light at the end of the tunnel

[pynchonoid]

" [...] To put it bluntly, if Bush has taken Congress
and the nation into war based on bogus information, he
is cooked. Manipulation or deliberate misuse of
national security intelligence data, if proven, could
be "a high crime" under the Constitution's impeachment
clause. It would also be a violation of federal
criminal law, including the broad federal
anti-conspiracy statute, which renders it a felony "to
defraud the United States, or any agency thereof in
any manner or for any purpose." 

It's important to recall that when Richard Nixon
resigned, he was about to be impeached by the House of
Representatives for misusing the CIA and FBI. After
Watergate, all presidents are on notice that
manipulating or misusing any agency of the executive
branch improperly is a serious abuse of presidential
power. 

Nixon claimed that his misuses of the federal agencies
for his political purposes were in the interest of
national security. The same kind of thinking might
lead a President to manipulate and misuse national
security agencies or their intelligence to create a
phony reason to lead the nation into a politically
desirable war. Let us hope that is not the case. 

John Dean, a FindLaw columnist, is a former counsel to
the president of the United States. "

<http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/06/06/findlaw.analysis.dean.wmd/index.html>
Is lying about the reason for a war an impeachable
offense?
By John W. Dean
FindLaw Columnist
Special to CNN.com
Friday, June 6, 2003 Posted: 5:17 PM EDT (2117 GMT)








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