Impeachment Hearings

John Nichols, The Nation

 
As the House Judiciary Committee took up the question of how best to address
what its chairman described as "the Imperial Presidency of George W.
Bush," it was one of the ranking Republicans in the room, Iowa Congressman
Steve King, who observed that, "We are here having impeachment hearings
before the Judiciary Committee."
"These are impeachment hearings before the United States
Congress," King continued. "I never imagined I would ever be sitting
on this side when something like this happened."
King was not happy about the circumstance.
A resolute defender of President Bush and Vice President Cheney, the
congressman was objecting to the very mention of the "I" word.
As it happened, impeachment was mentioned dozens of times during the
hearing, often in significant detail and frequently as a necessary response to
lawless actions of the president and vice president.
King's statement addressed the uncertain character of Friday morning's
attempt by the relevant committee of the chamber empowered by the founders to
impose accountability on presidents and vice presidents to tackle what
Judiciary Committee chair John Conyers, D-Michigan, referred to as
"numerous credible allegations of serious misconduct by officials in the
Bush Administration."
Conyers explained that "to the regret of many, this is not an
impeachment hearing." For that to happen, Conyers argued, the committee
would need clearer authorization from the full House.
But members of the committee, the Democrats and the Republicans, as well as
a bipartisan panel of House members and another panel of former House members,
and academics and activists, repeatedly put the impeachment on the table of a
chamber where the speaker had once denied it a place.
Congressman Maurice Hinchey, D-New York, told the committee that President
Bush and Vice President Cheney had committed acts that make theirs "the
most impeachable administration in the history of our country."
Texas Democrat Sheila Jackson-Lee, held up a copy of the Constitution and
announced, "There is a real question of whether this Constitution is being
protected."
Republican members of the committee griped. Indiana Congressman Mike Pence
complained that the entire session – with its discussion not just of
impeachment but of legislative initiatives to address executive secrecy and
overreach – caused him to worry about "the criminalization of American
politics."
Addressing his remarks to Ohio Democrat Dennis Kucinich, the author of
articles of impeachment against President Bush and Vice President Cheney that
provoked Friday's hearing, Pence said, "I just believe the gentleman from Ohio is wrong."
Kucinich, who is not a member of the Judiciary Committee, stood his ground,
arguing when he addressed the committee that a failure to impeach would not
merely let Bush off the hook but signal to future presidents that they, too,
may reject the rule of law and refuse to cooperate with Congress.

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