PRESS RELEASE
Despite Warnings, Conyers Uses the `I' Word,
Says Cheney Created Fourth Branch
July 30, 2007 (EIRNS)—The Lyndon LaRouche Political Action Committee (LPAC) issued the following release today.
"They told me not to mention the 'I word,'" said Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) in a speech to the final session of the American Constitution Society in Washington on July 28. Conyers, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, unexpectedly launched into a discussion of impeachment, opening with that statement, and adding that he had gotten a call from a dear old friend in Detroit who said, "I've had it," and demanded that he launch impeachment proceedings.
Conyers described himself as having had "more impeachment responsibilities than anyone on either side of the Capitol," and then recounted the visit from Cindy Sheehan and about 300 people to his office, last week, when Sheehan demanded the impeachment of President Bush. Conyers said he told her: "It's not a matter of whether the 43rd President has committed impeachable acts or not, but the question is: What about the Vice President? And of course if I thought that would stop the war in Iraq, that would be fabulous."
Conyers went on to say that "we've seen a growing disconnection between reality and the positions of the President of the United States," explaining: "The worse things get in Iraq, the more upbeat and confident he seems to be," and this could be "a medical evaluation."
"And the Vice President — he's already created the fourth branch of government for himself."
Conyers then said that he had asked Sheehan, "Are you suggesting that between now and next year, we can have the most serious impeachment effort ever undertaken in the history of this great country?" And she said, "Now is the time we've got to move."
"And so," Conyers declared, "between thousands, tens of thousands, of friends like that, I don't need any enemies. I have really have a plate full."
Conyers then dropped the subject of impeachment, and went off into a discussion of the priorities of the Judiciary Committee—leaving much of the audience baffled if not stunned.
Following the event, in a discussion with a small group of conference participants, including an EIR reporter, one person brought up the need to impeach President Bush. Conyers told her that we have to deal with Cheney first. When the EIR reporter reminded Conyers of his statement a week earlier—that he would initiate impeachment proceedings if three more Members of the House signed on as co-sponsors of the Kucinich resolution to impeach Cheney—Conyers responded that this isn't the problem, and that there are already five to ten additional co-sponsors. But we don't have the numbers to impeach, Conyer claimed, going through the number of Democrats, Blue-Dog Democrats, Republicans, etc., saying in effect that he doesn't have the backup to initiate impeachment proceedings right now.
Observers in informal discussions afterwards, saw Conyers' statements as an implicit plea for more pressure on Congress to impeach Cheney.
