United States House Judiciary Committee

Vincent Bugliosi    Friday     July 25, 2008

[this page updated October 15, 2008]

Chairman:

[He is the] author of several timely books.  I think this is his latest one, The Prosecution of George W. Bush For Murder.  He is quite a well known former Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney, remembered for his prosecution of Charles Manson in 1970.  He's since been very active before his appearance before the committee today.

Bugliosi:

Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee.  I've been told that the rules of this house dictate that although I can quote what President George Bush said, I am forbidden from accusing him of a crime or even any dishonorable conduct, only being allowed to use the words "Bush Administration," or "Administration Officials," but for the sake of articulation, I'll do the best that I can.

In my book here, The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder, I present evidence that proves beyond all reasonable doubt that this administration's officials took this nation to war in Iraq on a lie under false pretenses, and therefore under the law they are guilty of murder for the deaths of over 4000 young American soldiers who have died so far in Iraq fighting their war.  And lets not forget the over 100,000 innocent Iraq men, women, children and babies who have died horrible, violent deaths because of this war.

I am fully aware that the charge I just made is a serious one, but let me say that at this stage of my career I don't have time for fanciful reveree.  I never, in a million years, would propose a murder prosecution for Bush Administration officials if I didn't believe there was more than enough evidence to convict them, and that I was standing on strong legal ground.  What is some of that evidence?  Because of time constraints, I'm only going to mention one piece of evidence today.  I have documentary evidence that when George Bush told the nation on the evening of October 7, 2002 that Saddam Hussein was an imminent threat to the security of this country, he was telling millions of unsuspecting Americans the exact opposite of what his own CIA had told Administration Officials just six days earlier in a classified report on October 1 -- that Hussein was not an imminent threat.

But it gets worse.  On October 4, the Bush administration put out an unclassified summary version of a classified report so they could give it to congress and the American people.  And this unclassified version came to be known as "the white paper."  And in this "white paper," which I have in front of me, the conclusion of U.S. Intelligence that Saddam Hussein was not an imminent threat to the security of this country was completely deleted.  Every single one of these all important words was taken out so Congress and the American people never saw any of this.  Since we are talking about a matter of war and peace, with the safety and lives of millions of human beings since that time hanging in the balance, and with Congress about to vote in one week on whether or not to authorize George Bush to go to war in Iraq, which could possibly be worse...and more culpible, than the bush administration deliberately keeping this all important conclusion from congress and the American people.  A terrible reality is that the Bush Administration has gotten away with thousands upon thousands of murders, and we...the American people cannot let them do this.  During the question and answer period, if requested I will give you words from George Bush's own mouth that I believe will prove shocking to most of you folks in these chambers.

On December 9, 1998 a previous House Judiciary Committee issued 4 articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton for doing something infinately less significant than what the evidence shows the Bush Administration did in this case.  Indeed it is a ... slander of the highest rank to even talk about this in the same breath, or on the same page.  If the House Judiciary committee could recommend that President Clinton be impeached for what he did...all the more so, with all the highly incriminating evidence that I set forth in my book, much of it documentary, you shouldn't have any difficulty making a criminal referral to the Department of Justice for the domestic criminal investigation into the Bush Administration to determine whether FIRST DEGREE MURDER CHARGES should be brought against certain members of this administration.  I hereby strongly urge you to do so.  Whether republican or democrat, all Americans should be absolutely outraged over what the Bush administration has done.  How dare they do what they did?  How dare they!

(applause from the audience)

Unknown:

 
Mr. Chairman you said you would clear the room if there was an outburst, and I think there has clearly been an outburst.

Chairman:

I'm not going to clear the room, but I will suggest that the hearing cannot give any indication of approval or disapproval of any statements being made by the witness.

Bugliosi:

Directly because of this administration's war, there are well over 100,000 precious human beings in their cold graves right now as I'm talking to you, speaking metaphorically, I want you to hear, as I do, their cries for justice.

I say that it would greatly dishonor those who were brave who paid the ultimate price because of this war for you not to refer this case to the Department of  Justice.  If we want this nation to become the great nation it once was, widely respected around the world, we can hardly do this if we don't take the concept of bringing those responsible for the war in Iraq to justice.

Click here for YOU TUBE video of the above.

           Click here for article, "N.H. Impeachment Effort Passes First Hurdle" of June 2, 2008

           Click here for article, "Kucinich Forces Impeachment Vote" of  June 23, 2008

           Click here for ADVERTISEMENT about Sept. 13-14 planning conference in Andover, MA, for setting up a war
                                 crimes trial to try President Bush, and others.
 

Click here for article, "Progressive Party's AG Candidate Vows to Prosecute Bush"

See the September 29, 2008 issue of American Free Press about Vincent Bugliosi and Lawrence Velvel telling of the cases against Bush.

---

           Look here for the Brotherhood of Darkness, Skull and Bones, connection.  People into this cult
               LOVE DEATH.  Murder is part of their religion.  Do you get it yet?

            Look here for DOCUMENTATION which REVEALS THE FACT that Bush's grandfather was a
           TRAITOR TO THE UNITED STATES, as a Nazi.  Nazis loved to murder people.

                If you read this after Bush is out of office and if he has not been impeached by then, at that point it probably
               does not matter whether it's McCain or Obama who takes his place. That is because the U.S. Federal
               Government is no longer managed by Congress or the President.

               Here is the complete text of the 35 articles of Impeachment for High Crimes and Misdemeanors.

From American Free Press

War Crimes Conference Seeks Ways to Prosecute Bush

Over the weekend of Sept. 13-14, AFP's corresponding editor Mark Anderson attended the conference on war crimes which focused on ways to hold George W. Bush and his underlings accountable for the deaths of U.S. soldiers.

By Mark Anderson

ANDOVER, Mass.—Author Vincent Bugliosi made it achingly clear at a special war crimes conference that President George W. Bush should—and can—be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Bugliosi, the well-known former Los Angeles district attorney who, some 38 years ago, put Charles Manson and his band of killers in prison for the Tate-LaBianca murders, made no overtures for trying the president in foreign tribunals. Rather, he said that Title 18 of the United States Code provides the essential legal framework for trying and convicting this president for what Bugliosi describes as nothing short of murder for pushing the nation into a war under false pretenses, thereby bringing about what he sees as the needless deaths of more than 4,000 soldiers killed in action and at least 100,000 innocent Iraqis who died “horrible, violent deaths,” as his book notes.

Bugliosi was the keynote speaker at the Sept. 13-14 Robert Jackson Conference for the Prosecution of High Level American War Criminals, organized by Lawrence Velvel, dean of the Massachusetts School of Law.

Bugliosi’s comments on the event’s first day lent an air of clarity and gravity to a conference that brought together various activist groups, attorneys, scholars, journalists and others with divergent views that did not always harmonize. But when all was said and done, everyone understood one another fairly well. Velvel planned to boil down all the input to specific goals to pursue the objective that coincides with the title of Bugliosi’s hard-hitting book, The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder. Charges against Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice likely will be on the table. Other high administration officials may be included as well.

“I realize the title of my book is a little ambiguous,” Bugliosi mused. “I’ve been chided by some people for not being more clear about my intentions. Credibility has always meant everything to me, therefore, my only mistress and my only master are facts and objectivity. If a Democratic president had done the same thing that I strongly believe George Bush has done, I would have pursued the same course.”

He added: “This is not my war or your war, but George Bush’s war,” while noting that his fatality numbers are conservative. He acknowledged that Iraqi deaths could be as high as 1 million, and later in a video interview with AFP, he conceded that America’s real war dead from all causes—mainly war-related illnesses and injuries—could be much higher in the current conflicts—perhaps 100,000 or more. But he wants to keep the matter relatively simple so that tangible charges which will hold up in court can be brought forth. This is why he leaves suicides out of the equation, since it could be argued that other factors beyond the war may contribute to soldiers’ suicides.

“That would dilute the case,” he told the audience.

Bugliosi said that he has established domestic jurisdiction to try Bush for the deaths of the soldiers, but has not been able, at least so far, to do so for the Iraqis’ deaths.

When his overall quest began some years ago, he thought long and hard on the question of whether he could apply “conventional principles of criminal law” to a sitting president for taking the nation into a war under false pretenses.

“The resolution of this question initially seemed daunting to me,” he said, but “in the criminal law . . . the answer to that question had to be in the affirmative.”

He said that he eventually determined that Bush’s actions “fell within the legal architecture” of criminal law. He made that determination by focusing on a primary reality: “No man is so high that he is above the law, and that includes the president of the United States” He continued: “Bush can find no comfort in federal or state law.”

Bugliosi said that Bush should have been, or perhaps still should be, impeached. But impeachment and conviction would only remove Bush from office, allowing him to live out his retirement years without long-term punishment. Bugliosi is looking for justice beyond Bush's presidency; numerous impeachment backers in the audience agreed with him, but they still want impeachment to uncover facts, preserve the integrity of the presidency and send a warning to future presidents who would abuse their powers.

“No one has done anything at all to Bush—no impeachment . . . not even an investigation—nothing!” Bugliosi declared, stressing what he sees as the extreme severity of Bush’s war-related crimes and the moral bankruptcy of a nation whose government will not enforce checks and balances and somehow probe or punish an imperial president who seems to answer to no one.

Bugliosi also said he has established that the White House ordered the CIA to falsify reports linking Saddam Hussein to al Qaeda (the terrorist network allegedly responsible for the 9-11 attacks that sparked early calls for “retaliatory” war), among other major revelations found in his book.

“These revelations do not mean anything at all unless we do something about them,” he said, adding that his book “sets forth the case, the legal architecture and evidence of his guilt and the jurisdiction to prosecute him.” As a “legal blueprint,” the book could lead to the prosecution of Bush “in an American courtroom.”

A particularly interesting twist is that the Manson case, Bugliosi believes, provides a guidepost, of sorts, for the Bush case—in that both involve a leader who brought about the conditions for murder, in Bugliosi’s view. “I was able to convict Manson by the vicarious liability rule,” he explained, saying that Manson’s actions deliberately set in motion a chain of events that resulted in murders even though Manson did not personally kill anyone and was not even at the crime scene. Still, he got life in prison, due to this legal principle.

This vicarious liability rule, Bugliosi said, “provides that each member of a conspiracy is criminally responsible for all crimes committed by his co-conspirators.” Even on a distant battlefield, the rule still applies. “If the conspirator(s) deliberately sets in motion a chain of events that he knows will cause a third party or an innocent agent to commit a criminal act, the conspirator is criminally responsible for that act . . . that’s the law of the land.” This even applies if “innocent [unwitting] agents of the conspirators further the objective of the conspiracy.”

Therefore, “it does not have to be shown that the principal (Bush, for example) wanted the innocent agent (Iraqis shooting and killing U.S. soldiers) to commit the act, only that he [Bush] caused them to do so.”

Bugliosi stressed that “caused” is the operative word, in that he believes that by sending troops into war on the basis of lies, such causation appears to have taken place, since doing so caused Iraqis to shoot U.S. troops in self-defense or to “repel an invader.”

Bugliosi dismissed the mere suggestion that Bush could have sent soldiers into war thinking that no one would die among them.

The overall conference dealt with a host of matters to be covered in future AFP editions as organizers work out the details with which to proceed.

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By Bruce Kettler    E-Mail      Updated November 3, 2008