Impeach Cheney Now

Even if he does get indicted, Dick Cheney should be thrown out of office immediately :

Vice President Cheney and his chief of staff, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, overruling advice from some White House political staffers and lawyers, decided to withhold crucial documents from the Senate Intelligence Committee in 2004 when the panel was investigating the use of pre-war intelligence that erroneously concluded Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, according to Bush administration and congressional sources.

Among the White House materials withheld from the committee were Libby-authored passages in drafts of a speech that then-Secretary of State Colin L. Powell delivered to the United Nations in February 2003 to argue the Bush administration’s case for war with Iraq, according to congressional and administration sources. The withheld documents also included intelligence data that Cheney’s office — and Libby in particular — pushed to be included in Powell’s speech, the sources said.

United States Constitution, Article II, section 4 :

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.

U.S. Code, Title 18, Section 1001 :

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, whoever, in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government of the United States, knowingly and willfully– (1) falsifies, conceals, or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact; (2) makes any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation; or (3) makes or uses any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry; shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both.

I wonder if subsection (3) would also apply to a State of the Union address.


posted by greg on October 27, 2005 @ 3:58 pm

2 comments

  1. Since bush doesn’t get high (anymore), it must be a misdemeanor.

    Comment by mdhåtter — October 27, 2005 @ 7:51 pm

  2. “The President shall from time to time give to Congress information of the State of the Union and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.” Article II, Sec. 3, U.S. Constitution

    and from Section 1001

    (c) With respect to any matter within the jurisdiction of the legislative branch, subsection (a) shall apply only to–
    (1) administrative matters, including …

    …a document required by law, rule, or regulation to be submitted to the Congress …

    So, if they knew the Niger documents were fakes when they went into the SOTU, its a crime …

    Comment by Temble — October 28, 2005 @ 2:50 pm

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