Velvet Revolution Joins Citizens Group in Calling for Official Congressional Investigation Into Downing Street Memo

WASHINGTON, May 27 -- Velvet Revolution -- http://www.velvetrevolution.us -- has joined a broad coalition of veterans, peace, and political activist groups to announce a campaign today to urge that the U.S. Congress launch a formal investigation into whether President Bush has committed impeachable offenses in connection with the Iraq war.

The campaign focuses on evidence that recently emerged in an official British memo containing minutes of a secret July 2002 meeting between British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his top national security advisors.

John Bonifaz, a Boston attorney specializing in constitutional litigation, today sent a memo to Congressman John Conyers of Michigan, the Ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, urging him to introduce a Resolution of Inquiry directing the House Judiciary Committee to launch a formal investigation into whether sufficient grounds exist for the House to impeach President Bush.

Bonifaz’s memo, made available today at http://www.AfterDowningStreet.org, begins: “The recent release of the Downing Street Memo provides new and compelling evidence that the President of the United States has been actively engaged in a conspiracy to deceive and mislead the United States Congress and the American people about the basis for going to war against Iraq. If true, such conduct constitutes a High Crime under Article II, Section 4 of the United States Constitution.”

The now-infamous “Downing Street Memo,” written in July of 2002 -- a full eight months prior to launching the War on Iraq -- states that “Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy.”

Eighty-nine members of the U.S. Congress recently sent a letter to the Bush Administration requesting an explanation. However, they have received no reply. In the meantime, neither the Bush nor Blair Administrations have disputed the authenticity of the memo.

It is time for an official Congressional inquiry into the matter!

In addition to Velvet Revolution, the original organizations forming the AfterDowningStreet.org coalition include: Global Exchange, Gold Star Families for Peace, Democrats.com, Veterans for Peace, Code Pink, Progressive Democrats of America, Democracy Rising, The BRAD BLOG and Justice Through Music. These organizations, beginning today, will be urging their members and millions of other Americans to contact their Representatives to urge support of the Resolution of Inquiry.

For more information on the coalition, see http://www.AfterDowningStreet.org, or contact David Swanson, 202- 329-7847 (contact Swanson to set up an interview with Bonifaz.)

Velvet Revolution is an issue-based advocacy group working on Election and Media Reform and calling for an Exit Strategy in Iraq. We are serving as an umbrella organization to nearly 100 Progressive, Voting Rights, Election Reform and Media Reform organizations.

Velvet Revolution: http://www.VelvetRevolution.us

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