Linebacker53's Blog

Congratulations! Just one week ago we asked you to launch a massive movement against pardons by signing a petition to your Representatives. Over 46,000 of you took action and Congress took notice.

On Friday, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) introduced H.Res. 1531  urging President Bush not to pardon senior administration officials for crimes the President authorized. It notes:

President George W. Bush may have committed crimes involving the mistreatment of detainees, the extraordinary rendition of individuals to countries known to engage in torture, illegal surveillance of United States citizens, unlawful leaks of classified information, obstruction of justice, political interference with the conduct of the Justice Department, and other illegal acts

and that

Bush has been urged to grant preemptive pardons to senior administration officials who might face criminal prosecution for actions taken in the course of their official duties

Nadler's resolution urges Congress to investigate those crimes and any pardons relating to them, and urges the Attorney General (current or future) to appoint an Independent Counsel to prosecute those crimes.

These are major steps towards holding George Bush, Dick Cheney, and other senior officials accountable for their crimes and thereby upholding the rule of law, rather than allowing Presidents to become dictators.

Rep. Nadler's leadership is crucial because he chairs the House Judiciary Committee's  Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties  and can use his credibility and clout to move the resolution forward either during the lame duck session in December or when the next Congress convenes on January 6.

So our next step is to persuade as many Representatives as possible to co-sponsor H.Res. 1531. Please sign our new petition:
http://www.democrats.com/nadler-pardons?cid=ZGVtczQ4ND
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We also encourage you to call your Representative at 202-224-3121 and speak with the Legislative Assistant who handles Judiciary matters.

If your Representative says (s)he will co-sponsor, please let us know by commenting on our resolution "whipping" page:
http://www.democrats.com/nadler-pardon-resolution

Thanks for all you do!