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The president and vice president should be investigated to show that the law covers everyone.

October 8, 2007

— When I was elected district attorney for York County, I took an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States. This is not just the first act that all elected officials take, it is the most important act.

It is the acknowledgement that our nation is based on principles, not simply the whim of certain people. It is a pledge that each politician will put the fundamental rights of the people above allegiance to any political party, partisan agenda or personal ambition.

George Bush and Dick Cheney took that same oath when they entered their offices.

Yet there is substantial information that the Bush administration has acted far beyond the scope of powers allowed it, and in doing so, undermined the fundamental rights granted to Americans under our Constitution.

There is a currently a debate about whether it is the best political strategy for Democrats, who as the majority party in Congress control the rules, to commence an impeachment investigation of the president and the vice president.

But this should never be the question.

The true question, the only question, must be whether it is the duty of members of Congress pursuant to their oaths of office to protect the public from alleged encroachments on their constitutional rights by commencing the process to determine the validity of the allegations.

The clear answer is that there is more than enough evidence to require Congress to commence the impeachment process, and it should do so soon.

To fail to take action will pose a grave danger to our Constitution through Congress' implicit compliance with the president's assumption of any unconstitutional powers that will serve as a precedent for future presidents, Republicans or Democrats.

The grounds and evidence meriting an impeachment investigation is substantial.

To name a few, they include:

nA domestic surveillance program conducted outside of legal requirements for judicial review against U.S. citizens in violation of the protections against unlawful search and seizures;

nRepeated use of executive orders to unilaterally assume lawmaking powers reserved to the legislative branch;

nCircumventing the public's right to know about governmental actions through conflicting claims in which the administration first insisted that the vice president is beyond the reach of public disclosure laws because the office is part of the executive branch, while then later arguing in court that the office is beyond disclosure acts applying to the executive branch because it is part of the legislative branch;

nMisleading Congress in the justification for going to war in Iraq;

nLeaking or aiding and abetting the leaking of confidential intelligence information regarding a CIA operative for political purposes;

nAnd misuse of the appointment process for the Justice Department in the U.S. attorneys scandal.

In each of these actions, this administration has repeatedly demonstrated its belief -- contradicting the most fundamental principle of America -- that there is one justice system, one set of rules, for themselves, and another for the rest of us.

I disagree with those who suggest that there are more important priorities; who fear that impeachment proceedings would be perceived as either a distraction or as political retribution.

As public officials, we hold no higher imperative than to uphold the fundamental principles on which this nation was founded.

And as history teaches us, justice delayed is justice denied.

— Special to the Press Herald