by JOHN CONYERS JR.
[posted online in The Nation on December 22, 2005]
On December 20, 2005, I issued a 273-page report outlining the Bush Administration’s panoply of misconduct associated in the run-up to and since the Iraq War.
In brief, I have found that there is substantial evidence the President, the Vice President and other high-ranking members of the Bush Administration misled Congress and the American people regarding the decision to go to war in Iraq; misstated and manipulated intelligence information regarding the justification for such war; countenanced torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment in Iraq; and permitted inappropriate retaliation against critics of their Administration.
As further detailed in the report, there is at least a prima facie case that these actions by the President, Vice President and other members of the Bush Administration violate a number of federal laws, including:
