountability – that we become very difficult to ignore.
Please stay tuned. I hope for more developments soon.
With great respect,
Congressman Robert Wexler
Disclaimer: I am not a Bush fan. I am not a neo-con. I am not a Republican hack. I am not a McCain supporter.
That said, I’m not sure they’re going to be able to make much hay from Wexler’s planned questions for McClellan.
Quick takes on Wexler’s bullet points (I can elaborate later if I need to):
*PLAME: Even if you don’t accept the official story that Richard Armitage was Robert Novak’s soul source for Plame’s identity, you still have to consider a few things: 1) Claims that Plame was a covert operative in the first place are dubious and questionable; 2) Plame’s association with the CIA was well known in journalistic circles- she didn’t try to hard to hid it; 3) If she wanted to avoid scrutiny, she should not have allowed her retired husband to travel to Niger for a job he was neither trained nor prepared for, which would inevitably lead the press back to her.
*FIRING OF U.S. ATTORNEYS: If only to avoid a dangerous double standard, they should investigate Jimmy Carter’s 1978 firing of U.S. Attorney David Marston.
*TORTURE: Depends on how you define it. If you consider waterboarding torture, Bush is Hitler. If you don’t- like the soldiers who have had it done to them for training purposes- the issue is moot. I don’t consider waterboarding torture, and there is no evidence that Bush/Cheney have ever ordered real torture or stood by and knowingly let it happen.
I know the Left is giddy with McClellan’s Soros-connected smear book. I’m just sayin’ don’t get your hopes up that this McClellan testimony will give Dems any legal ammo.
Realistically, I think you have the right idea, with the wrong context. To wit: The Democrats have plenty of legal ammo already. It’s there, in their offices, sitting useless.
Will they do something with McClellan’s testimony? I guess it depends on two things:
1. What McClellan says.
2. Magically growing a populated nut sack overnight.
I think #1 may have some possibilities, but on #2, I don’t believe in magic. Populated nut sacks do not grow over night, no matter how many times you wave your diminutive wand around.
Wow, a Soros reference. Haven’t heard one of those in… well… minutes. I thought that meme was dead.
Personally, I would have a hard time NOT calling waterboard torture, in that it is a process meant to illicit fear of death in order to obtain information. For me though, arguing the semantics of what we all define as “torture” pale in comparison to what Bush has done to our constitution, and the office of President itself.
He without a doubt merits impeachment as much as Nixon did, and MORE SO than Clinton did. Whether it will happen, who knows. Many are willing to drop it with his term so short on time.
Personally, I would like to see an example made of him, to avoid future ass-hatery.
Well, Jasonthe, were there not a valid Soros connection, there would be no need for a Soros mention.