Tuesday, in a privilged motion on the House Floor, Congressman and Presidential Candidate Dennis Kucinich introduced HR 333, Articles of Impeachment against Vice President Richard Cheney. As dramatic and sensational as that may sound, Kucinich completely missed the mark with his resolution.
The resolution contains three Articles as the basis for impeachment; Cheney's repeated assertions that Iraq had WMDs prior to the invasion; Cheney's efforts to tie Saddam Hussein to Osama Bin Laden and the 9/11/01 attacks; and Cheney's current saber rattling against Iran. There is no fourth Article, and therin lies the problem...
There is no doubt that Cheney was instrumental in pushing the case for the invasiion of Iraq. And I think there is little doubt that he, along with Bush cherry picked and twisted intelligence to fit that agenda. And Cheney is at it again with Iran. But it seems to me that if the House Judicary Committee ever really considers these Articles, they will have a hard time making the case that this was deliberate manipulation rather than a good faith misinterpetation of intelligence. In other words, the Republicans will argue you can't impeach Cheney based on faulty or incomplete intelligence from the CIA. For almost anyone who has spent any time on Daily Kos, they would know that argument is specious. But not everyone reads this blog everday. So why didn't Kucinich include an Article that almost certainly could be investigated and arguably proven by clear and convincing evidence?
Why didn't Kucinich charge Cheney with deliberately directing that the identity of a covert CIA Agent be revealed? After all, this charge, standing on its own merits, would certainly meet the definition of a "high crime or misdemeanor". This charge has already led to the conviction of Cheney's Chief of Staff on four counts of obstruction of justice and perjury. Perjury and obstruction that was likely committed to protect Cheney from criminal prosecution. This charge, based on what we already know from court documents is true and factual.
An Article charging Cheney with the deliberate outing of Valarie Plame Wilson would almost certainly enable staff investigators with House Judicary Committee access to the evidence not brought out during the Libby trial, access to Grand Jury testimony, and the ability to directly confront and interview not only Cheney, but Karl Rove and other participants in the conspriacy.
Investigators could compel testimony from Robert Novack, Tim Russert, Judith Miller, and other journalists involved in the outing. And all of this would be conducted during the run up to the 2008 election.
But you will not find the fourth Article in Congressman Kucinich's resolution. And I find that very puzzling. Sorry Dennis but you blew it. Big time.