Citizens Petition for a Special Prosecutor…..Final draft?

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Dear Attorney General Holder, we the undersigned citizens hereby petition you to appoint a Special Prosecutor to aggressively investigate and prosecute the many and various crimes that we believe have been committed both by, and under, the Bush Administration.

For eight long years the citizens of the United States have witnessed the President, the Vice President, and Bush administration officials commit crime after crime. In an atmosphere of deliberately politicized corruption that has shocked the conscience of our nation and the world, all attempts at investigation and accountability have been blocked or deflected by the corruption and politicization of the Department of Justice itself; the very Department that you are soon to head.

The corruption of the most basic tool of justice and accountability, the subpoena process, has been particularly alarming. By refusing to enforce the Congressional power of subpoena, and thus their power to hold the Executive Branch of our government accountable, former Attorneys General Gonzalez and Mukasey have subverted the very concept of justice and the Rule of Law upon which our nation was founded.

We as citizens are subject to the Rule of Law, and we demand that our government and its officials be as well, no matter how high an office they may hold. The President is no more above the law than any other citizen. We as citizens have lost faith in the credibility of our justice system due to its abuse, corruption, and subversion by the Bush Administration. Only you Attorney General Holder, can restore that faith. And it it is our belief that it may only be restored by the aggressive and unrelenting prosecution of those who have corrupted it by bringing to the light of day the crimes that have been covered up, tacitly ignored, or rendered “legal” by that corruption.

The most important founding principle of America is that no man is above the law. Our Constitution itself is meant to guarantee that principle. Crimes committed by the President are de facto crimes committed against the Constitution and against every citizen. Perhaps the most egregious crime of all has been to subvert the Department of Justice to place the President and the members of his administration above the law itself. That principle must be restored and we insist Attorney General Holder, that it is your responsibility to do so. As citizens of a democracy meant to be of, by, and for The People, we, your “employers,” demand that you do so.

The list of offenses is long, ranging from minor violations of the Hatch Act, to conspiring to wage aggressive, preemptive war. The most egregious, and we believe, most prosecutable items:

The intentional manufacturing and exaggeration of evidence to justify the unnecessary, illegal, and immoral invasion of a sovereign nation. Resulting in the deaths of over 4000 American soldiers, countless innocent Iraqi citizens, the torture at Abu Ghraib prison, and costing American taxpayers upwards of a trillion dollars, as well as causing an irreparable stain on the reputation of the United States of America.

“Before taking the country to war, this Administration owed it to the American people to give them a 100 percent accurate picture of the threat we faced. Unfortunately, our Committee has concluded that the Administration made significant claims that were not supported by the intelligence,”  Senator Jay Rockefeller, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

See: Senate Intelligence Report: Phase 2 (pdf)

The widespread and approved use of torture by the Bush Administration.

Highly placed sources said a handful of top advisers signed off on how the CIA would interrogate top al Qaeda suspects — whether they would be slapped, pushed, deprived of sleep or subjected to simulated drowning, called waterboarding.

“Why are we talking about this in the White House? History will not judge this kindly.” Attorney General Ashcroft.

“Well, we started to connect the dots in order to protect the American people.” Bush told ABC News White House correspondent Martha Raddatz. “And yes, I’m aware our national security team met on this issue. And I approved.”

Illegal Wiretapping of American Citizens, prior to “legalization” under FISA “reform.”

…the President openly acknowledged that he has ordered the government to spy on Americans, on American soil, without the warrants required by law.

…The President was blunt, so I will be blunt: This program is breaking the law, and this President is breaking the law. Not only that, he is misleading the American people in his efforts to justify this program. Senator Russ Feingold

Obstruction of Justice in the Plame Case. In which Special Prosecutor Fitzgerald (who we strongly urge you to consider for this position) was thwarted in his pursuit of justice by, as he put it, the Bush Administration “throwing sand in the face of the umpire.”

In light of the likelihood of the upcoming pardon of Scooter Libby, we petition you to re-open this case, Attorney General Holder.

We also refer you to Representative Kucinich’s Articles of Impeachment. and former federal prosecutor Elizabeth de la Vega’s Kucinich’s Articles of Impeachment: A Three-Part Guide. As well as Vincent Bugliosi’s charges in The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder. A more comprehensive listing of the Bush Administration crimes and scandals can be found here, but as you no doubt well know Attorney general Holder, there are copious amounts of evidence just waiting to be developed. Developed by you.

These investigations and prosecutions that we so strongly urge you to undertake and pursue will have many consequences. Some of them could prove to be politically inexpedient for our new President and the Democratic Congress. To this end, we remind you that you work not on behalf of or for the President or the Congress, but for the People of the United States of America and for Justice itself. We urge you to, unlike your predecessors Attorneys General Mukasey and Gonzales, ignore these political considerations and consequences in the pursuit of justice, no matter what, or to whom, the cost.

To that end, we petition you to appoint and fully empower an Independent or Special Prosecutor and to fully fund and support their investigation and prosecution of all the parties implicated therein.

Our justice system has been corrupted and compromised. Our standing as an nation that hews to the Rule of Law above all else has been gravely and perilously threatened.  Only one man, standing independent from all other considerations, can restore both the Rule of Law in our great nation and the integrity of the Department of Justice itself, Attorney General Holder. And that man is you.

Ok I like the idea of an appendix, but I am not sure it is necessary. As I say in the petition…”as you no doubt well know Attorney general Holder, there are copious amounts of evidence just waiting to be developed. Developed by you.” A proper focused investigation is all that is really needed, and we know the Obama team is aware of the issues. But….if folks want to work up an appendix, we will of course include it.

I am leaving out the excellent Recommendations From Bush War Crimes Prosecution Conference because it seems to me that it is more about what to do IF this petition doesn’t work, if AG Holder and the Obama Administration refuses to prosecute.

So…..a little more tuning today and tomorrow and then start spreading it around on Friday? More links, suggestions and cuts are welcome!