E Pluribus Unum

Dan Froomkin:

The Framers, ever sensitive to the need for checks and balances, recognized the potential for abuse of the pardon power.

According to a Judiciary Committee report drafted in the aftermath of the Watergate crisis: "In the [Constitutional] convention George Mason argued that the President might use his pardoning power to 'pardon crimes which were advised by himself' or, before indictment or conviction, 'to stop inquiry and prevent detection.' James Madison responded:

"[I]f the President be connected, in any suspicious manner, with any person, and there be grounds [to] believe he will shelter him, the House of Representatives can impeach him; they can remove him if found guilty. . . .

"Madison went on to [say] contrary to his position in the Philadelphia convention, that the President could be suspended when suspected, and his powers would devolve on the Vice President, who could likewise be suspended until impeached and convicted, if he were also suspected."

Please call the office of the Speaker of the House today and firmly insist that impeachment be put back on the table; at the very least, all outstanding investigations of this presidential administration should be put under the umbrella of a subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee. If enough evidence is found of high crimes and misdemeanors, impeachment should be recommended to the committee and to the House of Representatives itself.

Don't wait; there's too much at stake. Think of future generations who may be living under a president far worse than this one. They'll look back at us and wonder what we were waiting for while Bush and Cheney ransacked the Constitution.

Call today: Speaker of the House of Representatives - 202-225-0100.