Replies: 30 Comments
Comment #1: Viet Vet said on 10/19/05 @ 11:11am ET...
I think it's time for the American people to be demand these crooks and liars in OUR Whitehouse be removed as soon as possible. On to prison.
Comment #2: LeslieB said on 10/19/05 @ 11:44am ET...
Dear Rep. Conyers,
So glad you saw the NY Daily News article and you're on top of it. If it's true, it's an amazing admission and it raises so many questions: Bush lied when he said Rove told him he wasn't involved. Bush lied when he said he'd fire anyone involved. Bush lied about his own role in Treasongate, and, therefore, he was complicit in a cover-up of a possible felony[ies] and treason in the outing of a CIA NOC, which according to Larry Johnson has resulted in the loss of CIA assets here and abroad. Bush's administration was also involved in these lies and the cover-up, including McClellan.
And, per Antiwar's Justin Raimondo, if Fitzgerald has unredacted forged Niger documents and they name Michael Ledeen and two CIA agents, then there's more evidence that the entire rationale for war in Iraq was contrived by the administration. In other words, the Bush administration committed fraud on Congress and the American people.
Comment #3: LeslieB said on 10/19/05 @ 12:07pm ET...
What did Bush know and when did he know it?
Comment #4: LeslieB said on 10/19/05 @ 12:16pm ET...
Has anyone seen this?
AntiWar's Justin Raimondo: "According to a source in the Italian embassy, Patrick J. "Bulldog" Fitzgerald asked for and "has finally been given a full copy of the Italian parliamentary oversight report on the forged Niger uranium document," the former CIA officer tells me:
"Previous versions of the report were redacted and had all the names removed, though it was possible to guess who was involved. This version names Michael Ledeen as the conduit for the report and indicates that former CIA officers Duane Clarridge and Alan Wolf were the principal forgers. All three had business interests with Chalabi."
If Fitzgerald has unredacted forged Niger documents and they name Michael Ledeen and two CIA agents, then there's more evidence that the entire rationale for war in Iraq was contrived by the administration. In other words, the Bush administration committed fraud on Congress and the American people.
Comment #5: alizaryn said on 10/19/05 @ 12:37pm ET...
There is not a doubt in my mind that "Bush Knew", whether it is ever proved to the general population is another story.
Comment #6: UL said on 10/19/05 @ 12:44pm ET...
Thank you again for your leadership, Congressman Conyers.
What I find most interesting about the "presidential counselor's" rumor is how much damage it inflicts on Bush.
If the rumor is true then Mr Bush has been in continuous violation of Executive Order 12958 since he learned of Rove's actions, for starters.
As noted, here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=4130407
And here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=4148545
So, any attempt to "shield Bush" by making the kinds of statements being quoted by the NY Daily News (and being echoed throughout the blogosphere) are doing exactly NOT anything helpful for Bush, or for any other person whom they implicate in the "ham-handed and bush-league way" (great pun by the way). They effectively are saying that Bush has been in willful violation (at a minimum) of Executive Order 12958 since the exposure of Valerie Plame began and that those participating have violated their respective SF312s.
No way Bush's legal eagles (are ya reading this one Harry?) are going to be allowing anyone inside the tent to be planting these kinds of stories.
Whomever is planting these rumors is definitely not a friend of Bush or any of those being named.
Peace.
Comment #7: LeslieB said on 10/19/05 @ 12:58pm ET...
UL,
The Scott McClellan is saying that the NY Daily report is wrong, but he won't say what's wrong about it.
But don't you just love that "the rats are jumping ship" feeling early in the morning? I just hope Fitzgerald's grand jury does indict the principles and there's a report on the findings.
Comment #8: Beverly said on 10/19/05 @ 4:45pm ET...
To All: F.Y.I. www.worldcantwait.org is sponsoring a "Drive Out The Bush Regime" protest on November 2, 2005.
Comment #9: hpcharlie said on 10/19/05 @ 7:48pm ET...
Dear Congressman Conyers,
The American People Deserve to "Know The Truth!" and it's time for "Impeachment Hearings!" I'm sure you've also seen Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) "Stern Letter" to President Bush as I noticed earlier from Raw Story. "The Truth Shall Prevail!"
You are appreciated more than you know!
Sincerely,
Charlie C.
Dallas TX
Here is the link to Senator Schumer's letter to "W! "
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/docs/schumer.101905.html
Comment #10: Rusty said on 10/19/05 @ 8:22pm ET...
I think what we're seeing here with these leaks and counterleaks about what Bush was told are the first punches being thrown in an imminent barroom brawl in the White House. That bunch of cowboys drunk with power will be breaking beer bottles over each other's heads by the weekend, and by Tuesday, they'll be drawing their NRA six-shooters from their holsters and filling each other with lead.
Stay tuned for further reports from the Dubya Saloon, where Happy Hour is officially over, the bar tab can't be paid, and the fat lady is singing.
Comment #11: ljm said on 10/19/05 @ 9:38pm ET...
As I understand it, Bush wasn't upset that Karl leaked the information, but the Karl was so sloppy and got caught. Josh Marshall has something about it on TPM. So, Bush knew and covered it up to be sure, so Karl could help him get re-elected and also go to work on getting Daschle voted out of office. Bush covered it up for personal gain, pretty much like everything else he's done. As for the lies to go to war in Iraq, I think he knew about those all along.
Comment #12: Nolip said on 10/19/05 @ 9:58pm ET...
“(AP) Top White House aides Karl Rove and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby discussed their contacts with reporters about an undercover CIA officer in the days before her identity was published, the first known intersection between two central figures in the criminal leak investigation.
Rove told grand jurors it was possible he first heard in the White House that Valerie Plame, wife of Bush administration Joseph Wilson, worked for the CIA from Libby's recounting of a conversation with a journalist, according to people familiar with his testimony. ".
Rove, Libby Traded Reporter Info
Comment #13: Gerry Hiles said on 10/19/05 @ 10:16pm ET...
Dear John it is very heartening to me - and so many others around the world - that such as you and Fitzgerald are making progress against the neocon juggernaut and might yet stop it in its tracks, after so many years of all that is best about America being destroyed.
I and others have always seen the "ugly side" too - which it seems that most Americans have been blissfully ignorant of - but credit is due that though the potential still exists for the US to go down the track of pre-War Germany, institutions remain sufficiently intact to prevent this from coming to fruition.
Hopefully the current Washington regime will be brought down and hopefully the way will then be open to bring down the Howard, equally corrupt regime here in Australia, along with the Blair regime in Britain.
All the best to all of you working towards the end of the obscenities which have been steadily engulfing the world.
Comment #14: tahoebasha1 said on 10/19/05 @ 10:44pm ET...
#13- Gerry,
It is so very nice to hear from someone so "far" away, who expresses such concern with such candidness.
We, here, in America, have lost the "media" and, thus, our fervent concerns are being best expressed via the Internet and blog sites, such as ConyersBlog. Yes, you are correct, Congressman Conyers is a tireless contributor on behalf of Americans. We owe him a great deal! We owe him for this site which allows us to express our "heartfelt" concerns.
But your vision could not be more correct, in my estimation. And, it is heartbreaking, as I am sure it must be to the rest of the world.
It's much as though "madmen" have taken control and we are feverisly trying to recover our losses. Hopefully, we will be successful.
Thank you again for your insights.
Comment #15: number6 said on 10/19/05 @ 11:04pm ET...
They are really hanging Cheney out to dry. Check this
out.
I wonder if Powell is really upset by this or not....
Comment #16: Dr Alan H Levinson said on 10/20/05 @ 7:19am ET...
Mr. Conyers,
I've been sitting on the sidelines for a while, struggling with some family health issues. But I haven't forgotten where I stand. And that is firmly behind you and the process of returning government to the people.
I've been reading Senator Hatch's quasi-blog site and responding to a few of his simple-minded assertions. However, you never get to know if he reads them, and I've yet to get a response. I would suggest you visit his site to see his most recent entry, and note that the Republican Party continues to follow through with the same rhetoric as always. I would like to post my response to him here, and hopefully will not be breaking any rules by doing so.
Dear Senator Hatch,
"PLEASE TURN THIS INTO A REAL and INTERACTIVE BLOG"
How simple-minded do you think the American people are? Oh yeah...very. And you are right in at least 38% of the cases.
Iraq has NOT "...taken a decisive step away from terror." Iraqi's weren't terrorists to begin with. For that matter, Saddam wasn't a terrorist in the current sense of the word. He was a despot, a tyrant to his own people. He murdered, maimed, and literally cut out the tongues of dissenters. But Iraq was not a terrorist country. Your continued use of Republican talking points this far after the fact reveals just how lost the Republican Party really is...or maybe how behind the times you are.
The Iraqi's had heat, electricity, plumbing, and other essentials prior to America's arrival. Iraq never attacked the U.S., they never shot down planes in the no-fly zone, they weren't bombing civilians or soldiers on a daily basis. Obfuscating the facts at this point is an embarrassment. Now, as we await the findings of Special Prosecutor Fitzgerald, we will soon find out the level of corruption within this administration (and by association, the Republican Party as well). Suddenly, the investigation into The Downing Street Memo gets jump-started, and we uncover the significant portions of the scamming of the United States citizens and our congress by the White House Iraq Group (WHIG) and their "fixing the the intelligence" to support their desire to go to war.
THIS SHOULD BE FUN.
Maybe then your rhetoric will cease and you can begin to explore real issues related to good government. Or maybe just as likely, when the '06 elections come, and Mr. Urquhart takes your place, you may find that retirement is acceptable.
Alan
P.s. I agree that a constitution for Iraq is potentially a good thing. However, I will take a wait and see attitude on this one. I remember as if it was yesterday how happy the government was to arm Osama in his fight to oust the Soviet Union from Afghanistan. That came back to bite us in the 'butt'!!!
Comment #17: Nolip said on 10/20/05 @ 7:23am ET...
History repeats itself for the Republican party...
1974: "What did Nixon know and when did he know it"?
2003: "What did Bush know and when did he know it"?
Nixon's ghost haunts Bush...stay tuned...
Comment #18: Nolip said on 10/20/05 @ 8:32am ET...
“Vice-President Dick Cheney and a handful of others had hijacked the government's foreign policy apparatus, deciding in secret to carry out policies that had left the US weaker and more isolated in the world, the top aide to former Secretary of State Colin Powell claimed on Wednesday.
In a scathing attack on the record of President George W. Bush, Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, chief of staff to Mr Powell until last January, said: “What I saw was a cabal between the vice-president of the United States, Richard Cheney, and the secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld, on critical issues that made decisions that the bureaucracy did not know were being made."
Cheney 'cabal' hijacked US foreign policy
Comment #19: Nolip said on 10/20/05 @ 8:34am ET...
“Ion Sancho wants to get things right this time. As supervisor of elections for Leon County, Florida, he stood at the epicenter of the election fiasco of 2000. Voter confidence, he realizes, is paramount. That's why he's let a computer hacker have a go at one of his new machines.
The apparatus in question is the Accuvote 2000 Optical Scan, a boxlike computer that reads ballots as they are inserted. The data is collected and stored on a memory card that's later uploaded into a central tabulator. Diebold, the machine's Canton-based manufacturer, claims that the memory cards cannot be altered to influence votes. Sancho figured he'd find out for himself. "
Knocking the Vote
Diebold says its voting machines are bulletproof. Hackers say otherwise.
Comment #20: Nolip said on 10/20/05 @ 9:01am ET...
Earth to Bush...its getting warmer in here...
“TIKSI, Russia - Freed by warming, waters once locked beneath ice are gnawing at coastal settlements around the Arctic Circle.
In Bykovsky, a village of 457 on Russia's northeast coast, the shoreline is collapsing, creeping closer and closer to houses and tanks of heating oil, at a rate of 15 to 18 feet a year. Eventually, homes will be lost, and maybe all of Bykovsky, too, under ever-longer periods of assault by open water. "It is eating up the land," said Innokenty Koryakin, a member of the Evenk tribe and the captain of a fishing boat. "You cannot do anything about it."
Arctic Thaw Threatens Culture
Comment #21: Gerry Hiles said on 10/20/05 @ 9:54am ET...
Indeed Nolip.
History does repeat but, this time round, maybe lessons have been learned.
Comment #22: Jo said on 10/20/05 @ 1:14pm ET...
Thank you Congressman for this very interesting and informative post.
Comment #23: Nolip said on 10/20/05 @ 4:34pm ET...
Fitzgerald gossip straight from my inbox
Submitted by davidswanson on Thu, 2005-10-20 16:10. Media
Alternet.org
By Jan Frel
I just got this e-mail from a Democratic House member's staffer with tons of good dirt on the Plame investigation. I'm reprinting it whole cloth to share all, and show that while these Hill staffers are well-informed, they sure could use some capitalization classes.
Among the things I hadn't seen before:
-Fred Flights, an assistant to John Bolton, is a named name who could be indicted.
-Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham have been suggested as replacements for Dick Cheney.
-Colin Powell told John McCain he showed the infamous memo with Plame's identity on it two just two people; Dick Cheney and George Bush.
-Fitzgerald is looking at the precedent set from the indictment of Tricky Dick's veep Spiro Agnew to pursue against Cheney.
That's red meat folks.
Text of the e-mail:
below, some extremely sensitive information about the impending conclusion of the valerie plame investigations. the sources include two senior members of senate and key staffers; counsel for individuals that have been called before the grand jury; and two journalists taking a lead position in investigating the case. the following represents a composite of the information from those sources.
plamegate coming to conclusion. the investigation has focused mostly closely on vice president cheney and his staff, as well as us ambassador to the un (and former undersecretary of state for arms control) john bolton and his staff. we are told that eight indictments have already prepared, with the possibility of another ten. these indictments include senior white house staff, most notably vice president cheney's chief of staff scooter libby, fred flights (special assistant to john bolton), and--very surprisingly--national security adviser steve hadley. apparently, libby and hadley have both been told by their lawyers to expect indictments. the indictment of senior bush political advisor karl rove seems highly probable.
most critically, a plea bargain process has evidently been opened with vice president cheney's lawyer. that does not mean that an indictment is coming. but i've some critical background around the issue.
in the past several days, former secretary of state colin powell had a meeting with senator john mccain (R-AZ), primarily about the mccain-sponsored amendment on inserting a rider prohibiting torture onto the us defense budget (a bill which powell has himself been lobbying heavily for, against objections of president bush).
during the meeting, powell recounted to the senator that he had traveled on air force one with bush and cheney, and brought to their attention a classified memorandum about the issue of whether there was indeed a transaction inolving niger and yellow cake uranium. the document included ambassador joe wilson's involvement and identified his wife, valerie plame, as a covert agent. the memorandum further stated that this information was secret. powell told mccain that he showed that memo only to two people--president and vice president. according to powell, cheney fixated on the wilson/plame connection, and plame's status.
powell testified about this exchange in great length to the grand jury investigating the plame case. according to sources close to the case, powell appeared convinced that the vice president played a focal role in disclosing plame's undercover status.
in his conversation with mccain, powell felt that--at a minimum--there would be a serious shakeup at national security council as a consequence. in particular, vice president cheney would no longer hold a pivotal role in us national security affairs. powell apparently did not discuss the potential of a cheney resignation.
lead prosecutor patrick fitzgerald has apparently been looking at the precedent of formerly indicted nixon vice president spiro agnew. this shows the likely path, because addressing executive immunity and privilege questions would necessarily begin start with a plea-bargain deal that would entail a resignation.
this is all likely to occur within the next week. 28 october (next friday) is the last day of the grand jury, and no requests have been made to extend their session. the investigator is expecting to wrap up by then.
there are enormous implication for what would be the biggest white house shakeup since the iran-contra scandal in the reagan era. president bush's approval rating at 39% has already led to a significant decrease in policy efficacy with key legislators in congress. i'll spin out the broader policy implications when i have some time to write at greater length, but i wanted to get this out immediately.
one interesting point though--it is worth noting that a parade of senior republican senators have evidently been privately pushing mccain to lobby to be cheney's replacement. senator lindsey graham (R-SC) has also been mentioned. meanwhile, the white house has already been developing countermeasures--notably including senior white house officials privately voicing president bush's disappointment in karl rove's involvement in the case, calling it "misconduct." an urgent search for a rove replacement is already underway.
© 2005 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.
View this story online at:
http://www.alternet.org/bloggers/frel/27082/
Comment #24: Nolip said on 10/20/05 @ 5:10pm ET...
Congressman, your fine work speaks for itself...this posting is made only to suggest that there are others who are on the same page as you are about the inconsistencies and the obfuscation coming from the Executive Branch of this nation.
Nadler: Fitzgerald Must Broaden Investigation
Submitted by davidswanson on Thu, 2005-10-20 13:43. Congress
WASHINGTON, D.C. - In light of recent developments in the CIA leak
investigation and other recent revelations, Congressman Jerrold Nadler
today called for Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald to expand his
investigation to include a criminal investigation to examine whether the
President, the Vice President, and members of the White House Iraq Group
conspired to deliberately deceive Congress into authorizing the war in
Iraq. This is the first call from a member of Congress for the Fitzgerald
investigation to be expanded to look into whether the White House engaged
in a conspiracy to lie to Congress.
"The CIA leak issue is only the tip of the iceberg," Congressman Nadler
said. "This is looking increasingly like a White House conspiracy aimed
at misleading our country into war - in part by manufacturing now-refuted
evidence in support of its rationale, in part by smearing and silencing
critics, and in part by manipulating media complicity. There is mounting
evidence that there may have been a well-orchestrated effort by the
President, the Vice President, and other top White House officials to lie
to Congress in order to get its support for the Iraq War."
It is a crime to lie to Congress under several federal statutes.
Congressman Nadler requested that Special Counsel Fitzgerald follow the
leads he has already discovered and broaden his investigation to include
charges of lying to Congress. In his letter to Acting Deputy Attorney
General McCallum asking for a broadening of Special Counsel Fitzgerald's
investigation, Nadler cited the President's infamous reference to African
Uranium in the 2003 State of the Union Address, reports of the White House
Iraq Group's singular mission to sell the war at all costs, assertions
made in the "Downing Street Memo," and reporters' own accounts of media
manipulation.
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/3851
Comment #25: Citizen J said on 10/20/05 @ 5:23pm ET...
Great stuff nolip! Here's hoping!!!
Comment #26: Beverly said on 10/20/05 @ 5:56pm ET...
Dear Rep. Conyers and all blog participants:
We still don't know at this point what the outcome will be in the Plame CIA Leak investigation. In the meantime, what do we have to do to get the opposition party in Congress to undertake impeachment proceedings against the president?This talk I hear about "the republicans will never allow" it, is just another excuse for them to evade responsibility for the positions we elected them to. I have just read David Swanson's article "Peering Under the Plame Outing" in which he quotes recent poll numbers on public opinion on impeachment. www.truthout.org
Rep. Conyers: Could you please explain to me the reason/s why the Democratic Party are so unwilling to address the issue of impeachment as Mr. Swanson has mentioned in his article. I am asking you this question because you are a direct link to the truth in this matter and the situation in America can not bare up under much more of this administration.
I await your response.
Comment #27: GreyHawk121 said on 10/21/05 @ 1:30am ET...
Congressman:
Check out my comment (first one) over at this entry at BlackProg.Com. The issue is one you may wish to extrapolate upon.
FEMA denial of mail forwarding for evacuees
Comment #28: nomad said on 10/21/05 @ 2:16am ET...
Hmm-
If Cheney is booted out and Rove is locked up, who will operate the marionette? If the Democrats are smart, they will step up the pressure: Bush all by himself could be wobbly enough to bring down. There are a lot of rumors about who could be put in to replace Cheney. McCain or Graham would be a great improvement over Cheney, but only if they pressure Bush to straighten up and stop all the destruction he is determined to do. I doubt Bush would be open to that, but we'll see. If either one of them pardons the creep, though, as Ford did with Nixon, there will be hell to pay.
As for impeachment, we would be better off making Bush's life so miserable that he'll have to step down early. To get him out with impeachment, we need the conviction, not just the impeachment proceedings. Clinton was impeached and served out his full term. And don't forget, Bush is loading the Supreme Court with loyal suckups that can save his criminal neck, and those of his friends. That is what is driving his nominations - abortion is a red herring. Nov. 2 is a good chance to get out and remind this president that we got rid of a king (also named George, also nuts) before his time was up. Since he was one of the longest-lived English kings, I think we did the best thing by not waiting around.
Once W. is out - we need to really lay on the pressure to change a few things about the way our government works. Publicly-funded elections, a split-up of the corporate press monopolies (among others), a ban on lobbyists, and institution of a more thorough vetting of candidates. There is such a thing as being "unfit for office" and we need better precautions against it. With this administration, we could even argue "reckless endangerment" - of the planet!
Enough already!
Comment #29: aspiemom said on 10/24/05 @ 2:32pm ET...
MORE IMPORTANT NOW: 60 Minutes Niger story that never aired... Let's get it aired!
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/3966#comment
Comment #30: Beverly said on 10/24/05 @ 5:35pm ET...
Dear Nomad: All that you say is important and pertinent and thank you for adding your opinion, but just want to add that the American people are Behind Impeachment right now, according to recent polls taken, which was a major accomplishment, as none would touch it at first. We need to put pressure on Congress to act.
