Time: Sat Mar 15 16:16:55 1997 by primenet.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id NAA07238; Sat, 15 Mar 1997 13:02:07 -0700 (MST) Date: Sat, 15 Mar 1997 16:03:30 -0800 To: (Recipient list suppressed) From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar] Subject: SLS: IMPEACHMENT PROCEEDINGS UNDERWAY: Give your Reps a Call (fwd) <snip> >> The Washington Times >> Published in Washington, D.C. March 14 - 16, 1997 >> >> Barr seeks impeachment >> inquiry on fund raising >> >> _________________________________________________________________ >> >> By Jerry Seper >> THE WASHINGTON TIMES >> _________________________________________________________________ >> >> >> The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee has been asked to begin >> an impeachment inquiry of President Clinton and Vice President Al Gore >> amid accusations that a growing campaign-finance scandal has >> compromised national-security interests and corrupted the country's >> foreign-policy decisions. >> >> Rep. Bob Barr, Georgia Republican, made the request this week in a >> three-page letter to Chairman Henry J. Hyde, challenging -- among >> other things -- Mr. Clinton's use of the White House to "amass his >> political campaign war chest" and Mr. Gore's ties to questionable fund >> raising "on federal property and with federal resources." >> "The cumulative effect of such a series of systemic abuses of the >> political process ... points precisely toward theories of impeachment >> law invoked by this committee nearly 25 years ago in the matter of >> President Nixon," Mr. Barr said. >> >> "Those same theories were then, as they must be now, based on clear >> historical precedent, considered explicitly by our Founding Fathers, >> that alone among remedies to correct abuses of power or improper >> conduct by high public officials, stands impeachment," he said. >> Several House members have informally contacted Mr. Barr and Mr. Hyde >> about a possible impeachment inquiry, and some of them have reviewed a >> 1974 Watergate report to determine if -- Continued from Front Page -- >> impeachment articles can be drawn up against Mr. Clinton and Mr. Gore, >> according to congressional sources. >> >> That report included a review of Article II, Section 4 of the U.S. >> Constitution, which says "treason, bribery or other high crimes and >> misdemeanors" are grounds for impeachment. It concluded that high >> crimes and misdemeanors could include efforts to use the White House >> for improper purposes or personal gain. >> >> Mr. Barr, saying that emerging campaign-related scandals could no >> longer be ignored by the committee, called on Mr. Hyde to begin a >> preliminary impeachment inquiry as soon as possible. >> Sam Stratman, spokesman for Mr. Hyde, confirmed Thursday that the >> chairman had received the letter and had begun a review of it. He said >> the Illinois Republican would respond to Mr. Barr's request in due >> course. >> >> White House special counsel Lanny Davis declined comment. >> Mr. Barr, a former federal prosecutor, said in a Thursday interview >> that he made the decision to seek an impeachment inquiry after it >> became apparent the "two top leaders of our country could not assure >> the people" they had not engaged in criminal conduct in fund-raising >> efforts at the White House. >> >> "Clearly, the time is right to begin the process now," he said. >> On March 3, Mr. Gore said he solicited money for the Clinton-Gore >> campaign last year from the White House, but he denied it was illegal >> -- although a 1995 memo sent to him and Mr. Clinton by White House >> Counsel Abner J. Mikva said fund-raising activities of any kind were >> prohibited in government buildings and that "no fund-raising phone >> calls or mail may emanate from the White House or any other federal >> building." >> >> On March 8, Mr. Clinton told reporters he couldn't recall if he made >> similar phone calls for campaign cash from the White House. >> Mr. Barr already has taken the first step to an informal impeachment >> inquiry. Last week, he asked the chief counsel to the Watergate >> committee in the Nixon impeachment inquiry to draw up possible >> articles of impeachment. >> >> Jerome M. Zeifman, the Democrats' chief counsel on the House Judiciary >> Committee during the 1974 Nixon impeachment probe, was asked to begin >> a preliminary inquiry and to prepare articles listing possible crimes >> committed by the president and the vice president. >> Mr. Zeifman, reached at his Connecticut law office, refused to comment >> on questions of whether his services had been requested by Mr. Barr or >> the committee, but -- when pressed -- he would not deny that he was >> involved. >> >> "Throughout my entire legal career, I was trained that any member of >> Congress -- Democrat or Republican -- was free to consult with me on >> any matter, and that I was to keep those consultations confidential," >> he said. "I am outraged that someone would give you that information." >> Mr. Barr, also a member of the House Government Reform and Oversight >> Committee now conducting a separate probe into campaign-finance >> irregularities involving Mr. Clinton and the Democratic National >> Committee, said the "web of Clinton campaign-related scandal" had >> grown to such "complexity and proportion," that the appointment of an >> independent counsel to look into the matter was not "a desirable >> alternative." >> >> "The independent counsel statute cannot be viewed as a permissible or >> desirable alternative to the constitutionally mandated process of >> addressing issues properly reserved for impeachment inquiry," he said. >> "To treat that law in such a manner would undermine our own >> constitutional obligations." >> >> Impeachment proceedings against the president or vice president >> require an investigation by the Judiciary Committee and debate by the >> full House in order to bring an indictment, and then a trial in the >> Senate, where a two-thirds vote to convict is necessary. >> Mr. Zeifman, whose assistants in the Nixon impeachment inquiry >> included lawyers Hillary Rodham Clinton and former White House Counsel >> Bernard Nussbaum, has become a vocal administration critic. >> He said in a November interview with The Washington Times that the >> administration's campaign-finance scandal was worse than Watergate >> "because the Democrats in my party are marching in lock step in >> support of a corrupt president." >> >> He said Mr. Clinton had "reactivated and exacerbated the cancer that >> became systemic in Watergate with respect to campaign financing." >> >> _________________________________________________________________ <snip> ======================================================================== Paul Andrew, Mitchell, B.A., M.S. : Counselor at Law, federal witness email: [address in tool bar] : Eudora Pro 3.0.1 on Intel 586 CPU web site: http://www.supremelaw.com : library & law school registration ship to: c/o 2509 N. Campbell, #1776 : this is free speech, at its best Tucson, Arizona state : state zone, not the federal zone Postal Zone 85719/tdc : USPS delays first class w/o this ========================================================================
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