BREAKING: Wexler Will Urge House Judiciary Committee to 'Schedule Impeachment Hearings Immediately'
Letter Calling for Action Sent to Constituents After Kucinich Resolution to Impeach Cheney is Referred to Committee
Says 'Vice President Cheney must answer for his deceptive actions in office'
As reported in full by David Swanson, in the wake of yesterday's wild ride (and game of chicken) on the House floor concerning the privileged resolution filed by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), calling for the Impeachment of Dick Cheney.
The following is from a letter sent to constituents today by Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL), a member of the House Judiciary Committee, where the matter has been sent again. Wexler is calling for the committee "to schedule impeachment hearings immediately and not let this issue languish as it has over the last six months."...
I share your belief that Vice President Cheney must answer for his deceptive actions in office, particularly with regard to the preparations for the Iraq war and the revelation of the identity of covert agent Valerie Plame Wilson as part of political retribution against her husband. That is why I voted against the motion to table debate on H.Res. 333. Along with only 85 other Democrats, I opposed tabling the measure and supported beginning immediate debate and a vote on the Cheney impeachment resolution. The vote on tabling the Kucinich resolution was rejected, and the House subsequently voted to refer the matter to the Judiciary Committee.
...
The American people are served well with a legitimate and thorough impeachment inquiry. I will urge the Judiciary Committee to schedule impeachment hearings immediately and not let this issue languish as it has over the last six months. Only through hearings can we bring begin to correct the abuses of Dick Cheney and the Bush Administration; and, if it is determined in these hearings that Vice President Cheney has committed High Crimes and Misdemeanors, he should be impeached and removed from office.
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5263
Kucinich asks feds to investigate Cimperman
Updated to include this 80-second video that Joe Cimperman posted on the Internet of his visit to Kucinich's office. He titled it "The good, The bad, The Kucinich."
Cleveland Councilman Joe Cimperman hoped to get noticed by showing up with a camera-toting campaign worker two weeks ago at the Lakewood congressional office of his rival, Rep. Dennis Kucinich.
Instead, Cimperman got the unwanted attention of federal authorities, who questioned him this week about the visit.
Kucinich, who is trying to defend his seat against Cimperman and three other Democrats in the March 4 primary, asked a federal agency to investigate the camera stunt, saying it broke federal law.
Kucinich made the request after Cimperman delivered a "missing" poster to his office on Jan. 3. Cimperman was mocking Kucinich for campaigning for president around the country.
He tacked posters featuring pictures of Kucinich to poles near his Detroit Avenue office. They said: "Last seen: Iowa and New Hampshire - anywhere but Northeast Ohio."
Cimperman entered Kucinich's office while a campaign worker taped him dropping off one of the posters at the front desk.
"I walked in, asked for Dennis, dropped off the poster and walked out, all in one big motion," Cimperman said. "I was polite and in there 20 seconds."
But Kucinich, who is seeking a seventh term to Congress while aggressively running for president, believed the incident violated the privacy of constituents visiting his office.
"The people must have some assurances that their government does not allow individuals to enter the premises and film them while they are seeking federal assistance," Kucinich's office wrote in a letter to the Federal Protective Service. An agency under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, it has law enforcement jurisdiction over government offices.
The letter, written by Kucinich's senior counsel, Martin Gelfand, said Cimperman was accompanied by a "camera crew" and tried to "interrogate" a staff member.
Gelfand sent the letter with Kucinich's approval five days after Cimperman's visit.
Cimperman broke federal law and "damaged the relationship with constituents," Gelfand said in an interview.
He said that federal authorities - not Kucinich - decided that the incident was serious enough to warrant an investigation.
Cimperman said a federal agent from Homeland Security interviewed him and his campaign staff on Tuesday and warned him that cameras are not allowed in the government offices without permission. Cimperman described Kucinich's reaction to his Jan. 3 visit as "an absurd waste of taxpayers' dollars."
"The Department of Homeland Security has plenty to do without wasting time talking to me," he said.
Cimperman posted a video of his visit on the Internet. No constituents are seen in the video.
In the past, Kucinich has called on the government to rein in its police powers.
In a 2006 speech opposing the reauthorization of the USA Patriot Act, which gives the government broad powers to investigate suspected terrorists, Kucinich railed against government intrusion.
"History tells us that unchecked police powers with little or no oversight will be abused and the citizens will be harmed," he said. "I am for police function that protects citizens of this great nation, not a police function that is used to terrorize them."
Plain Dealer Reporter Sabrina Eaton contributed to this report.
Source: Cleveland Plain Dealer
Hey Dennis, where's that pocket copy of the Constitution you always seem to carry with you? Lose it somewhere?
Maybe you dropped it on the floor of Dick Cheney's office, when you got down on your knees.