I offered the following in support of both the ACLU’s petition urging President Bush to refrain from issuing preemptive pardons as well as the Democrats.com’s petition in support of the passage of H.Res 1531a, a sense of Congress against such pardons & for independent investigations of potential criminal wrong-doing by Bush Administration officials:
Serious problems confront us as a nation: the economic recession, growing environmental threats, energy security, health care affordability, & global terrorism, to name but a few. I believe that in order to solve these problems, we must come together to find a path forward in nonpartisan cooperation & compromise. That said, we must at the same time renew our commitment to our fundamental principles, including the rule of law. I support fair & independent investigation &, as necessitated by the evidence, prosecution of potential wrongdoing by government officials, especially in the areas of warrantless wiretapping in violation of FISA and in the authorization of torture in violation of the Geneva conventions & U.S. law, both of which represent fundamental breaches of the public trust & violation of core American principles. I commend passage of Representative Jerrold Nadler’s House Resolution 1531a and call on the President to refrain from granting preemptive pardons to administration officials who may have violated the law. Let us reinforce to ourselves and demonstrate to the world that core American conviction that no person, however powerful or privileged, is above the law.