MOVE TO CENSURE BUSH GAINS MOMENTUM
Wexler Joined by 13 Members of Congress in Move to Censure President for the Commutation of Scooter Libby's Sentence

(Washington, DC) Today Congressman Robert Wexler (D-FL) and 13 other Members of Congress filed a Congressional resolution censuring President George W. Bush for his egregious and politically motivated commutation of Scooter Libby’s prison sentence.

“Congress must express the disgust that Americans rightfully feel towards George W. Bush’s contemptible decision,” said Congressman Wexler, a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee. “Scooter Libby was found guilty of perjury and obstruction of justice by a jury and was sentenced by a judge that President Bush himself appointed.”

Congressman Wexler’s resolution provides Congress the opportunity to go on record in strong opposition to President Bush’s decision to commute Scooter Libby’s sentence and condone the deceitful chain of events that took place inside the White House.

“From the Administration’s falsification of intelligence that led us to a war in Iraq under false pretenses, to its political retaliation against former Ambassador Joseph Wilson and his wife and CIA covert agent Valerie Plame Wilson, to its blatant attempts to operate in secrecy and protect President Bush, Vice President Cheney, and other officials from proper scrutiny, the American people have seen enough corruption,” Congressman Wexler said. “By censuring the President, Congress can express the outrage felt by Americans across the country.”

Members joining Rep. Wexler include Reps. Blumenauer, Brady, Capuano, Cohen, DeFazio, Farr, John Hall, Jackson Lee, Michaud, Welch, Woolsey, Wu, and Wynn.


Congressman Wexler is Chairman of the Europe Subcommittee and a senior member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the House Judiciary Committee; and he also sits on the Financial Services Committee.



[Text of the Resolution Censuring President George W. Bush is Attached Below]





Resolution relating to the censure of George W. Bush


Whereas President George W. Bush has failed to comply with his obligations under Executive Order 12958 concerning the protection of classified national security information in that the covert identity of Valerie Plame Wilson as a Central Intelligence Agency operative was revealed to members of the media, and in June 2003 Bush Administration officials discussed with various reporters the identity of Ms. Wilson as a covert Central Intelligence Agency operative;

Whereas on July 14, 2003, the name of Ms. Wilson and her status as a CIA operative was revealed publicly in a newspaper column by Robert Novak, and on September 16, 2003 the Central Intelligence Agency advised the Department of Justice that Ms. Wilson’s status as a covert operative was classified information and requested a federal investigation;

Whereas knowingly leaking the identity of a covert agent is a criminal violation of the Intelligence Identities Protection Act (P.L. 97-200);

Whereas Arthur Brown, former Asian Division chief of the CIA, stated that, “cover and tradecraft are the only forms of protection one has and to have that stripped away because of political scheming is the moral equivalent to exposing forward deployed military units";

Whereas Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, effectively stopped the investigation into this potentially grave national security crime by lying to FBI investigators, and Mr. Libby's perjury shielded the Vice President Dick Cheney and President George W. Bush from further inquiry;

Whereas on March 6, 2007, in U.S. District Court a jury found Mr. Libby guilty on four counts of perjury, obstruction of justice and making false statements to FBI investigators regarding an investigation into the actions of the White House regarding leaking the identity of Ms. Wilson in retaliation for her husband's contention that the Bush administration twisted intelligence facts to justify the 2003 invasion of Iraq;

Whereas on June 5, 2007, Mr. Libby was sentenced to 30 months in prison and fined $250,000;

Whereas President George W. Bush had appointed the Special Prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, and nominated Judge Reggie Walton to his position on the US District Court, both of whom were involved in the trial of Mr. Libby;

Whereas in February 2004, President George W. Bush stated that if anyone in his Administration “has violated [the] law, that person will be taken care of”;

Whereas on July 2, 2007, President Bush commuted the portion of Mr. Libby’s sentence that required him to spend thirty months in prison;

Whereas in commuting Mr. Libby’s sentence, President Bush has finally and unalterably breached any remaining shred of trust that he had left with the American people and rewarded political loyalty while flouting the rule of law: Now, therefore let be it --

Resolved, That the United States Congress does hereby censure George W. Bush, President of the United States, and does condemn his decision to commute the portion of Mr. Libby’s sentence that required him to spend thirty months in prison, his unconscionable abuse of his authority with regard to the deceitful chain of events concerning the falsifying of intelligence on Iraqi nuclear capabilities and the exaggeration of the threat posed by Iraq, his involvement in the clear political retaliation against former Ambassador and Ms. Wilson, and his decision to reward the perjury of Mr. Libby, which effectively protected President Bush, Vice President Cheney, and other Administration officials from further scrutiny. 

                                                                 

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Congressman Wexler is Chairman of the Europe Subcommittee and a senior member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the House Judiciary Committee; and he also sits on the Financial Services Committee.

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