Conyers: Will the President Pardon Rove?

[MelissaB]

Will the President Pardon Rove?

Today, I wrote to the White House to ask the President to pledge that he will not pardon any Administration official indicted during the course of the Fitzgerald investigation. As some of you may recall, his father, President George H.W. Bush, issued pardons of officials under indictment in the Iran-Contra scandal. Many of my Republican colleagues, and some of my Democratic Colleagues, raise questions about the pardons issued by President Clinton during his last days in office. It would seem to me that an Administration that promised a higher standard of ethics could, at least, make this pledge.

The White House has promised its full cooperation with the investigation, but has thus far fallen woefully short of actually cooperating. In fact, thus far, their strategy has been attack, attack, attack -- most significantly on Mr. and Mrs. Wilson. I believe we will soon see attacks by the President's surrogates on every part of this investigation: the prosecutor, the Central Intelligence Agency and the press. I am afraid, if push comes to shove, a pardon will be a last ditch tactic to evade accountability.

I do not have any illusions that the President will answer my letter (as he has ignored a letter signed by more than 120 of my colleagues about the Downing Street Minutes), but the press has the power to ask the question directly, and I hope they will.


The letter is here. There are several other questions I am pursuing and I will have more to say on this soon.


Blogged by JC on 07.25.05 @ 01:19 PM ET

Link: http://www.conyersblog.us/




:loveya: for Conyers. He knows they will do anything.

Bolding is mine.

[i miss america]

1. I admire that man greatly. Thanks for posting.

:applause:

[GreenPartyVoter]

2. A big THANK YOU to Mr. Conyers

[caligirl]

3. Need comments on this qoute cia and the 2004 election

there are going to be some very unexpected shoes dropping in this case, and they're going to drop in ways that surprise and disappoint the anti-Bush Moonies. An investigation into CIA attempts to influence the 2004 presidential election--through leaks of classified information to the press----would indeed be worthy of a serious special prosecutor, and I predict that is where this all leads. A prescient article from the WSJ, nearly two years ago:

Quote:
The real intelligence scandal is how an open opponent of the U.S. war on terror such as Mr. Wilson was allowed to become one of that policy's investigators. That egregious CIA decision echoes what has obviously been a long-running attempt by anonymous "intelligence sources" quoted in the media to undermine the Bush policy toward Iraq. Mr. Bush's policies of prevention and pursuing state sponsors of terror overturned more than 30 years of CIA anti-terror dogma, and some of the bureaucrats are hoping to defeat him in 2004.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/edito...ml?id=110004089

I'd also remind you Moonies of this fascinating statement by one of President Bush's former Harvard Business School classmates:
Quote:
By reputation, the President was a very avid and skillful poker player when he was an MBA student. One of the secrets of a successful poker player is to encourage your opponent to bet a lot of chips on a losing hand. This is a pattern of behavior one sees repeatedly in George W. Bush’s political career. He is not one to loudly proclaim his strengths at the beginning of a campaign. Instead, he bides his time, does not respond forcefully, a least at first, to critiques from his enemies, no matter how loud and annoying they get. If anything, this apparent passivity only goads them into making their case more emphatically.

[TahitiNut]

4. A pardon would be tantamount to complicity in the crimes of subordinates.

Such a 'conflict of interest' is an abuse of authority, imho.

[Pithy Cherub]

5. It would cement the high crimes designation for bushco.

A pardon while he is under 50% in popularity and looming 2006 mid-term elections would be a flaming disaster for repufflicans.

Conyers is anticipating nicely bushco's more sinister options.

[Cyrano]

6. If it comes to that, Rove will never see one day in jail.

We're talking about the largest criminal enterprise this country has ever seen. Rove in Jail??? It's more likely that any reporter who writes about this possibility will end up in a cell.

And anyone who thinks that Rove would "roll over" on George to avoid prison, really doesn't get it. Junior hasn't been running this country for the past four and a half years. It's been Cheney and Rove. And Cheney and Rove are currently telling Junior to shut up, don't say anything, and ride it out. And guess what? It's working.

Anyone who believes we still live in a democracy in which law/justice/fairness/reason have any place, are living in a fantasy land. They stole the 2000 election right out in the open. The 20004 election took place before anyone heard about Diebold and turning black voters away from polls. And the 2004 election took place in an environment in which many of us "got it" but couldn't do a damn thing about it.

Not only will Rove walk away, but he'll probably be appointed to the U.S. equivalent of the role that Josef Goebbels once held. (And please, no bullshit about the "nazi comparison.") If you haven't yet gotten it, please, please, wake up. It's not too late, but we're approaching that point.

[MelissaB]

7. kick!

[Independent_Liberal]

8. Kick!