SENATOR STUNS WASHINGTON: WE COULD IMPEACH HIM AGAIN!
Sun Feb 11 2001 15:55:34 ET
WASHINGTON -- [AFP] -- A veteran US Republican senator suggested Sunday former president Bill Clinton could be impeached
again in connection with a series of pardons and sentence commutations he issued at the end of his term, including the
controversial pardon of billionaire commodities trader Marc Rich.
"This may surprise a lot of people and I'm not suggesting that it should be done, but president Clinton technically could
still be impeached," said Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, in an interview with Fox television.
Specter, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is looking into 140 pardons and 36 sentence commutations issued by
Clinton at the eleventh hour of his presidency and is expected to hold a hearing on the matter on Wednesday.
The loudest outcry was caused by Clinton's pardon of Rich, who fled the United States for Switzerland in 1983 faced with
charges he failed to pay more than 48 million dollars in taxes.
Rich was also charged with buying more than 200 million dollars worth of oil from Iran, a violation of a US trade embargo,
at the very moment Tehran was holding Americans hostage.
"A president may be impeached for the emoluments of office such as the substantial sums being spent on the library, such as
the bodyguards, such as pension," said Specter.
The senator said the option was brought up to him by a former legal counsel to former president Gerald Ford, who pardoned
Richard Nixon soon after the latter's ignominious 1974 resignation in the wake of the Watergate scandal.
Specter said that while he was not officially proposing to launch new impeachment proceedings against Clinton, "somebody in
the House of Representatives may do that tomorrow."
Clinton was already impeached by the House in 1998 on perjury and obstruction of justice charges stemming from his affair
with Monica Lewinsky, a former White House intern. He was acquitted by the US Senate in early 1999.
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TRANSCRIPT FROM FOX NEWS SUNDAY:
[FOX's Tony Snow, Brit Hume and Sen. Arlen Specter [R-PA]
SNOW: So, Senator, let's suppose it's a breach of trust. Let's suppose that people find out that the Rich pardon was
conducted under auspices they don't like. What on earth can Congress do about it?
SPECTER: Well, in our investigation we found a very interesting point that I hadn't known about in talking to the counsel
who represented President Ford in the pardon of President Nixon. And this may surprise a lot of people, and I'm not
suggesting that it should be done, but President Clinton technically could still be impeached. And you say how can that
happen, he's out of office? Because a president may be impeached for the emoluments of office, such as the substantial sums
being spent on the library, such as the bodyguards, such as his pension.
President Clinton avoided a conviction on impeachment the last time around because he had not lost the confidence of the
American people, and we didn't want to shake up the government, but he's not in office anymore.
HUME: Are you planning to propose that he be impeached?
SPECTER: No, I'm not suggesting it, but Brit, wait and see. Somebody in the House of Representatives may do that tomorrow.
That's their job to talk about articles of impeachment.
HUME: Do you have someone in mind or are you just speculating?
SPECTER: Well, no, I don't have anybody in mind. But I was surprised to find that you could impeach a president after he
was out of office. And some people have suggested that you don't need a constitutional amendment because you could always
impeach a president, and when it's done in the last days, a lot of responses were, ``Well, you can't impeach the president,
he's out of office.'' So that when counsel to President Ford told me that impeachment is still possible, I don't think that
trial would take too long.
END
SENATOR STUNS WASHINGTON: WE COULD IMPEACH HIM AGAIN!
-- Ain't Gonna Happen (Not Here Not@ever.com), February 11, 2001
Why are we suddenly going to impeach Clinton again? To bury the story
of
Funeralgate: Bush Charged With Lying Under Oath
About Influence-Peddling
How many voters knew that President Bush is
credibly charged with lying under oath
about influence-peddling in a whistle-blower
lawsuit that's scheduled for trial this
year? Known as Funeralgate, Eliza May's wrongful
termination lawsuit also questions
the credibility of Bush's nominee to head the
Federal Emergency Management
Agency, Joe Allbaugh, formerly his campaign
manager, whom the AP article about his
nomination reported is "at the center" of the
potentially sensational case. (1)
Allbaugh's confirmation hearing before the
Senate Governmental Affairs Committee is
scheduled for Feb. 13. If Democrats break the
conspiracy of silence about
Funeralgate by calling Eliza May to explain her
allegations against Bush and Allbaugh,
the country may get a jolting preview of a
presidential lawsuit that could make the
Paula Jones case look like mere gossip.
May, the fired executive director of the Texas
Funeral Service Commission, charges
that Gov. Bush lied under oath in an affidavit
when he flatly denied that he had
spoken to anyone involved about a regulatory
crackdown her agency instituted
against one of his major political contributors
- or that he even had any knowledge
of the facts of the matter. His sworn affidavit
has already been contradicted at
least four times, including by conflicting
testimony from one of his appointees in a
deposition taken on Oct. 17.
www.auschron.com/issues/d...aked6.html (2)
Learning exactly what Bush swore and exactly how
his affidavit has been
contradicted would have caused voters to
question Bush's claim to moral superiority.
Arguably, the withholding of that basic
information from the electorate and the
failure of the press to ask Bush to explain his
side of the story amounts to the elite
media having thrown a presidential election.
Though from the start legal experts warned that
Bush was at extreme jeopardy from
May's case and should settle it before being
required to testify, all efforts to get this
23 month-old lawsuit disposed of have failed.
After his sworn affidavit was
contradicted, the court approved adding Bush as
a defendant in April of last year.
Asserting that Bush "knowingly permitted his
staff to intervene improperly" in an
investigation by her agency, her suit alleges
that his actions were intended to
"subvert the lawful conduct of public officials
in the performance of their official
duties." A Jan. 26 article in the Austin
Chronicle on the latest developments in the
case, entitled "The Lawsuit That Wouldn't Die,"
reports that Bush will be ordered to
testify this year.
www.dallasnews.com/specia...uneral.htm
www.auschron.com/issues/d...ures5.html
www.auschron.com/issues/d...aked5.html (3)
May contends that Bush and his staff impeded her
investigation of the world's
largest chain of funeral homes, Service
Corporation International, whose founder and
CEO, Robert Waltrip, is a bountiful supporter of
the Bush family. The tough-talking
Houston tycoon, whose mortuaries are said to
bury one in nine Americans,
contributed $45,000 to Governor Bush and over
$100,000 to the Bush presidential
library, as well as providing a $70,000
honorarium for a speech by President Bush,
the use of his corporate jet, and other
generosities.
www.salon.com/politics200...print.html
www.salon.com/news/featur...index.html (4)
Following complaints about gruesomely inept
embalmings - including a protest by
anguished parents that their son's body "leaked
maroon fluid" and drew gnats -- May
launched an investigation of SCI mortuaries by
conducting surprise inspections. The
TFSC inspectors allegedly found that unlicensed
embalmers had been employed with
macabre results. Presented for open viewing, a
man's body had been so overpumped
with embalming fluid that it was oozing from his
eyes, ears and mouth - causing his
younger brother to run away screaming, "That's
not my brother!" But Waltrip was
defiant. Enraged by May's 'raids,' he exercised
what his spokesman called his
"constitutional right" to take his protests "up
the ladder" to Gov. Bush.
www.reporternews.com/1999...s0816.html
www.washingtonpost.com/wp...082399.htm
www.latimes.com/news/poli...bush/19990
905/t000079438.html (5)
May alleges that she was then pressured by Bush
aides to back off. According to her
lawsuit against Bush, Waltrip, SCI, and the
TFSC, she was summoned to the office
of Joe Allbaugh, then Gov. Bush's chief of
staff, for an intimidating meeting with
Waltrip. She says Allbaugh allowed state Senator
John Whitmire, who represents
Waltrip's home district, to grill her about the
investigation in front of the mortuary
tycoon. Allbaugh's office told the AP that his
role was "simply to listen," but at
another meeting with Allbaugh, May she says that
he told her, "This isn't going
anywhere."
www.auschron.com/issues/v...neral.html
www.auschron.com/issues/v...side1.html (6)
After SCI was fined $445,000 by the commission
for improper embalming procedures
and other violations, May claims the legislature
came under pressure from SCI and
the governor's office to shut down the agency -
and that in Feb. of '99, she was
fired as a result of Waltrip's wrath, using the
excuse that another commission
employee had complained that she asked him to
research SCI's campaign
contributions. SCI hasn't paid the fine, which
presumably may be a reason why the
lawsuit hasn't been settled. And after being
restructured and losing most of its
enforcement powers, the agency has been
undergoing a "sunset review" and
reportedly may be eliminated soon. (7)
On July 20, 1999, in an affidavit intended to
persuade the court to reject May's
request to depose him, Gov. Bush swore: "I have
had no conversations with Texas
Funeral Services Commission officials, agents or
representatives concerning the
investigation of SCI by the Texas Funeral
Services Commission or any dispute arising
from it. I have had no conversations with SCI
officials, agents, or representatives
concerning the investigation or any dispute
arising from it. I have no personal
knowledge of relevant facts of the investigation
nor do I have any personal
knowledge of relevant facts concerning any
dispute arising from this investigation. I
have never asked anyone to take a role or to
become involved in any way in this
investigation or any dispute arising from it or
given direction to anyone who might be
involved in the SCI investigation or dispute."
Of course, there would have been nothing wrong
with Gov. Bush having known about
the investigation of SCI or the dispute arising
from it or having spoken with those
involved about the matter. But that he locked
himself into such unequivocal denials
is the crux of his problem, which may result in
the distraction of another sensational
presidential lawsuit. The obvious question is
why Bush's lawyers had him risk locking
himself into such flat-out denials when he knew
they could be contradicted. Why
was it so necessary for him to avoid being
questioned under oath?
Given this incautious affidavit, May's lawyers
introduced an August 1999 Newsweek
expose' www.msnbc.com/news/479524.asp by Michael
Isikoff, who developed the
Monica Lewinsky scandal by covertly working with
Linda Tripp, Lucianne Goldberg,
Kathleen Willey, Paula Jones's lawyers and the
Office of the Independent Counsel.
Isikoff got key Funeralgate players to go on the
record with contradictions of Bush's
sworn statement. He told of a meeting on April
15, 1998 with Waltrip and his lawyers
in Allbaugh's office during which Bush stopped
by and said to Waltrip, "Hey, Bobby,
are those people still messing with you?"
Isikoff reported that when Waltrip said they
were, Bush turned to the wealthy mortician's
lawyer/lobbyist, Johnnie B. Rogers, and
asked if he was "taking care of him." (9)
Twice when asked about this, Bush told reporters
that his questions about the
matter didn't count as a conversation, but
merely a "brief exchange." So, apparently
Bush's defense may depend on what the meaning of
the word 'conversation' is. But
by acknowledging that he initiated exchanges
about it -- however brief -- with
involved parties, he appears to have impeached
his claims to have had no knowledge
of the investigation or dispute. (10)
The latest contradiction of Bush's affidavit
comes from one of Bush's appointees,
Charles 'Dick' McNeil, a former chairman of the
funeral commission, who testified in a
deposition taken on Oct. 17 that in the fall of
1998 Bush briefly inquired about the
agency's "problems" with SCI. McNeil swore that
during a short conversation Bush
said, "Have you got - you and Bob Waltrip - are
you and Mr. Waltrip got your
problems worked out?" After McNeil answered that
they were still trying to work on
it, and added, "I hope that we have not been an
embarrassment to you or any of
this administration," he says the governor said
he wasn't an embarrassment to him
and told him, "Do your job." Bush spokesman Dan
Bartlett told the Dallas Morning
News that McNeil was mistaken.
www.auschron.com/issues/d...aked6.html
www.dallasnews.com/texas_.....html(11)
After state district Judge John Dietz, a
Democrat, ruled in August that May's lawyers
had to wait until after the election to depose
Bush and Allbaugh, May's lawyer,
Charles Herring, Jr. told the Dallas Morning
News that because McNeil's deposition is
"flatly inconsistent with the governor's sworn
statement . . . we will proceed with
our efforts to depose the governor." Now,
reportedly, their depositions are pending.
And May's team has filed evidence with the court
that Texas Attorney General John
Cornyn was also involved in the alleged
conspiracy by "covering up their prior
improper, illegal actions" in preventing May and
the TFSC from enforcing the law.
(12)
Potentially, it appears that May's lawsuit about
funerals gone dreadfully wrong could
be a far more serious matter than the Paula
Jones case since it involves allegations
of influence-peddling and a cover-up of serious
official misdeeds rather than personal
misconduct. As the Austin Chronicle's Robert
Bryce put it, "the most disturbing part
of this mess is that at no time did Bush,
Allbaugh, SCI, Cornyn, or Whitmire act on
behalf of, or show any concern for, Texas
consumers. Instead they acted to protect
the fat cats. That's the scandal." May, however,
is a Democrat, who once served as
the Texas Democratic Party treasurer, and the
Bush team asserts that the suit is
politically motivated and frivolous.
www.salon.com/news/featur...print.html (13)
But considering that the Jones case was
dismissed as meritless, the inauguration of
the younger Bush, who campaigned as the
un-Clinton, may not mean an end to
sensational presidential courtroom drama. He and
his nominee to fill the shoes of
James Lee Witt at FEMA may have their denials
that they punished an agency head
for acting to protect the public credibly
disputed. A worst-case scenario with the
May case trial could have both Bush and
Allbaugh's credibility in ruins during an
Oklahoma City bombing disaster.
Belatedly - and before the confirmation of
Allbaugh - the public needs to hear
specific explanations for Bush's contradicted
affidavit and for his special assistance
to Waltrip. Because, call it karma, revenge,
justice, the way of the world, or just
reality, the Eliza May case about funeral fraud
and stinky oozing bodies looms as the
irresistible means for a Gothic comeuppance.
(1) "Bush Taps Allbaugh To Head FEMA," by Scott
Lindlaw. AP. The New York Times.
1-04-01.
www.nytimes.com/aponline/...ofile.html
(2) "It's His Funeral," by Robert Bryce. "Naked
City." The Austin Chronicle. 10-27-00.
www.auschron.com/issues/d...aked6.html
"Inconsistency raised in case," by George
Kuempel. The Dallas Morning News.
10-24-00.
www.dallasnews.com/texas_...4tex..html
"Surprise Testimony in Texas, "
Newsweek-on-line. MSNBC.com 10-30-00.
"Fear and Loathing in Austin," by Robert Bryce.
The Austin Chronicle. 11-10-00.
www.auschron.com/issues/d...ndup2.html
"The funeral scandal time line," by Robert
Bryce. Salon Magazine. 8-20-99.
www.salon.com/news/featur...index.html
(3) "Experts say Bush should settle
whistle-blower suit," by Richard Alm and Mark
Curriden.
The Dallas Morning News. 8-26-99.
www.dallasnews.com/specia...uneral.htm
"Bush named a defendant in whistle-blower suit,"
by Jim Vertuno. AP Austin
Amer.-Statesman. 4-18-00.
austin360.com/news/1metro...wsuit.html
"Bush named as defendant," by Robert Bryce.
Salon Magazine. 4-18-2000.A
www.salon.com/politics200...print.html
"Bush named a defendant in Texas
wrongful-termination lawsuit," Nandotimes.com
4-18-2000.
www.nandotimes.com/nofram...-0,00.html
www.auschron.com/issues/d...aked5.html
"The Lawsuit That Wouldn't Die," by Robert
Bryce. The Austin Chronicle. 1-26-01.
www.auschron.com/issues/d...aked5.html (4)
"Funeralgate Hits Texas," by Robert Bryce. The
Austin Chronicle. 7-9-99.
www.auschron.com/issues/v....scci.html
"The Plot Thickens," by Robert Bryce. The Austin
Chronicle. 5-5-2000.
www.auschron.com/issues/d...ture5.html
"The Funeral-Home Flap," by Michael Isikoff.
Newsweek, Aug. 16, 1999.
www.msnbc.com/news/479524.asp
(5) "The Funeral-Home Flap," by Michael Isikoff.
Newsweek, Aug. 16, 1999.
www.msnbc.com/news/479524.asp
"Going up the ladder isn't cheap," by Molly
Ivins. The Abilene Reporter News.
8-16-99.
www.reporternews.com/1999...s0816.html
"Funeralgate Hits Texas," by Robert Bryce. The
Austin Chronicle. 7-9-99.
www.auschron.com/issues/v....scci.html
"Bush Tangled in Funeral Industry Suit," by
Claudia Kolker. L.A. Times. 9-5-99.
www.latimes.com/news/poli...79438.html
"Bush Faces Lawsuit in Texas," by John Mintz.
The Washington Post. 10-23-99.
www.washingtonpost.com/wp...082399.htm
"Meet Al Gore's Top Man," edit. by Alexander
Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair.
CounterPunch. 11-26-99.
www.counterpunch.org/coelho.html
"The Plot Thickens," by Robert Bryce. The Austin
Chronicle. 5-5-2000.
www.auschron.com/issues/d...ture5.html
"Burying the Opposition: The Funeralgate
players," by Robert Bryce. The Texas
Observer. 5-28-99.
www.bushfiles.com/bushfil...ition.html
"Bush Linked to Alleged Political Reprisal," by
Paul Duggon. The Washington Post.
8-3-00.
www.washingtonpost.com/wp...080399.htm
"Fired state funeral agency director says
governor is lying," by M. Curriden and G.
Kuempel. The Dallas Morning News. 8-19-00.
www.dallasnews.com/specia...uneral.htm
(6) "Bush Tangled in Funeral Industry Suit," by
Claudia Kolker. L.A. Times. 9-5-99.
www.latimes.com/news/poli...79438.html
"Embalming for Dollars," by Robert Bryce. The
Austin Chronicle. 7-9-99.
www.auschron.com/issues/v...lming.html
"Going up the ladder isn't cheap," by Molly
Ivins. The Abilene Reporter News.
8-16-99. www.reporternews.com/1999...s0816.html
SHRUB: The Short But Happy Political Life of
G.W. Bush by Molly Ivins & Lou Dubose.
2000. pp.103-6.
"A Pattern of Intimidation? or Just Business?"
Timeline from The Austin Chronicle.
7-9-99.
www.auschron.com/issues/v...side1.html
"Buried in Scandal," by Robert Bryce.The Austin
Chronicle. 3-99.
www.auschron.com/issues/v...neral.html
Under the Influence," An Investigative Report by
the Center for Public Integrity.
11-2-00.
www.*public-i.org/story_16_022800.htm
"Pols Try To Bury Funeral Probe," Lobby Watch.
Texans For Public Justice. 3-19-99.
www.tpj.org/Lobby_Watch/funeral.html
"Bush's scandal not a sexy as Clinton's," by
Sara Fritz. The St. Petersburg Times.
4-24-2000.
www.sptimes.com/News/0424...t_as.shtml
"The funeral scandal time line," by Robert
Bryce. Salon Magazine. 8-20-99.
www.salon.com/news/featur...index.html
"Bush Taps Allbaugh To Head FEMA," by Scott
Lindlaw. AP. The New York Times.
1-04-01.
www.nytimes.com/aponline/...ofile.html
(7)"The Plot Thickens," by Robert Bryce. The
Austin Chronicle. 5-5-2000.
www.auschron.com/issues/d...ture5.html
"Burying the Opposition: The Funeralgate
players," by Robert Bryce. The Texas
Observer. 5-28-99.
www.bushfiles.com/bushfil...ition.html
"Comptroller sending 'SWAT' team to funeral
agency," by Michael Holmes. Abeline
Reporter-News. 8-17-99.
www.texnews.com/1998/1999...m0817.html
"Review criticizes prepaid funerals," by Amy
Schatz. The Austin-American
Statesman. 10-20-00.
"It's His Funeral," by Robert Bryce. "Naked
City." The Austin Chronicle. 10-27-00.
www.auschron.com/issues/d...aked6.html
"Bush names new funeral commission," by Michael
Holmes. AP. Abeline
Reporter-News. 9-4-99.
www.reporternews.com/1999...m0904.html
"Burying the Past," by Robert Bryce. The Austin
Chronicle. 9-3-99.
auschron.com/issues/dispa...ture3.html
"The Lawsuit That Wouldn't Die," by Robert
Bryce. The Austin Chronicle. 1-26-01.
www.auschron.com/issues/d...aked5.html
"Bush accused of false remark," by Juan B.
Elizondo Jr. The Austin
American-Statesman. 8-19-99.
www.austin360.com/news/fe.../0819.html
"It's His Funeral," by Robert Bryce. "Naked
City." The Austin Chronicle. 10-27-00.
www.auschron.com/issues/d...aked6.html
"Pulling a Clinton?" by Robert Bryce. Salon
Magazine. 8-5-99.
www.salon.com/news/featur...index.html
(9) "The Funeral-Home Flap," by Michael Isikoff.
Newsweek, Aug. 16, 1999.
www.msnbc.com/news/479524.asp
(10) "Lawsuit accuses governor of impeding
investigation," The Huston Chronicle.
4-19-00.
"Around Texas, Bush 2000 update," The Lone Star
Report. 8-20-99.
www.lonestarreport.org/bu...01w2k.html
"It's His Funeral," by Robert Bryce. "Naked
City." The Austin Chronicle. 10-27-00.
www.auschron.com/issues/d...aked6.html
(11) "Inconsistency raised in case," by George
Kuempel. The Dallas Morning News.
10-24-00.
www.dallasnews.com/texas_...4tex..html
"It's His Funeral," by Robert Bryce. "Naked
City." The Austin Chronicle. 10-27-00.
www.auschron.com/issues/d...aked6.html
(12) "Inconsistency raised in case," by George
Kuempel. The Dallas Morning News.
10-24-00.
www.dallasnews.com/texas_...4tex..html
"The Lawsuit That Wouldn't Die," by Robert
Bryce. The Austin Chronicle. 1-26-01.
www.auschron.com/issues/d...aked5.html
(13) "Bush's scandal not a sexy as Clinton's,"
by Sara Fritz. The St. Petersburg
Times. 4-24-2000.
www.sptimes.com/News/0424...t_as.shtml
"The Lawsuit That Wouldn't Die," by Robert
Bryce. The Austin Chronicle. 1-26-01.
www.auschron.com/issues/d...aked5.html
"Who is Eliza May?" by Robert Bryce. Salon
Magazine. 8-20-99.
www.salon.com/news/featur...print.html
"Influence Peddling, Bush Style," by Dan E.
Moldea & David Corn. The Nation.
10-23-00.
www.thenation.com/doc.mht...3&s=moldea
"Bush in contempt on Formaldegate?" by Robert
Bryce. The Texas Observer. 9-3-99.
texasobserver.org/septemb...tible.html
"The Funeral-Home Flap," by Michael Isikoff.
Newsweek, Aug. 16, 1999.
www.msnbc.com/news/479524.asp
-- Cherri (jessam5@home.com), February 13, 2001.