You just have to love that Bulldog named Rep. Waxman. This is about the Pat Tillman affair and Bush's claims of Executive Privilege. I would love to see the look on Rumsfled's face when he finally gets a subpoena out of this deal.
Rumsfeld is not the only one Rep.Waxman and Ranking Republican Tom Davis of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee have decided to ask some questions of. (chuckle)
Pat's Mom has some questions she wants answered, I hope Chairman Waxman will be asking them for her.
Were witnesses allowed to change their testimony on key details, as alleged by one investigator? Why did internal documents on the case, such as the initial casualty report, include false information? When did top Pentagon officials know that Tillman’s death was caused by friendly fire, and why did they delay for five weeks before informing his family?
"There have been so many discrepancies so far that it’s hard to know what to believe," Mary Tillman said. "There are too many murky details."
SFGate Press Release
Oversight Committee Announces Hearing on The Tillman Fratricide: What the Leadership of the Defense Department Knew
WASHINGTON, DC — On Wednesday, August 1, 2007, at 10:00 a.m. in 2154 Rayburn House Office Building, the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will hold a hearing entitled "The Tillman Fratricide: What the Leadership of the Defense Department Knew." The hearing will examine what senior Defense Department officials knew about U.S. Army Corporal Patrick Tillman’s death by fratricide.
On Friday, July 13, Chairman Waxman and Ranking Minority Member Tom Davis sent letters to the White House and the Department of Defense objecting to the withholding of documents related to the death of Corporal Tillman, who was killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan in 2004. Chairman Waxman also wrote the Republican National Committee to request communications about Corporal Tillman’s death by White House officials using e-mail accounts controlled by the RNC.
WHO: The following witnesses are invited to testify:
· The Honorable Donald Rumsfeld
Former Secretary of Defense· Gen. Richard B. Myers (Retired)
Former Chair, Joint Chiefs of Staff· Gen. John P. Abizaid (Retired)
Former Commander, U.S. Central Command· Gen. Bryan Douglas Brown (Retired)
Former Commander, U.S. Special Operations Command· Lt. Gen. Philip R. Kensinger, Jr. (Retired)
Former Commander, U.S. Special Operations Command· Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal
Commander, Joint Special Operations CommandWHEN: 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, August 1
WHERE: 2154 Rayburn House Office Building
This just keeps getting better and better. We will surely be heading to court sooner of later, there seems no way around it. Since we are heading there, let me show what Bushs defense plan is as laid out in the Bybee Memo.
This approach is consistent with previous decisions of our Office involving the application of federal criminal law. For example, we have previously construed the congressional contempt statute not to apply to executive branch officials who refuse to comply with congressional subpoenas because of an assertion of executive privilege. In a published 1984 opinion, we concluded that
if executive officials were subject to prosecution for criminal contempt whenever they carried out the President’s claim of executive privilege, it would significantly burden and immeasurably impair the President’s ability to fulfill his constitutional duties. Therefore, the separation of powers principles that underlie the doctrine of executive privilege also would preclude an application of the contempt of Congress statute to punish officials for aiding the President in asserting his constitutional privilege.
Prosecution for Contempt of Congress of an Executive Branch Official Who Has Asserted A Claim of Executive Privilege, 8 Op. O.L.C. 101, 134 (May 30, 1984). Likewise, we believe that, if executive officials were subject to prosecution for conducting interrogations when they were carrying out the President’s Commander-in-Chief powers, "it would significantly burden and immeasurably impair the President’s ability to fulfill his constitutional duties." These constitutional principles preclude an application of Section 2340A to punish officials for aiding the President in exercising his exclusive constitutional authorities.
I realize I keep pounding on people to read the Bybee Memo, but it may be the single most important thing you need to read and understand to combat this Admin, and it's thinking.
Added Bonus Update : While doing a little more research look what I found from Saturdays news :
The Center for Constitutional Rights filed a criminal complaint in Germany today against outgoing Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. The complaint requests that the German Federal Prosecutor open an investigation - and ultimately, a criminal prosecution - looking into the responsibility of high-ranking U.S. officials for authorizing war crimes in the name of the so-called "War on Terror."
Former White House Counsel and current Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez and former CIA Director George Tenet, are also charged in the complaint. The suit is being brought on behalf of a dozen torture victims
Crossposted at Daily Kos
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