Dear Congressman Conyers

There was an incredible turnout of Democratic and independent voters across the country. This turn out was due to dissatisfaction and/or anger with the bush administration,s Iraq and Afghanistan war policy. A thoughtful comprehensive policy needs to be put in place that gets us out of Iraq, helps the Iraqi people out of their current disaster, which the United States put them in, and refocuses the war on terror on eliminating terrorist not creating more of them.
I agree with you, we need to put aside any thought of anger or payback. We do need to focus on identifying and correcting abuses and pass legislation which serves the interests of the American people. But you are dead wrong in agreeing with Congresswomen Pelosi that impeachment is off the table!!!!!
Bush lied to get this country into an illegal war, he approved the torture of not only terrorist, but of innocent people!!! How dare you propose now to give him a free pass. If this is the way the Democrats are going to act, please explain to me what the difference is between Democrats and the Republicans in the white house? If this is how the democrats are going to manage their power in the House and the Senate they will soon find themselves out of power.
Tell me Congressman Conyers what have you done to change the unanswered irregularities in the Ohio presidential election? The same Diebold machines are in use. There still is no paper trial. What have you done about the scandal of the Downing Street Minutes?
Yes, together we proved that a number of dedicated online activists, working in conjunction with a single congressman, could become a force to be reckoned with, and now you turn your back on us! Now tell how you are any different than any of the other people in power?

Sincerely

Thad Tuck

No one, not even the president is above the law. If I was the CEO of a construction company and I lied and that lie got people killed, I would at least be forced to step down, if not go to prison, but according to you. If you are the president of the United States and you lie and those lies get people killed, its good enough that the people vote against you, but we must not be vengeful, the president can keep his job being the president SENDING A MESSAGE TO FUTURE GENERATION AND THE WORLD THAT IT'S OK IF THE PRESIDENT LIES EVEN IF PEOPLE DIE. And if the president can do it, it should be ok for anybody else to do it. What a horrible world to live in, God Save The Earth.

http://www.okcitykid.bravejournal.com

In record time, the Democrats have rolled over and shown that they are just as cowardly as the Republicans we booted out of office. Where is the respect for the Constitution and system of justice if the Democrats allow the executive crimes to continue unpunished?

It will take a long while for a 3rd party to really take root and become a force in future elections. But we have no choice now, having been abandoned by the the Democrats just days after they were given their marching orders.

I'm not sure even what to say. I went from unbelievable elation after the election knowing that you Mr. Conyers were finally going to be able to start an active investigation into the High Crimes of the Bush Administration as you promised many of us that have corresponded with and supported your efforts, to a despair that nothing has changed whatsoever in Congress but a bunch of Republicans in faux Democratic clothing now have the majority. You have disappointed me deeply, you promised me in an email that you would start an investigation as soon as possible and now massive felonious criminal behavior committed by this administration against The Constitution, the American people, the Bill of Rights, the Geneva Convention, Habeas Corpus and a military forced to follow orders of a mad man so power crazed that he disregards every person who serves with the objective to protect our country from real not presidentially dreamt up to raid the treasury for war profiteering cohorts.

Out of any member of the House of Representatives you truly seemed the most trustworthy and credible, but in fact you are no better than any republican using liberal supporters to get a democratic majority in a classic case of "bait and switch". I will never trust a democrat the same as I am unable to trust a republican. You sir, are the biggest disappointment of all because I truly believed everything you said. I will change my party affiliation definitely now to independantand hope that maybe Dem/ GOP will simply merge giving rise to a new truly Progressive party who value the rule of law and accountability as a big part of their focus. A Party that will never again allow a president to steal a democracy from right out from under the people to which it belongs. It is all so very sad and my heart aches from this massive fraud and deception that the democRATS played on their progressive supporters.

Rep. Conyers,

Respectfully, I do not understand how you can take impeachment off the table and in the next breath tell us that we will instead have oversight and accountability. How can impeachment be "off the table" before formal hearings and investigations have been conducted? How do you claim with any credibility to have respect for those who disagree while having this predisposition against impeachment?

How does "the continued anger and vitriol of our political opponents" trump either the "virdicts...reflected in the elections on November 7" or your own sworn oath to uphold our Constitution? Why is impeachment, if the findings of fact call for it, suddenly a prerogative and not a duty?

I couldn't agree more that we should not be motivated by anger or payback. I thought that impeachment was always about restoring and affirming the sanctity and integrity of Our Constitution; it is highly offensive to those who have advocated for impeachment to suggest that we have been motivated by personal hatred of Bush and his administration. I, for one, have no desire whatsoever to fix the facts around the policy of impeachment the way that a corrupt 105th Congress did with Clinton. Let's finally have our hearings and investigations and let the consequences fall as the law mandates.

If you are not open to the possibility that Bush, Cheney, and others require impeachment due to their misconduct then I respectfully (and very heavy heartedly) submit that you are not the right person to chair our House Judiciary Committee.

Where does this leave H. Res. 635?

Mike Turnauer
11/3 Democrat
Vancouver, WA

Honorable John Conyers, Jr:

I take your comment about "impeachment is off the table" as just part of the full sentence, which ends with following phrase - "until we investigate and impeach real vice president - Mr. Cheney".

Sure, you do not impeach an empty jacket! But impeach we must for benefit not only of this country, but the whole world. Consider impeachment as closure necessary for victims to get over crime and continue with the normal life. Impeachment will be also our collective mea culpa, which will tell outside world that the last 6 years were mere aberration.

You had mentioned also smear by Investors Business Daily. Now is the most appropriate time to remind our business leaders the lessons of Iraq. President Bush and his Party behaved starting from preparations to Iraq war and up to November 7, 2006, as if they do own 51% shares of World Inc. They don,t. The US is a big shareholder but still a minority one. This is an abject lesson of how CEO mentality brought about the Iraqi mess, privatizing profits for big corporations, while socializing losses for years to come. I hope that investigation of Iraq,s mess will serve a notice to corporate world about things to come. The Republican Party, which proclaimed self-interest as its guiding principle, was working hard to dismantle New Deal and finally established totalitarian control that resulted in Iraq tragedy.

I also hope, that on November 7, 2006, along with Bushevik Revolution, American people repudiated the legacy of the last 25 years as well.
Vitaly Purto

Reading through some of the comments, I see there is a huge call for impeachment. The crimes former Congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzmann cites:

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1114-22.htm

certainly warrant the action. At this divisive period, though, it may do more harm than good. However, investigations MUST take place in a fair, transparent and even-handed way to show the American public, particularly that segment that has been slow to see the dangers this Administration represents to our democracy, just how damaging their policies have been. If investigations warrant indictments, the rule of law must be upheld and indictments must follow.

The following is a letter to my Senator Susan Collins regarding the Military Commissions Act and what this law has done to the legacy of the Nurenberg trials at the end of World War II.

Senator Collins,
Thank you for your letter of Oct 24, 2006 regarding the passage of the Military Commissions Act. With regard to the Act I have been considering a speech given Oct. 7, 2006 by Scott Horton, a lawyer and chair of the International Law Committee of the New York City Bar at a conference commemorating the Nuremberg trials. He asked the question: "What has this legislation done to the legacy of Nuremberg? Has it granted impunity to persons who committed war crimes? Is that impunity effective, and might it have unintended consequences?"

This speech is very instructive to me as it plainly lays out the opinion of the US prosecutors at Nuremberg that the lawyers responsible for formulating policy that contradicted The Hague and Geneva Conventions were culpable for their opinions. Some lawyers received prison sentences up to ten years, while Field Marshal Keitel was issued a death sentence. This sentence was arrived at with the aggravating evidence found in his scrawled notes on a memo by lawyer Helmut von Moltke deploring the course the German Justice Dept. was taking. Keitel,s scrawled notes said that the Geneva Conventions were "quaint" and "obsolete," and "they reflected 'outmoded notions of chivalric warfare.," Compare this statement to our own Attorney General,s notion, found in a memo justifying torture, that the Geneva Conventions are "quaint" and "obsolete," and did not apply to a "new kind of warfare." US prosecutors found Keitel,s disregard for The Hague and Geneva Conventions aggravating grounds for a conviction of war crimes. How might those same prosecutors view Attorney General Gonzales,s, John Yoo,s, or David Addington,s opinions?

Horton states that the Supreme Court presents in the decision in Hamdan v Rumsfeld, "a straight-forward interpretation of the Geneva Conventions…" And, "the most striking aspect of the Court's opinion was its forceful and repeated references to the War Crimes Act of 1996. There is little doubt that the Court was concerned that the Administration's policies were not just inconsistent with Geneva, but in fact potentially criminal under American law."

Horton stated his concerns about the dilution of the War Crimes Act: "The Military Commissions Act seeks to accomplish its objective of granting impunity through three tools. First, it redefines "war crimes" into a series of specifically chargeable offenses, of which two, "torture" and "cruel treatment" are most important for these purposes. Second, it makes the restatement of these crimes retroactive to September 11, 2001. Consequently, a series of criminal offenses under the War Crimes Act will disappear retroactively when the Act goes into force. Third, it strips courts of jurisdiction over habeas corpus petitions and forbids litigants to cite the Geneva Conventions and related international and foreign law in those courts, in an effort to blind the courts to the law which the Constitution obligates them to enforce." He also states, "The Act does not alter the fact that these practices are outlawed by Common Article 3. However, by creating a series of specifically chargeable crimes that weave and bob through the historical offenses, the drafters apparently seek to make it more difficult to prosecute these offenses in US courts."

If the Act stands, in my opinion, it is a confirmation of the disregard this Administration has for the Geneva Conventions, and dishonors the legacy of Nuremberg. I do not believe this Act serves the interests of the United States in the international arena, or the American people. This Administration has on numerous occasions, at least some of the 750 or more occasions of signing statements (as one regarding P. L. 109-148), shown a disregard for the role of Congress and the rule of law.

The case in which Field Marshall Keitel stood trial in front of US prosecutors was significant in its overriding respect for the Geneva Conventions, and in its condemnation of those who sought to circumvent their purpose. The legal opinions repudiated by Hamdan v Rumsfeld attempted to do that very thing. It appears the Military Commissions Act grants impunity to those who formulated those repugnant opinions.

Full text of Scott Horton,s remarks can be found here:
http://library.law.pace.edu/blogs/jib/2006/10/when_lawyers_are_war_criminals.html

I posted the following earlier this morning before John's e-mail was posted to this blog, and I wanted to make sure it was added to this thread in order to join with all the excellent comments by others who seem to have been equally offended. I'd like to just quickly add two comments: 1) If Rep. Conyer's decision stands, the Green Party couldn't have come up with a better scenario in their wildest fantasies, and 2) Murtha deserves to be the next Speaker, not Pelosi.

After reading the latest e-mail from John Conyers, "Now the Hard Part Begins," I'm finding it quite difficult to fully express how deeply disappointed I am that the man I considered to be one of the last few bastions of truth and sanity in congress has joined the turncoat Pelosi in once again shafting the will of the American people.

Impeachment of a criminal cabal has nothing whatsoever to do with revenge. If congressional Democrats fall for that argument, they are letting the dark side define who they are and agreeing to the distraction for what the real reasons are for impeachment--truth, honor, and the upholding of the U.S. Constitution. What kind of message would we be sending not just to the world, but to our children, if criminal acts are allowed to go unpunished?

Impeachment _can't_ be removed from the table. It _is_ the table.

Congressman Conyers,

The people voted for justice to be done at last. What we got, almost immediately, was a clear indication that we have been used by the democrats to gain power, just as the republicans used the evangelical right.

We did not vote for a Democratic whitewash of Republican crime.

I am a lifelong democrat, and I had a great deal of respect for you and your actions in opposition to the Bush agenda. For you to make a blanket pronouncement that impeachment is off the table, even without proper investigation of the crimes committed by this administration, is more than a betrayal.

Unfortunately, I have lost whatever respect for you that I had.

I hope the Democrats enjoy their little two years of power. After this betrayal of not only the voters' trust but the overt shirking of your responsibility to see that the law is upheld, you're not going to be in power long. To head a judiciary committee and pervert justice on the word of a power-hungry majority leader whose first decision was to promote a corrupt insider only tells the voters that we've been lied to ... again.

You got the power you asked us to give you. Enjoy it. It will DEFINITELY be limited.

I'm sure that George Bush will richly reward your betrayal of the public trust. There is no word for the shame that you should feel, if you had any integrity to begin with. Nice show.

The voters definitely need to get seriously about a third party. Throw all these bums out.

Linda Lutes
What are you talking about when you were the one, in the first place, to announce all of Bush's impeachable ofenses? You have betrayed and turned your back on those of us who believed in you and justice. You are obligated to the American people to investigate this administration's impeachable offenses...we are the people and we have elected you to do so. Why are you backing down and being so spineless at a time when we so desperately need you to stand strong? Are you waiting for another war with Iran to be declared by this charade of a president when he chooses to embrace his self-declared "war powers" authority. I am ashamed of you, politics and all that the Democratic party has become. This is truly a sad day for America when you, of all people, "cuts and runs."

Mr. Conyers,

I don't know if you realize what a harsh slap in the face you, Nancy and the others have given us.

You have no right to declare that the law will not apply to criminals in high office. You don't decide that. That is up to a judge. Your job is to provide the evidence that you have already gathered to an independant council. That is your responsibility to us, your constituents.

The constitution granted us the right of redress in the form of impeachment for high crimes. If what George Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Ashcroft, Rove, Rice and the others have done to end the lives of hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women and children does not rise to the level of high crimes, nothing does.

We are not discussing stains on a blue dress here. We are talking about murder.

Do you have any idea how angry and frustrated we are to have been citizens of a country where rich people get into our highest offices by refusing to count votes against them, blocking voters at the polls, and outright theft? Then they fabricate information which they use to lie to congress and the American people so they can start a war against a country that did nothing to us, murder over 650,000 people, injure and maim countless others, torture anybody they please, call us unpatriotic because we don't suck down the cool-aid, wiretap our phones, profit off the wars they created.... this list goes on so very long, you know all about it. You expect us to just let that slip by ?

If these people, who are most likely guilty of violating the international laws set by the Geneva Conventions and the Nuremburg Trials, are to get a free pass, no investigation, then our democracy is finished. Done. You will have been complicit in killing it.

If these people get a free pass on the murder and mayhem they have created, it will prove they were correct in assuming themselves above the law.

So I ask you, if they are not accountable for their actions, why should we be ? Why should anyone be ?

What is our responsibility here ?

Sincerely Yours,

Duncan Dow

It is simple...When BushCheney Inc. started an illegal war they violated their oath of office thus committing high crimes and misdemeanors. They are war criminals. Impeachment must be item 1 on the agenda of the 110th Congress. If not the 110th Congress is culpable and other options must be considered by the people in order to restore our Constitution.

JC,
I hope you still stand to support any investigation which might potentially lead to articles of impeachment?

During campaigning, Nancy Pelosi also indicated that she was not pursuing impeachment, her reason being that impeachment would require an investigation.

Why has it become important for a Democratic controlled congress to show restraint toward seeking impeachment. Most Democrats (non-politician anyhow and even the Republicans I know) have the opinion that a Democratic elected congress should immediately pursue many investigations where oversight has been lacking and corruption has prevailed over the last 6 years. So many of the scandals seem to hold a high level of promise for impeachment. I think America would benefit greatly by exposing all the scandals for what they are. I think this would open the information pool and put most of America in agreement on the abuses of executive power which have occured under the current POTUS. Then the democratic congress could spend their time on the issue more constructively, legislating corruption and abuse out of the executive branch. A 'Bush-proofing' of the oval office.

CC

Welcome to all these new posters!

So John, are you getting the freaking clue yet? All these people, who've never posted here before, are SO DISAPPOINTED that they're posting, pleading for you to DO THE JOB YOU PROMISED TO DO.

GET A GRIP, JC. DO YOUR FREAKING JOB, like you PROMISED US YOU WOULD. It's NOT ABOUT ANGER, or "payback", as you WELL know. It's about JUSTICE AND ACCOUNTABILITY.

WHY do I have to tell you this?!

Are you really this disingenous liar, that was only interested in winning? I sure hope not, but.... it sure doesn't look very good.

To remind you:

"However, in stating flatly that 'impeachment is off the table,' incoming Speaker Pelosi and incoming Chairman Conyers appear to have erred rather substantially. Impeachment, of course, is a matter of Constitutional law, not personal discretion on the part of individual lawmakers. The pre-emptive nature of the decision by Pelosi and Conyers stands in sharp contrast to every principal of law enforcement. Congress - whether controlled by Democrats or Republicans - has a solemn duty to uphold and when necessary enforce the law.

If there is some reason that impeachment is not warranted in a given circumstance, it should be stated in that context. But for an individual lawmaker, any individual lawmaker, to presume to preclude impeachment regardless of the circumstances scoffs at the Constitution."

GET TO IT, or suffer the consequences. We WILL hold you accountable, make no mistake about it.

---------------
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." --JFK

"When dictatorship is a fact, revolution becomes a right." --Victor Hugo

I am sorry to hear your position on impeachment. This makes it clear to me that you, like so many , are more interested in the politics of Dems VS Reps than in demanding honesty and justice in our government. There have not been honest investigations of the many questionable actions taken as of yet and given the administrations granting itself immunity it seems there may indeed have been something illegal done.

I understand your reluctance to move in the direction of a possible impeachment but again this is a POLITICAL decision. In the eyes of many of us here at home and certainly abroad, by ignoring the obvious we are once more failing to hold ourselves to the standards we so arrogantly voice to others.

Even if staying in power is your real goal you should still DO WHAT YOU SAID YOU WOULD DO. We all are tired of being lied to.

j conaway

With all due respect, Mr. Conyers, the public is not going to allow ANY politician, Democrat or Republican, to sell us out. This country's president and his cabal have violated hundreds of laws, national and international, committed numerous felonies, are very likely guilty of war crimes, have deliberately caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people - Iraqi and American - I believe genocide is the appropriate term. We are not going to be content or silent while politicians slap the hands of W and his war crime family. There is absolutely no reason and certainly no excuse for not investigating these crimes and, in fact, Congress has a DUTY to do so. For all of you bloggers out there, this Democratic failure really is no surprise, is it? Our job is not done. It's an ongoing responsibility to push these people into doing what's right. To our Democratic Congress - remember one thing: no justice, no peace.

Your position represents a collosal sell-out, to us and to future generations. I would not have thought you capable of such a greivous error in judgement. This is not YOUR "table" to clear, Mr. Conyers. It belongs to all of us, and most of all to future generations who, if you have your way, will look back upon this time as an opportunity lost to require accountability in matters of the most serious importance on the part of this and all future presidents. Shame on you, Mr. Conyers!

Tom Welsh

John,
I also wrote a letter to you from your Contact Page.
I will post my concerns here, also. I have read only two comments, and they are pretty much the same as what I am feeling.
Why? Why "buddy up to" these Criminals? I will call a toad a toad!! And Bush and Co are TOADS! That is a nice way of putting it.
The Whole World is watching what the Democrats will do regarding the Crime that is the Bush Regime. National and International Laws have been broken. PEOPLE HAVE BEEN TORTURED, FOR GOD'S SAKE! And you, and your new Majority, do not think that is in Impeachable offense? The invasion of a Sovereign Nation based on Lies? Not Impeachable? The horror that was Katrina...and still IS? Not Impeachable? The lying and the spying? Not Impeachable offences? I don't get it. And I am mad as hell!
I am non-partisan to Progressive, and I don't see any difference between the BS of you and the New Majority~ESPECIALLY NANCY PELOSI~and the current Regime. Same old song and dance. I, as one of millions, am tired of it.
Jewels

Congratulations John Conyers. I too hope you will be Judiciary Committee Chairman. I also SINCERELY hope impeachment is "off the table" ONLY FOR AWHILE. Until everyone is sworn in and officially seated, I guess it would be wise to stay hush hush. I will withhold my fear, doubts and disappointment until then, and only until then. Please do not become the same liars we despise. We The People are determined to instill ACCOUNTABILITY, starting with our impeachment rally squad.

Scott Arnopol

You did a marvelous job in opposing the bankruptcy law which unfortunately was enacted in 2005. What priority will the House Judiciary Committee place on re-visiting the bankruptcy law next term?

It's true that the Democrats seem to cave in when the right wing presses hard enough, in my opinion. There is nothing more that I'd like to see than the president pay for his crimes just like the right wing made President Clinton pay. No one is above the law and I'm sure that President Bush is worried about his weak legacy. However, I have to agree with Mr. Conyers, whom I respect immensely for all of his hard work. The country needs to see some action that favors the people of this great land of ours. It's got to be a positive move for the better of the people and the country. Hanging Bush for his apparent lies and war crimes is not going to unite the masses it's going to continue to divide us. Half of the country is still in Bushes favor even though the polls don't show it at this time. We don't need to give back the House of Representatives and the Senate after a short time. We need to consolidate our power by passing important initiatives and maintaining the all too important oversight. I'm a progressive but most of all, I'm a realist and I don't want to see this great land of ours go back into the hands of the party that just about destroyed us these last 12 years. We Democrats need to stay in the majority and we have to stop our in-party bickering of who gets what, like little school kids, and get on with our work. Please, for the sake of this land, let's do some great things. Dems, you got my vote.