Random Notes

Kerry Speaks Out; Impeachment Inquiry Sought; Conyers Seeks Citizen Support

There have been 3 significant developments since RLN's story on the Downing Street Memo,
"Smoking Gun Memo Exposes Bush's Iraq War Lies" was written:

• Congressmember John Conyers is seeking 100,000 citizen signaturres for a letter to Bush echoing the demands of the letter he sent with 89 other Congressmembers.
  
• A campaign has been launched to urge Congress to begin a formal investigation into whether President Bush has committed impeachable offenses in connection with the Iraq war. Constitutional attorney John Bonifaz, sent a memo to that effect to Congressmember John Conyers. The campaign is being speaheaded by a coalition of veterans' groups, peace groups, and political activist groups, including Democrats.com, Global Exchange, Code Pink, Gold Star Families for Peace, Progressive Democrats of America, Veterans for Peace, Democracy Rising, Rainbow Push, Velvet Revolution, and Justice Through Music.
  
  In the memo, Bonifaz wrote:
  If the evidence revealed by the Downing Street Memo is true, then the President's submission of his March 18, 2003 letter and report to the United States Congress would violate federal criminal law, including: the federal anti-conspiracy statute, 18 U.S.C. § 371, which makes it a felony "to commit any offense against the United States, or to defraud the United States, or any agency thereof in any manner or for any purpose..."; and The False Statements Accountability Act of 1996, 18 U.S.C. § 1001, which makes it a felony to issue knowingly and willfully false statements to the United States Congress.
  
  The United States House of Representatives has a constitutional duty to investigate fully and comprehensively the evidence revealed by the Downing Street Memo and other related evidence and to determine whether there are sufficient grounds to impeach George W. Bush, the President of the United States. A Resolution of Inquiry is the appropriate first step in launching this investigation.
  
  
• Senator John Kerry has become the first Senator to speak out about the Downing Street Memo. A story in the Standard-Times of Massachussettes reported:
  Sen. John F. Kerry yesterday called on Americans to be more aware of the "bait and switch" Iraq war and the "hollowing out" of the Army in the pursuit of a mistaken policy....
  
  Sen. Kerry puzzled over the apparent lack of interest by Americans in the Iraq war and the near silence in the U.S. mass media about the so-called Downing Street Memo....
  
  "When I go back (to Washington) on Monday, I am going to raise the issue," he said of the memo, which has not been disputed by either the British or American governments. "I think it's a stunning, unbelievably simple and understandable statement of the truth and a profoundly important document that raises stunning issues here at home. And it's amazing to me the way it escaped major media discussion. It's not being missed on the Internet, I can tell you that."