Impeachment activists have been pushing John Conyers to move forward with impeachment in the Judiciary Committee. But it is not clear how much authority Conyers has. So I had a chat with someone in the House Office of the Parliamentarians. They are the ultimate authority on procedures in the House. I have tried to summarize their answers below. Any errors are my own.
Q1: What is the difference between a real impeachment hearing and the hearing on Friday 7/25?
A1: The difference is simply the question before the committee. The question Friday was "Executive Power and Its Constitutional Limitations". It would have been insulting and off-topic (out of order) to suddenly accuse President Bush of a specific crime in that Friday hearing. So the testimony was very circumspect. But if the question before the committee was "Did Bush commit impeachable offense X" then witnesses could simply say "Bush did X".
Conyers currently has the authority to convene a hearing on a specific question of impeachment.
Q2: Why did Conyers refer to needing approval from the House in order to conduct a real impeachment inquiry.
A2: Approval from the House would give the Committee special powers that they do not normally have. These include the power to conduct field investigation and depose witnesses in the field under oath. These transcripts could be submitted as evidence. They would also have a letter from Congress that would make it easier to interview witnesses in foreign countries. These powers would all be handy when impeaching a President and one would expect the Committee to seek those powers if they wanted to impeach. But Conyers has the authority to proceed without those powers. They can currently conduct hearings on impeachment and place witnesses under oath.
[Blogger's opinion: I see an analogy with going fishing. You can go fishing without a pole and I have caught a fish with my bare hands. But if you are serious about catching a fish then you will probably want to use a pole. To impeach Bush for lying about Iraq, or on torture or Plame-gate then Conyers will probably want to do deep investigations and would want the powers that come from House approval. But Conyers does not need special powers to impeach Bush for refusing to comply with subpoenas. In this case the fish are jumping into the boat.]
Q3: Does Conyers need any other approval before drafting Articles of Impeachment and submitting them to the House?
A3: No. The "committee has that authority".
Q4: How can the House vote on individual Articles of Impeachment if they are submitted as a single Resolution.
A4: The House can "divide the question" and vote on it in parts.
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The family members of all of the people who were murdered by George W. Bush must be “glad Bush is done” (Poll: 75% Glad Bush is done). For example, Mike Connell (indicated below), and more than 4,000 U.S. service members were murdered by Bush.
“Bush Insider Who Planned To Tell All Killed In Plane Crash: Non-Profit Demands Full Federal Investigation . . . WASHINGTON, Dec. 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Michael Connell, the Bush IT expert who has been directly implicated in the rigging of George Bush’s 2000 and 2004 elections, was killed last night when his single engine plane crashed three miles short of the Akron airport. Velvet Revolution (‘VR’), a non-profit that has been investigating Mr. Connell’s activities for the past two years, can now reveal that a person close to Mr. Connell has recently been discussing with a VR investigator how he can tell all about his work for George Bush. Mr. Connell told a close associate that he was afraid that George Bush and Dick Cheney would ‘throw [him] under the bus’” (Posted by Curly. (2008, December 22). Witness to Bush Crimes Dies Under Fascinating Coincidence. groups.google.com. Retrieved December 26, 2008, from groups.google.com).
“Michael Connell Cancelled Two Flights on Suspicion his Plane may be SABOTAGED !!!” (Retrieved December 26, 2008, from youtube.com).
“Bush Whistleblower[,] [Mike Connell,] Killed In Mysterious Plane Crash” (Zharkov. Retrieved December 26, 2008, from engforum.pravda.ru).
“The death of Republican ‘IT guru’ Mike Connell last Friday in a fiery plane crash has been the subject of intense speculation online about whether it might have been murder. . . . ‘Some say Connell was about to reveal embarrassing details involving senior members of the Bush Administration,’ Taylor explained, ‘including their involvement in destroying incriminating emails and rigging elections. . . . He was an experienced pilot. Was it an accident, or murder?’ . . . A tipster close to the McCain campaign disclosed to VR in July that Mr. Connell’s life was in jeopardy and that Karl Rove had threatened him and his wife” (David Edwards and Muriel Kane. (2008, December 23). Ohio TV station: Was Connell crash an accident or murder? rawstory.com. Retrieved December 26, 2008, from rawstory.com).
“I believe Mike Connell was murdered” (Barbtries. Retrieved December 26, 2008, from democraticunderground.com).
“What I believe is that the Bushies killed [Mike Connell]” (Barbtries. Retrieved December 26, 2008, from democraticunderground.com).
Submitted by Andrew Yu-Jen Wang
B.S., Summa Cum Laude, 1996
Messiah College, Grantham, PA
Lower Merion High School, Ardmore, PA, 1993
“GEORGE W. BUSH IS THE WORST PRESIDENT IN U.S. HISTORY” BLOG OF ANDREW YU-JEN WANG
http://andrewyu-jenwang.blogspot.com/2008/12/george-w-bush-murdered-mike-connell.html
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