On Friday I put up a diary on Daily Kos “Impeachment by Internet” which made the recommends, then the system seemed to crash… so I set up a site Impeachment By Internet which provides a means for citizens to file charges against the Bush administration of fraud and abuse in government; reporting directly to the House Judiciary Committee
Defrauding the American people is an impeachable offense. Should it ever come to impeachment, the House Judiciary Committee is responsible for impeachment of federal officials. Reporting directly to the House Judiciary Committee is a means by which individuals can expedite the impeachment of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Gonzales, et al.
Getting specific about charges: 18 U.S.C.
TITLE 18–CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
PART I–CRIMES
CHAPTER 47–FRAUD AND FALSE STATEMENTS
Sec. 1001. Statements or entries generally
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, whoever, in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government of the United States, knowingly and
willfully–
(1) falsifies, conceals, or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact;
(2) makes any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation; or
(3) makes or uses any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry;
shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both.
18 U.S.C.
The criminal statute, 18 U.S.C., Sec. 1001, prohibits knowingly and willfully making false and fraudulent statements to Congress in documents required by law.
The criminal statute, 18 U.S.C., Sec. 371, prohibits conspiring to defraud the United States and is applicable since the Supreme Court in the case of Hammerschmidt v. United States, 265 U.S. 182, 188 (1924) held that to “conspire to defraud the United States means primarily to cheat the government out of property or money, but it also means to interfere with or obstruct one of its lawful governmental functions by deceit, craft or trickery, or at least by means that are dishonest.”
When Is It Impeachable Fraud?
- The 16 words in the 2003 State of the Union… that was defrauding the American people and lying to Congress.
- When monies allotted to the war on Afghanistan were diverted to Bush’s war on Iraq…. that’s fraud on a grandiose scale.
- When “intelligence was fixed to suit the policy” of pre-emptive war on Iraq… that’s fraud, and high crimes, and misdemeanors, too.
So there are lies, which we assume all politicians make, and there are mega-lies. That’s when by statements made to Congress and the American people (i.e. State of the Union, testimony before the Senate, or documents required by law) the President and his administration lies, deceives, commits fraud, or perjury.
Here are two elegant examples fit for filing with the House Judiciary:
- Bush just publicly committed an impeachable offense
by Lestatdelc
Wed Apr 06, 2005 at 05:48:02 PM PST
Bush spoke after touring the Bureau of Public Debt in Parkersburg, W.Va., about the $1.7 trillion in Treasury bonds that make up the trust fund…
“There is no trust fund — just IOUs that I saw firsthand. Imagine, the retirement security for future generations is sitting in a filing cabinet.”
Let’s skip right to the part that was violated by Bush’s little remark that should get him impeached:
Section 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned
- Evidence Bush Knowingly Deceived Congress in 2003 SOTU Violating USC 18 Sections 1001 And 371
by HoundDog
Tue Apr 18, 2006
Eleven days before President Bush’s January 28, 2003, State of the Union address in which he said that the US learned from British intelligence that Iraq had attempted to acquire uranium from Africa – an explosive claim that helped pave the way to war – the State Department told the CIA that the intelligence the uranium claims were based upon were forgeries, according to a newly declassified State Department memo.
Now here (subject to edits) is the original diary that crashed:
Is there any way to expedite the impeachment process? Yes!
OK, so you’re fed up. You’ve contacted your representatives in support of House Resolution 635 (Conyers). You’ve attended demonstrations. You’ve written letters to the editors. You’ve passed around and signed petitions. You’ve joined political action committees. You have even attended public town hall forums on impeachment and joined local efforts to pass state resolutions for impeachment. You’ve lent your support for Democratic candidates for Congress in November. You’ve donated to candidates. You bought Center for Constitutional Rights, “Articles of Impeachment Against George W. Bush.” You even read it.
Every time the subject of impeachment rolls around in your brain, some voice in there is yelling, “Impeach the MF Already!!” We want impeachment, and we want it now!! Did you read Congressman Conyers op-ed in the Washington Post yesterday, “No Rush To Impeachment” Well, here’s the bad news… wanting impeachment now is like wanting to lose thirty pounds by next week. It’s just not going to happen that way…..
Is there any way to expedite the impeachment process? Yes!
And it’s one button away. You can, within the next five minutes, report directly to the House Judiciary Committee to report fraud and abuse by the government. Fraud Is An Impeachable Offense. This button is your Unique Opportunity To Report Directly To Government on Impeachable Offenses by the Bush Administration.
If you have information with respect to waste, fraud or abuse by the government or private business conduct that you want the House Committee of the Judiciary to be aware of, please submit the information in the space below:
REPORT FRAUD AND ABUSE IN GOVERNMENT BY THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION TO THE HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
What is conspiracy to defraud the United States?
What offenses qualify as impeachable fraud?
The Supreme Court has defined the phrase “conspiracy to defraud the United States” as “to interfere with, impede or obstruct a lawful government function by deceit, craft or trickery, or at least by means that are dishonest.” In criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement “between two or more persons” to follow a course of conduct that, if completed, would constitute a crime. The agreement doesn’t have to be express; most conspiracies are proved through evidence of concerted action. But government officials are expected to act in concert. So proof that they were conspiring requires a comparison of their public conduct and statements with their conduct and statements behind the scenes. A pattern of double-dealing proves a criminal conspiracy.
The concept of interfering with a lawful government function is best explained by reference to two well-known cases where courts found that executive branch officials had defrauded the United States by abusing their power for personal or political reasons.
One is the Watergate case, where a federal district court held that Nixon’s Chief of Staff, H.R. Haldeman, and his crew had interfered with the lawful government functions of the CIA and the FBI by causing the CIA to intervene in the FBI’s investigation into the burglary of Democratic Party headquarters. The other is U.S. v. North, where the court found that Reagan administration National Security Adviser John Poindexter, Poindexter’s aide Oliver North, and others had interfered with Congress’s lawful power to oversee foreign affairs by lying about secret arms deals during Congressional hearings into the Iran/contra scandal.
Finally, “fraud” is broadly defined to include half-truths, omissions or misrepresentation; in other words, statements that are intentionally misleading, even if literally true. Fraud also includes making statements with “reckless indifference” to their truth.
The White House Criminal Conspiracy
By Elizabeth de la Vega
The Nation, October 31, 2005
REPORT FRAUD AND ABUSE IN GOVERNMENT BY THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION TO THE HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
Categories of Impeachable Offenses:
From “The Constitution In Crisis”
In brief, we have found that there is substantial evidence the President, the Vice President and other high ranking members of the Bush Administration misled Congress and the American people regarding the decision to go to war with Iraq; misstated and manipulated intelligence information regarding the justification for such war; countenanced torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and other legal violations in Iraq; and permitted inappropriate retaliation against critics of their Administration.
There is a prima facie case that these actions by the President, Vice-President and other members of the Bush Administration violated a number of federal laws, including:
(1) Committing a Fraud against the United States;
(2) Making False Statements to Congress;
(3) The War Powers Resolution;
(4) Misuse of Government Funds;
(5) federal laws and international treaties prohibiting torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment;
(6) federal laws concerning retaliating against witnesses and other individuals; and
(7) federal laws and regulations concerning leaking and other misuse of intelligence.
…These charges clearly rise to the level of impeachable misconduct.
REPORT FRAUD AND ABUSE IN GOVERNMENT BY THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION TO THE HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
IMPEACHMENT BY INTERNET
1. Come up with an instance of fraud by the Bush administration. Describe the facts briefly, referring to quotes and corroborations.
2. Report instances of fraud by the Bush administration directly to the House Judiciary Committee. ONE INSTANCE AT A TIME. DON’T REPEAT YOURSELF.
3. Report as often as you like.
4. Try to keep a log of your reports, and at the end of the day/week/month, send a copy of your files to your state representatives.
REPORT FRAUD AND ABUSE IN GOVERNMENT BY THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION TO THE HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
That’s all there is to it. Keep filing. It feels better than writing an original “Bush Is A Criminal” diary on Daily Kos. OK, right, we all know he’s a criminal, but just what kind of criminal is he? (Don’t forget Cheney, Gonzales, Rumsfeld et al) File your little heart out. Every day come up with a new criminal charge…. impress the House Judiciary with your constitutional prowess. Delight in the picture of your charges piling up before the Committee members, knowing that soon, maybe even today the charges you have filed will reach critical mass….. Become a legal nuisance… but while you’re doing it remember:
KEEP IT CLEAN. KEEP IT BRIEF. KEEP IT ACCURATE. KEEP IT POLITE… AND KEEP IT LEGAL
Now go ahead and try it. File a charge. Keep it under 200 words. Press the button. Smile. File another. Want to have more fun? Put IMPEACHMENT BY INTERNET in your signature and go hop around the web. Have a great day!!
To sum up, there are two tools for citizens in the US to expedite the impeachment process:
- IMPEACHMENT BY STATE RESOLUTION
- File a report of fraud and abuse in goverment by the Bush administration directly to the House Judiciary Committee: IMPEACHMENT BY INTERNET
If anyone is able to help me over on the new site, I will appreciate it greatly.
