Please excuse me for re-posting this in its entirety, but it’s important.
THIS HEARING IS STARTING RIGHT NOW! (Friday 7:30 AM Pacific Time on C-SPAN)
‘Imperial presidency’ hearing to feature 13 witnesses
The House Judiciary Committee has released a witness list for its hearing to examine “the imperial presidency” of George W. Bush.
Testifying Friday morning will be Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who has introduced several resolutions calling for President Bush’s and Vice President Dick Cheney’s impeachment; former Rep. Bob Barr, the Libertarian presidential candidate who led the charge to impeach Bill Clinton in 1998; Vincent Bugliosi, author of the just-released book The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder; and 10 other current and former members of Congress, constitutional experts and human rights activists.
The hearing, which was announced last week, seems to be the one Judiciary Chairman John Conyers promised to Kucinich after he introduced his second impeachment resolution aimed at Bush earlier this month. Any action on Kucinich’s articles of impeachment still seems unlikely, but the Ohio Democrat has previously said he just wants to be able to present his case.
Late Thursday afternoon, the committee released the full witness list, broken down into two panels.
Panel One
The Honorable Dennis Kucinich, Representative from Ohio
The Honorable Maurice Hinchey, Representative from New York
The Honorable Walter Jones, Representative from North Carolina
The Honorable Brad Miller, Representative from North CarolinaPanel Two
The Honorable Elizabeth Holtzman, Former Representative from New York
The Honorable Bob Barr, Former Representative from Georgia, 2008 Libertarian Nominee for President
The Honorable Ross C. “Rocky” Anderson, Founder and President, High Roads for Human Rights
Stephen Presser, Raoul Berger Professor of Legal History, Northwestern University School of Law
Bruce Fein, Associate Deputy Attorney General, 1981-82, Chairman, American Freedom Agenda
Vincent Bugliosi, Author and former Los Angeles County Prosecutor
Jeremy A. Rabkin, Professor of Law, George Mason University School of Law
Elliott Adams, President of the Board, Veterans for Peace
Frederick A. O. Schwarz, Jr., Senior Counsel, Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law
Conyers (D-MI) previously laid out six areas the hearing would explore:
(1) improper politicization of the Justice Department and the U.S. Attorneys offices, including potential misuse of authority with regard to election and voting controversies;
(2) misuse of executive branch authority and the adoption and implementation of the so-called unitary executive theory, including in the areas of presidential signing statements and regulatory authority;
(3) misuse of investigatory and detention authority with regard to U.S. citizens and foreign nationals, including questions regarding the legality of the administration’s surveillance, detention, interrogation, and rendition programs;
(4) manipulation of intelligence and misuse of war powers, including possible misrepresentations to Congress related thereto;
(5) improper retaliation against administration critics, including disclosing information concerning CIA operative Valerie Plame, and obstruction of justice related thereto; and
(6) misuse of authority in denying Congress and the American people the ability to oversee and scrutinize conduct within the administration, including through the use of various asserted privileges and immunities.
The hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday on Capitol Hill.
I really hope this hearing is televised. I am especially anxious to hear Bruce Fein, Vincent Bugliosi, and “Rocky” Anderson speak. No, I don’t expect anything to happen. Yes, this is a very visual exercise in democracy and accountability in action, and it gives me hope (at least a little) that our government isn’t completely demolished yet.
It is Friday though, and it is quite uncanny how when something is happening that puts the administration in a bad light, something ELSE bad will happen (like a “terror” alert or some other nonsense) that will take over the news cycle.. Just watch and see.. How much do you want to bet that something will happen to divert this country’s attention away from these hearings..
Just sayin’…
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23 Comments
July 24, 2008 at 10:46 pm
I can’t wait!
I’ll be checking c-span online as soon as I get to work.
July 25, 2008 at 7:23 am
This hearing is starting RIGHT NOW on C-SPAN.
July 25, 2008 at 7:33 am
I’ll have to listen to it at work.
Maybe some live-blogging of highlights? — although I doubt I’ll be able to help much.
July 25, 2008 at 8:04 am
Bob Barr’s testifying? That is interesting. Maybe he can steal more Republican votes from McCranky if any of those types watch CSpan.
July 25, 2008 at 8:06 am
Trent Franks is reading a statement now — I can smell the piss running down his legs from here…
July 25, 2008 at 8:30 am
Listening right now on C-span online. Dennis Kucinich would have made a hell of a President!
July 25, 2008 at 10:35 am
Is anyone else still listening?
I’m missing a lot of it, but if they don’t have actual impeachment hearings, we’ll know for sure they’re all corrupt.
July 25, 2008 at 10:44 am
Steve King is speaking now. “If a Democrat president…” (who he found a nice way to relate to Caligula).
Steve, I realize you’re one of the dimmest bulbs on the Hill, but it’s DemocratIC. Can’t you at least sound reasonably intelligent?
Nevermind. Not possible.
July 25, 2008 at 10:45 am
http://www.c-span.org/watch/cs_cspan_wm.asp?Cat=TV&Code=CS
If you want to watch online.
July 25, 2008 at 11:03 am
Typical bullshit. Goopers lie and distort and protect the worst president in history. Nothing else matters other than protecting this president.
Now they’re quoting Hillary and Kerry in their responses (at the time) for voting for AUMF. Does he say that their votes are based on what the Admin told them at the time?
Uhm, no. Of course not.
July 25, 2008 at 11:08 am
Professor at
GWUGeorge Mason University said that Bush isn’t the worst president, Buchanan is. And the relevance, considering the purpose of the hearing, is….?July 25, 2008 at 11:14 am
It seems like there’s an awful lot of Bush butt sniffing going on now.
July 25, 2008 at 11:25 am
And now the Supreme Court’s decision (vis a vis the Canadian “terrorist” so called trial) is being attacked.
July 25, 2008 at 11:27 am
It’s not all butt-sniffing (all the Republican’s are to be sure), but it’s pretty interesting if you go past the gooper agenda.
Not all Dem’s are for it (and with interesting ideas as to why). The Dem from NC (I didn’t know there was such an animal!) had a reasoned response.
I’m working on something so not reporting the entire thing. It’s just on in the background. If I hear something bat-shit out there, I am posting it here.
July 25, 2008 at 11:42 am
A republican wanted all signs by protesters removed (as per the rules) and lots of discussion from the gallery took place. The same gooper then requested that they recess the hearing.
Tough luck, dickhead.
Hearing continues.
July 25, 2008 at 11:50 am
Bruce Fein is the voice of reason in these hearings, as well as Elizabeth Holtzman, Bob Barr, and Frederick Schwarz. Fein is especially clear, concise, detailed, fact-based, and coherent. I hope that the House members are paying attention.
July 25, 2008 at 11:55 am
Goopers are trying to stop Bugliosi from speaking.
His time is up! (He is responding to a question)
Classified data! (It was declassified)
Nice try.
July 25, 2008 at 11:58 am
Why is it that the GOP only present their questions to the two people on the panels: Presser and Rabkin? Do they HONESTLY not have any valid questions or concerns with what has happened to our government and Constitution? Honestly?
They aren’t even asking any questions from the other professionals to at least challenge them so their challenges could be shot down..
Cowards.
July 25, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Cowards = Republican. Unless it’s with someone else’s life. Then…BRING IT ON!
July 25, 2008 at 12:22 pm
The Republicans don’t WANT to know..
Bruce Fein IS a Republican. The man totally understands the Constitution and the rule of law. If I remember right, he helped with going after Clinton! I think if he says that this is a CLEAR situation for impeachment, they should sit up and listen, and at least ask him why he believes it.
Fein isn’t their to be a partisan, he is there as an American, a Constitutional scholar, and a protector of the Constitution. I thought that is what ALL the Congressmen were supposed to be about..
July 25, 2008 at 12:31 pm
There is no way that any Republican will listen.
The 11th rule is in effect. Politics now is all or nothing, left or right, nothing in between. The likes of the Rush O’Hannity’s ensure that it stays that way.
And the people don’t get it (not all don’t, and not all are blind anymore – but only because they are feeling it. Should it happen to someone else, it doesn’t matter).
July 25, 2008 at 12:37 pm
I missed the last question where Bugliosi responded he couldn’t respond.
What was the question?
July 25, 2008 at 7:30 pm
I’m listening to the hearings of today again on CSPAN to catch the parts I missed. I am listening to Jeremy Rabkin ramble on.. He is talking on and on about all of this isn’t a big issues because ALL presidents do this stuff “in a time of war”. I REALLY wish someone would have pointed out that the wiretapping and domestic surveillance/illegal wiretapping started BEFORE 9/11, and BEFORE we went to war..