Criminal Prosecution and Accountability

From: ThinkProgress.org

In July 2005, the New York Times raised the possibility that Bush could be involved in the leak. “It is still not clear what the investigation into the leak of a C.I.A. operative’s identity will mean for President Bush. So far the disclosures about the involvement of Karl Rove, among others, have not exacted any substantial political price from the administration. And nobody has suggested that the investigation directly implicates the president. Yet Mr. Bush has yet to address some uncomfortable questions that he may not be able to evade indefinitely There is the broader issue of whether Mr. Bush was aware of any effort by his aides to use the C.I.A. officer’s identity to undermine the standing of her husband, a former diplomat who had publicly accused the administration of twisting its prewar intelligence about Iraq’s nuclear program.” [NYT, 7/24/05]

CBS News, Associated Press Feb. 10, 2006

Quote: "The guy saw me in almost a dozen settings, and joked with me about a bunch of things, including details of my kids. Perhaps he has forgotten everything, who knows." -- Jack Abramoff

Jack Abramoff says in newly disclosed e-mail messages that he met President Bush "almost a dozen" times, challenging Mr. Bush's contention that he barely knew the disgraced lobbyist at the center of a Washington corruption scandal.

Bar association to oppose domestic spying
Chicago Sun Times February 11, 2006
BY ABDON M. PALLASCH Legal Affairs Reporter

The American Bar Association is preparing to weigh in against President Bush's eavesdropping on telephone calls going into and out of America.

Contrary to polls showing Americans divided on the issue, "our poll shows that average Americans and legal scholars alike agree that the awesome power of the government to penetrate citizens' most private communications must not be held in one set of hands," ABA President Michael Greco said Friday at group's annual midyear meeting in Chicago. "To prevent the very human temptation to abuse the power, there must be checks and balances in the form of oversight by the courts and Congress."

By Dave Lindorff, http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/

It's pretty easy to trace the war crime of torture in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay back to the Oval Office. The memos are all there.

By David Johnston, New York Times

Washington - Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff told prosecutors that Mr. Cheney had informed him "in an off sort of curiosity sort of fashion" in mid-June 2003 about the identity of the CIA officer at the heart of the leak case, according to a formerly secret legal opinion, parts of which were made public on Friday.

By Bloomberg

Feb. 3 (Bloomberg) -- I. Lewis Libby, Vice President Richard Cheney's former chief of staff, will go on trial next year after a delay intended to accommodate lawyers' schedules and resolve disputes over evidence that includes Libby's hard-to-read notes.

By Pete Yost, Associated Press

Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald is raising the possibility that records sought in the CIA leak investigation could be missing because of an e-mail archiving problem at the White House.

From Tomdispatch tonight: Elizabeth de la Vega's "When Two Worlds Collide, Rove v. Fitzgerald" http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=55695

Right now, with the President sailing through his latest State of the Union speech untouched by the mainstream media, it looks another danger -- the CIA leak case of Valerie Plame -- has also left the political playing field and that this administration has a minimum of nine lives. Well, don't let the relative media silence surrounding Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation right now fool you. As former federal prosecutor Elizabeth de la Vega indicates in her latest Tomdispatch report on the case, Fitzgerald is simply working on another time schedule than that of top administration officials. Yet, her experience assures her, two quite different worlds -- that of Karl Rove and that of Fitzgerald -- are in due course heading for a seismic collision. So expect fireworks out of the Special Counsel's office that will first illuminate the role of Rove in the case, and then may light up a far larger stretch of the administration horizon.

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BUSH ADMINISTRATION GUILTY OF CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY SAYS COMMISSION OF INQUIRY; ACTIVIST CONFRONTS RUMSFELD WITH VERDICT, SAYS “STEP DOWN

Thursday, February 02, 2006
Reddhedd, Firedoglake
Let's See...Who Was It that Thought He'd Be Indicted?

Oh yeah, it was Stephen Hadley.

International Commission of Inquiry on Crimes Against Humanity by the Bush Administration
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PRESS CONTACT: Heather Hurwitz 440-478-0165 COMMISSION OFFICE: 212-941-8086

Bush on Trial for Crimes against Humanity
By Marjorie Cohn, t r u t h o u t | www.truthout.org

The International Commission of Inquiry on Crimes against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration convened last weekend in New York City's Riverside Church. Martin Luther King Jr.'s portrait hangs in the foyer. Dr. King delivered his historic 1967 speech, "Beyond Vietnam: A Place to Break the Silence," opposing the war and calling for the removal of all foreign troops from Vietnam, in that same church.

BY MARTIN C. EVANS, New York Newsday, http://www.nynewsday.com

A former general in charge of the Abu Ghraib prison during the 2004 abuse scandal there and England's former ambassador to Uzbekistan were among several people to speak out against the Bush administration's handling of the "War on Terror" Saturday at an anti-war hearing at Manhattan's Riverside Church.

Pinochet Stripped of Immunity in Cases, By Associated Press

Santiago, Chile - Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet was stripped of immunity from prosecution Friday in 59 cases of torture and kidnapping at a secret detention center where hundreds of dissidents were held - including President-elect Michelle Bachelet and her mother.

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PRESS CONTACT: Connie Julian: 917-449-9064 Commission office: 212-941-8086
commission@nion.us www.bushcommission.org

FORMER ABU GHRAIB COMMANDER JANIS KARPINSKI, EX-UK AMBASSADOR CRAIG MURRAY, TOP EXPERTS, AND FORMER OFFICIALS TO TESTIFY AT COMMISSION OF INQUIRY ON BUSH WAR CRIMES
Harry Belafonte to Will Also Speak at Bush Crimes Commission

Friday, January 20, 5-9pm, Riverside Church, 490 Riverside Drive
Saturday, January 21, 10am-6pm, Riverside Church, 490 Riverside Drive
Sunday, January 22, 1-5pm, Columbia University Law School, 116th & Amsterdam Avenue

Human Rights Watch

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   Audio Commentaries

by Thomas Walkom | The Toronto Star | November 16, 2004

When U.S. President George W. Bush arrives in Ottawa - probably later this year - should he be welcomed? Or should he be charged with war crimes?

It's an interesting question. On the face of it, Bush seems a perfect candidate for prosecution under Canada's Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes Act.

This act was passed in 2000 to bring Canada's ineffectual laws in line with the rules of the new International Criminal Court. While never tested, it lays out sweeping categories under which a foreign leader like Bush could face arrest.

What the World is Saying...About The Torture of Iraqi Detainees at Abu Ghraib - Compiled by The Center for American Progress | May 6, 2004

Over the past week, shocking images and reports of American troops torturing Iraqi prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison have surfaced. The international community has unequivocally condemned the U.S. military. The State Department has compiled editorials from all over the world, which can be viewed here. Below is a sample of the global commentary

New Zogby Poll: 52% of Americans Support Impeaching Bush for Wiretapping

By a margin of 52% to 43%, Americans want Congress to consider impeaching President Bush if he wiretapped American citizens without a judge's approval, according to a new poll commissioned by After Downing Street and conducted by Zogby International.

"The American people are not buying Bush's outrageous claim that he has the power to wiretap American citizens without a warrant. Americans believe terrorism can be fought without turning our own government into Big Brother," said AfterDowningStreet.org co-founder Bob Fertik.

Read the results and print out a one-page flyer summarizing the various polls that have been done on impeachment:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/polling

Tell the media to cover this news:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/1084

By Mike Hersh

(Washington, DC January 16, 2006) Former Vice President Gore, the man selected by most voters in 2000 said of the man selected by most of the Supreme Court: "the President of the United States has been breaking the law repeatedly and persistently." This stark but accurate accusation highlighted a rousing and extremely well-received address in defense of the US Constitution aptly delivered at Constitution Hall in Washington, DC.

By Eric Lichtblau | The New York Times | Jan. 17, 2006

WASHINGTON, Jan. 17 - A high-level intelligence assessment by the Bush administration concluded in early 2002 that the sale of uranium from Niger to Iraq was "unlikely" because of a host of economic, diplomatic and logistical obstacles, according to a secret memo that was recently declassified by the State Department.

International Commission of Inquiry on Crimes Against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration
305 West Broadway, #199, NY, NY 10013 212-941-8086 www.bushcommission.org

FRIDAY EVENING, January 20, 5:30 – 9 pm, Riverside Church, 91 Claremont Avenue

In Martin Luther King Day address, Gore compares wiretapping of Americans to surveillance of King

RAW STORY with updated transcript | Video Highlights | January 16, 2006

In an address delivered in Washington to multiple standing ovations, Vice President Al Gore repeatedly attacked the Bush Administration for the expansion of executive power -- the ability of the government to wiretap its own citizens without legal authority and kidnap Americans abroad.

His speech -- which compares the wiretapping of Martin Luther King to the broad surveillance now imposed on Americans by President Bush -- called on Congress to resume its oversight responsibilities, and enjoined Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to appoint a special prosecutor. Gore was to be introduced by former Rep. Bob Barr, a Georgia Republican who has advocated for the constitutional right to privacy. The full text of his speech follows. Reuters summarizes the speech in an article here.

We know Bush and Cheney must go. The polls show most people agree with us, and this with a mainstream media cover-up. We have to bull our way into the public eye. Bring these signs to political and other events near you.

www.bushcommission.org

Can you make it to New York for the Bush Crimes Commission, but need a place to stay? Call 212.941.8086.

Unprecedented and historic indictments alleging war
crimes and crimes against humanity on moral, political

Pinochet Stripped of Legal Immunity
By Eduardo Gallardo, The Associated Press

Santiago, Chile - An appeals court stripped Gen. Augusto Pinochet of his legal immunity Wednesday, a ruling that paved the way for the former dictator to stand trial on charges of responsibility for killing two bodyguards of the Marxist president he toppled in a bloody 1973 coup.

My name is Mike Hersh. I'm here representing Progressive Democrats of America, Convict Bush Cheney dot Org, and After Downing Street dot Org. I've been working to impeach Bush and Cheney since 2000, even before they took the oath of office, on the theory that if fibbing about a blow job is sufficient reason for impeachment, then cheating in the elections, losing, and having your friends on the Supreme Court throw out the votes to put you into office is grounds for impeachment and removal from office.

By Jason Leopold, t r u t h o u t | www.truthout.org

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald is said to have spent the past month preparing evidence he will present to a grand jury alleging that White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove knowingly made false statements to FBI and Justice Department investigators and lied under oath while he was being questioned about his role in the leak of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity more than two years ago, according to sources knowledgeable about the probe.

(Washington, DC) - ConvictBushCheney.org (CBC) is compiling clear and convincing evidence of High Crimes and War Crimes committed by George W. Bush, Richard Cheney and the Bush/Cheney Administration.

By Larry Everest

As the new year begins, January looms as a crucial month, possibly shaping events for the year and far beyond. In this critical moment, there's an urgent need - and great possibility - for delivering a powerful and compelling indictment of the Bush administration for war crimes and crimes against humanity right here in the U.S. This is the mission of the International Commission of Inquiry on Crimes Against Humanity, whose final session will be held January 20-22 in New York City. The situation, and our responsibility to world humanity, call for nothing less.