Kucinich: Cheney impeachment effort 'practical'

Sabrina Eaton
Plain Dealer Bureau
Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Washington- After hinting for weeks that he would initiate impeachment actions against the Bush administration, Cleveland Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich on Tuesday introduced three articles of impeachment against Vice President Dick Cheney.

Kucinich said Congress should oust Cheney from office for "fabricating a threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction" to trick Congress and the public into believing war with Iraq was necessary. He said Cheney also manipulated intelligence to deceive the public about purported links between Saddam Hussein's Iraq and al-Qaida, the group responsible for the attacks on Sept. 11.

Additionally, Kucinich accused Cheney of threatening aggression against Iran even though Iran has not threatened the United States.

"This goes beyond partisan terms," Kucinich said. "This becomes a question of who we are as a people."

Kucinich said he has "a practical reason" for attempting to impeach Cheney instead of President Bush: Cheney would become president if Bush were impeached.

"If the same charges would relate to the president as relate to the vice president, you would then have to go through the constitutional agony of impeaching two presidents consecutively," he explained.

Cheney's office expressed no alarm about Kucinich's efforts.

"The vice president still remains focused on the serious issues facing our nation," Cheney spokeswoman Megan McGinn said.

Kucinich's actions were greeted warmly by pro-impeachment activists. But some political analysts saw his impeachment resolution as a play to win broader liberal support for his own White House quest. Kucinich's presidential bid, his second, has met with low fund-raising and polling numbers.

He needs support from Democratic leaders for the impeachment measure to pass through the Judiciary Committee to a House vote, then to the Senate for a trial. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told The Plain Dealer that Democratic leaders don't back impeachment "because we are here to go in a positive direction for the American people" and are focusing instead on stopping the Iraq war.

She suggested that impeachment backers around the country "use their energy in the next election to make sure that we have a Democratic president and vice president."

Told of Pelosi's preferences, Kucinich said, "The American people will be the final arbiters" of the matter.

House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio called Kucinich's impeachment drive "nothing but pure politics."

Fordham University constitutional law professor Martin Flaherty said Kucinich's impeachment push would be "a longshot" from both a political and legal standpoint.

"At the end of the day, it all comes down to the political, in the sense that you have to convince a majority of the House that an impeachable offense has occurred," Flaherty said.

Kucinich postponed his announcement earlier in the day after Cheney underwent an unscheduled medical exam of his left leg, where a blood clot was diagnosed last month. Cheney's office said the leg is improving, and he resumed his regular schedule, including criticizing Democrats on Iraq.

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seaton@plaind.com, 216-999-4212