Scoop: Bush Impeachment Resolution Introduced In Illinois

Scoop: Bush Impeachment Resolution Introduced In Illinois:

Representative Yarborough, Illinois State Legislature Introduces Bill
Invokes Never Used Provision from Thomas Jefferson’s Rules
Sunday 23, April 2006
By Michael Collins
For “Scoop” Independent Media
Washington, DC

Representative Karen A. Yarbrough, a Democratic member of the Illinois State Assembly, introduced a resolution calling for the impeachment of President George W. Bush. House Joint Resolution 125 was introduced on April 20, 2006 with two co sponsors, Representatives Sara Feigenholtz and Eddie Washington, also both Democrats. Derided by Thomas Jefferson as “scarcely a scarecrow,” the presidential impeachment process is a rarity in United States history. The impeachment of federal judges is more common but also a rare event.

"llinois Joint Resolution 125

Bush is charged with the following “high crimes and misdemeanors” in Representative Yarborough’s resolution (summary):


1. Ordering the National Security Agency to spy on American citizens without a warrant (a “felony”).
2. Violating the Torture Convention of the Geneva Conventions, “a treaty regarded as supreme law by the United States Constitution;”
3. Holding American and other citizens as “prisoners of war without a charge or trial;
4. Manipulating intelligence to start the Iraq war “resulting in the deaths of large numbers of Iraqi civilians and causing the United States to incur loss of life, diminished security and billions of dollars in unnecessary expenses; and,
5. Leaking “classified national secrets to further a political agenda” thus exposing U.S. agents “to potential harm and retribution while simultaneously refusing to potential harm and retribution while simultaneously refusing to investigate the matter.”

Noting that the Republican controlled Congress failed to investigate the matter, the resolution invokes the powers under Section 603 of the Jefferson rules. The resolution reaches its summary by arguing that:

“the State of Illinois has good cause to submit charges to the U. S. House of Representatives under Section 603 that the President of the United States has willfully violated his Oath of Office to preserve protect and defend the Constitution of the United States; and be it further

RESOLVED, That George W. Bush, if found guilty of the charges contained herein, should be removed from office and disqualified to hold any other office in the United States.

Each of these charges is a grave violation of the oath of office and some of them represent potential criminal charges against President Bush should he be impeached. The proposed action is unusual since it has two parts. Bush would both removed from office and “disqualified to hold any other office.”

Impeachment of a president or other federal office holder allows only for removal from office. Further financial penalties, jail time, etc. are optional for the president after he is removed from office. There is an ongoing debate over the ability of prosecutors to indict a sitting president. Although the language of the Constitution seems to allow this, there are points of tradition and interpretation used to argue against the practice."