Raw Story: Conyers to Bush: Promise you won't pardon those who outed agent

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Conyers_writes_Bush_Promise_you_wont_pardon_those_who_oute_0725.html

The following letter was dispatched from the Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee to President Bush Monday, and copied to RAW STORY.

#
July 25, 2005

The President
The White House
Dear Mr. President:

I write in order to seek your pledge that you will not pardon anyone who has worked or is currently working in your Administration pursuant to Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution in the event that any such individual is either prosecuted for, or convicted of, a crime in connection or relation with the disclosure of Valerie Wilson's identity as a CIA operative or any related matter.

Your handling of the Valerie Wilson matter already appears to be replete with examples of lessening regard for high standards of ethical and legal behavior. First, you refused to respond to a request by myself and 90 Members of Congress that you ask Karl Rove, one of your top advisors, to either disclose his role in the outing of Mrs. Wilson or resign and, indeed, have allowed him to remain on your staff without doing so. Second, on July 18, 2005, you changed the threshold for terminating your staff from leaking the identity of Mrs. Wilson to the necessity for an actual crime to have been committed. On repeated occasions, you have permitted your staff to mislead and/or lie to the American people in connection with this matter without disciplinary consequences. For several years, your press secretary, Scott McClellan, assured the American people that neither Mr. Rove, I. Lewis Libby, nor Elliot Abrams were involved in the leak; just this past month, however, we learned that both Mr. Rove and Mr. Libby were sources for Ms. Plame's identity. Mr. McClellan remains undisciplined for his statements. I am therefore concerned that these low ethical standards foreshadow future actions on your part that will allow individuals responsible for this breach of national security to evade accountability.

As you may recall, many questioned the propriety of your father sealing the case records and pardoning six individuals from his Administration who were implicated by Independent Counsel Lawrence Walsh in the Iran-Contra case. When issues of the executive's pardon power involving members of his own Administration were raised during investigations involving the Clinton Administration, the House Judiciary Committee, of which I serve as Ranking Member, held a hearing concerning the constitutional limits of the President with regards to the power of executive clemency. During those hearings, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) presciently stated, "Improperly exercised, the pardon is a travesty of justice - an act borne not of mercy, but of tyranny."

There is little doubt that outing an intelligence operative is one of the most serious offenses under our laws, as it endangers not only the operative, their family, and their employer, but jeopardizes other operatives and intelligence assets, and our nation's security. To do so during a time of war for purposes of a political vendetta makes the offense far worse. That is why when in connection with the drafting of our Constitution, Alexander Hamilton wrote, the "power of pardoning in the President has . . . been only contested in relations to the crime of treason." I hope you agree with Mr. Hamilton that there is no justification for using pardon powers in any way to insulate those who would commit such acts of disloyalty against our nation.

I look forward to your earliest response to this important matter. Please have your office respond to my Judiciary Committee office at 225-6504, 2142 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515.

Sincerely,

/s

John Conyers, Jr.
Ranking Member
House Judiciary Committee

[NorCalDem]

1. As I often state....

God I love this man, in a way that would not offend Republican's :D

[dbeach]

2. How do ya ask a serial liar to keep a pledge???

"I write in order to seek your pledge that you will not pardon anyone who has worked or is currently working in your Administration pursuant .."

God help us when US Congressman like Conyers has to bow to a thief...

[babylonsister]

3. John Conyers, my

hero!:patriot:
But I hope he's not holding his breath waiting for a response-this should get the blivet's panties in a wad!

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

6. Conyers on June 16th

...he got a response. Look at the WH aide's clenched fists.

[Deere_John]

12. A chilling picture. Right out of a banana republic. n/t

[troubleinwinter]

4. Thank you yet again, Patriot Conyers! (showing off my new avitar, too)

[quiet.american]

5. My man rocks! Excellent offense, and in writing, on the record. n/t

[realFedUp]

7. yyyeeeeaaaahhhhhhh!

At the least he puts this stuff on the table.

[Liberal_Andy]

8. That's what they need to ask Judge Roberts!

Would he allow a prez to pardon a traitor? If contested, would he let the pardon stand?? That's what I wanna know.

[damntexdem]

9. Heh, heh, smart move!

It further notes Dubya's failure to act on his own words in the affair. It makes pardoning more difficult by getting the idea onto the radar screen early. It has the potential to make any actual pardoning that much more damning. And the thing is: Dubya couldn't even pardon anyone until someone was convicted. And consider, this might not reach to Rove or Libby but might reach, for example, to Libby's boss. Of course, if it reaches to Rove's boss, then the 'no pardoning' language would have to be directed to a different prez. ;-)

[Coexist]

10. kick

good foresight!

[wishlist]

11. Bush will pardon Rove & Co- but I hope it forever stains his 'legacy'

Daddy Bush's pardoning of the Iran-Contra participants was either unknown or virtually forgotten by most of us because the seriousness was more difficult to grasp than the current situation where top officials maliciously leaked a well-regarded CIA agent's identity for nefarious purposes.

I hope that strong statements like this one by Conyers and by the CIA panel last Friday along with some hard-hitting media coverage will help make the dishonesty, arrogance and mean spirited corruption of the White House apparent to more Americans.

I especially like this paragraph by Conyers:

"There is little doubt that outing an intelligence operative is one of the most serious offenses under our laws, as it endangers not only the operative, their family, and their employer, but jeopardizes other operatives and intelligence assets, and our nation's security. To do so during a time of war for purposes of a political vendetta makes the offense far worse. That is why when in connection with the drafting of our Constitution, Alexander Hamilton wrote, the "power of pardoning in the President has . . . been only contested in relations to the crime of treason." I hope you agree with Mr. Hamilton that there is no justification for using pardon powers in any way to insulate those who would commit such acts of disloyalty against our nation."

[fooj]

13. We are soooo lucky we have him! He is a true patriot!

Peace.

[Nothing Without Hope]

14. Poppy did exactly that with Iran-Contra to protect his own guilty hide.

http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/05/07/con05249.html
July 22, 2005

THE question for Congress to ask Judge John G. Roberts' during his confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice
Can loyalty to the President also be treason?

A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION
by One Citizen

(snip)

Let's imagine for a moment that a member of the Bush Administration was pardoned by the president after being indicted for say, leaking a CIA undercover agent's name to the public. And let us also say for the purposes of this question that the Executive Clemency order was issued after the indictment was proffered but before the case was prosecuted. The very timing of this pardon would virtually steal the golden fleece of justice from American citizens before our Justice system could work its magic.

(snip)

"Now wouldn't that be a fine kettle of fish if, by the sheer timing of his pardon, the President was allowed to protect himself, or perhaps shield some other guilty party in his Administration from prosecution for this most serious offense against homeland security?"

Now before you, dear reader, accuse me of a most fantastic flight of fancy that would never actually come to pass in the real world, let me explain. I didn't just pull this specter of an inopportunely timed pre-emptive pardon out of thin air.

In fact, I am only reframing an earlier case that actually set a legal precedent, which was pulled off by none other than George H.W. Bush. That's right, the father of our current president, and former head of the CIA successfully kept special prosecutor Lawrence Walsh from exacting justice for crimes committed during the Iran Contra illegal war which was secretly run out of the basement of Ronald Reagan's White House.

(snip)

[paineinthearse]

15. Phew!!!!!

I've been away a few days and found NOTHING posted in the John Conyers group

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=340

- since 7/20.

What else has he been up to?

[snot]

16. Conyers is worth any dozen other Dems! nt