Conyers conducting examination into intelligence fixing and forgery

Steve Watson
Infowars.net
Friday, August 15, 2008

As part of a major examination into the evidence that the Bush administration forged intelligence documents to justify the invasion of Iraq, the House Judiciary Committee will also look into various considerations, plots and attempts to provoke war, including the idea of goading Saddam Hussein to shoot down a mock UN plane.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers has announced that he and his staff will investigate the evidence most recently collated and presented by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ron Suskind in his book “The Way of the World: A Story of Truth and Hope in an Age of Extremism“.

According to a press release earlier this week, Conyers’ office will examine:

“Reported examples of the Bush Administration considering other deceptive schemes to justify or provoke war with Iraq, such as the reported consideration of painting a U.S. aircraft with UN colors in order to provoke Iraq into military confrontation.”

The revelation first appeared in February 2006 when minutes of George Bush and Tony Blair’s pre-war January 2003 meeting surfaced. Amongst the clear evidence that the two were planning to begin military action on March 10th 2003, irrespective of whether the United Nations had passed a new resolution authorizing the use of force or not, came the provocation idea.

President Bush said: “The US was thinking of flying U2 reconnaissance aircraft with fighter cover over Iraq, painted in UN colors. If Saddam fired on them, he would be in breach.”

He went on: “It was also possible that a defector could be brought out who would give a public presentation about Saddam’s WMD, and there was also a small possibility that Saddam would be assassinated.”

The investigation will primarily focus on the evidence that the White House ordered the CIA to forge a handwritten letter from the head of Iraq’s intelligence service to Saddam Hussein that purported to link the Iraqi dictator to the ringleader of the hijackers Mohammed Atta, as outlined by Suskind in his book.

It will also review the evidence that the Bush Administration deliberately ignored information from Iraq’s chief intelligence officer that Saddam Hussein possessed no WMDs and instead forged intelligence to suggest he had an active weapons program.

In an interview with Democracy Now! John Conyers called the investigation “the most critical investigation of the entire Bush administration”.

Watch Ron Suskind’s appearance along with John Conyers on Democracy now:

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Here’s full coverage of the House Judiciary Committee’s Presidential Powers “Not quite impeachment” Hearing from C-SPAN - July 25, 2008

Dennis Kucinich enters the hearing to cheers:

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Rep. Robert Wexler:

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Rep. Steve King:

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Rep. Jerrold Nadler:

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Rep. Dennis Kucinich:

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Bruce Fein:

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Bruce Fein:

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Vincent Bugliosi:

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Vincent Bugliosi:

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Vincent Bugliosi:

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Lamar Smith:

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Rep. Tammy Baldwin

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Maurice Hinchey:

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Rep. Dan Lungren:

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Protesters ejected from the hearing:

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Rep. Walter Jones:

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Congressman Steve Cohen:

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After the hearing Dennis Kucinich took calls on CSpan:

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Kucinich may be barred from reading impeachment articles at impeachment hearing

Steve Watson
Infowars.net
Thursday, July 24, 2008

Dennis Kucinich spoke exclusively to the Alex Jones show yesterday concerning his effort to bring articles of impeachment against the president and the vice president.

Meanwhile, staffers of the chairman of the Judiciary Committee have reportedly told witnesses that Kucinich’s informal impeachment hearing this Friday may be under threat of dismissal before it is even underway.

The Congressman urged listeners to engage in discussions on the issue of impeachment and demand media coverage of the hearing to help increase awareness and protect the country from tyranny.

“The best defense of a country is an informed citizenry, so people should read the articles, and if there is anything I missed in the 35 articles then I’d be happy to hear from people.” Kucinich told listeners.

This Friday Congressman Kucinich will present the articles to the judiciary committee and talk about why he believes they should move to a formal hearing, and take testimony under oath of both the George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.

“I think it’s really important for the American people to know once and for all if in fact there were deliberate lies told that took this country into war.” Kucinich commented.

“I’m going to be putting on the table, something which everyone said was off the table, articles of impeachment.”

However, in the hours after Kucinich’s comments, news began to circulate that chairman of the Judiciary Committee John Conyers is now taking the position that no one at the hearing can accuse Bush or Cheney of any crime, any impeachable offense, dishonorable conduct, or even lying.

Conyers’ staffers have reportedly told various witnesses that according to Congressional rules he would be forced to shut down the hearing if any such accusations are made.

David Swanson of the activist website afterdowningstreet.org has more:

“Apparently the rules of Congress are designed to allow impeachable offenses to be discussed only in impeachment hearings. Apparently this didn’t occur to Chairman Conyers when he decided to hold a non-impeachment impeachment hearing. As a result, his hearing may be quickly shut down, and he will have a choice of holding a real impeachment hearing, resigning, or dropping the pretense that he intends to resist Cheney and Bush in any way whatsoever.”

It is still unclear whether or not these rules will apply to Dennis Kucinich in addition to all other witnesses during the session. In this sense the hearing may be rigged to be shut down before it has even begun.

Congressman Kucinich offered the following important advice to listeners on what they can do to help his effort:

“There are a lot of things your listeners can do. Get on the phone and demand that the media cover this judiciary committee hearing on Friday. It’s not as if the media exists in a vacuum. They exist because people watch them or listen to them. ”

Kucinich also warned listeners to the nationally syndicated radio show that he believes an attack on Iran is imminent:

“All the signs that we are seeing would point to that. I really get chills because I realise the danger that our country is in right now. Not only are we in one one based on manufactured representations, but we are headed towards another.” the Congressman stated.

He alluded to the period between the election and the inauguration of the president as the period to keep an eye on for a possible attack:

“We know that there are people in Israel who are pushing it, we also know that there are people within the US government who are pushing it and we have to push back in the cause of peace and justice.”

“This is about our Constitution, this is about whether we stay a Republic and whether or not we have principles that are bedrock principles that protect our Freedoms. You cannot stay a free nation if a government will go to war based on lies and will raise the budgets of military until there isn’t room for anything else.” the Congressman concluded.

View the articles of impeachment and sign the petition at http://kucinich.us/

The hearing is scheduled for 10am on Friday. Call local and national media and demand they cover the hearing.

Watch important segments of this history making interview below:

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Raw Story
Sunday November 11, 2007

On Friday, as the embattled legislation is pushed into committee, Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) wrote to House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-MI) in support of H. Res 799, Articles of Impeachment of Vice President Dick Cheney.

Text of the letter appears below.

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November 9, 2007

The Honorable John Conyers, Jr. Chairman Committee on the Judiciary 2138 Rayburn HOB Washington, DC 20515

Dear Chairman Conyers

I am writing in support of H. Res. 799, the Articles of Impeachment which were referred to the committee relative to the Impeachment of the Vice President of the United States of America.

Recent reports indicate that the Vice President is attempting to shape the National Intelligence Estimate on Iran to conform to his misperceptions about the threat Iran actually poses. Much like his deceptive efforts in the lead up to the Iraq war, the Vice President appears to be manipulating intelligence to conform to his beliefs.

If the reports are true, they add additional weight to the case for impeachment. I believe impeachment remains the only tool Congress has to prevent a war in Iran. This information relates directly to the Article III charges in the resolution. I urge your timely consideration.

Sincerely,
/s/
Dennis J. Kucinich
Member of Congress

Nick Juliano
Raw Story
Thursday Aug 30, 2007

Rep. John Conyers declared House Speaker Nancy Pelosi could not stop him from beginning impeachment proceedings in the House Judiciary Committee against a ‘long list of people’in the Bush administration, although he did not make a firm commitment to begin proceedings.

“Nancy Pelosi has impeachment ‘off the table,’ but that’s off her table, it is not off John Conyers’ table,” the Michigan Democrat said during a town hall meeting in his district Tuesday. “Nancy Pelosi, who I actually supported, cannot prevent me from introducing an impeachment resolution against, well I’ve got a long list of people who are eligible.”

Conyers did not announce plans to begin impeachment proceedings, which he has previously said would be politically untenable. Rather, his speech seemed to indicate that pro-impeachment activists did not yet convince him that Bush and Cheney deserved to be booted from office. A Conyers spokesman did not immediately respond to RAW STORY’s request for clarification of the congressman’s comments.

“I want you to know that I have no reticence, no reluctance, no hesitation to use the tool of impeachment … whenever I feel that it is appropriate,” Conyers said. “I only wish that I could be moved by a lot of people coming to my office.”

One activist who helped organize hundreds of protesters who traveled to Washington to push Conyers to begin impeachment remains unconvinced that the congressman will actually take action.

“I think John Conyers … is saying, ‘I’m not going to do what my constituency wants, I’m going to do what the Democratic leadership wants,’” Tina M. Richards, CEO of Grassroots America, told RAW STORY Wednesday.

Although she acknowledged Conyers “adamantly wants to impeach,” Richards said he is being precluded from doing so by Pelosi and other top House Democrats. Hundreds of impeachment activists are expected to descend on Pelosi’s office next month to pressure the House Speaker to allow impeachment proceedings.

The 21-term congressman, who took control of the Judiciary Committee this year, boasted that he was the first to introduce a resolution calling for Richard Nixon’s impeachment.

Conyers mentioned frequent visits by anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan, who recently led hundreds of protesters to urge him to begin impeachment proceedings. He told the activists he would not begin impeachment hearings because there is not enough support among Democrats, who control the House, for the move.

“I understand the politics of impeachment,” Conyers said. “But we have something going on now that we’ve never had before.”

The following video was posted online Wednesday: