Lawrence: McClellan Allegations Reinforce Need For Impeachment

Press Release

York County District Attorney Mark Lawrence said today that the new allegations that both President Bush and Vice-President Cheney lied to the country reinforce the argument that Congress should proceed now to impeach the President and Vice-President.

Yesterday, excerpts from a forthcoming book by former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan explicitly claimed that Bush and Cheney misled him regarding the outing of cover C.I.A. agent Valerie Plame. That outing, which is a violation of federal law, was the subject of a federal investigation and resulted in the conviction of former Cheney Chief of Staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. Bush subsequently commuted Libby's sentence so that he will serve no jail time.

"Congress has a duty to hold this administration accountable," said Lawrence. "No one in this country should be above the law, especially those who have sworn an oath to uphold it."

Lawrence has repeatedly called for impeachment, arguing as a prosecutor that Congress needs to aggressively investigate alleged abuses of power by the Bush administration. With regards to the Valerie Plame affair, he says President Bush commuting Scooter Libby's sentence shows that he is not interested in Americans knowing the truth.

"When I was growing up in Kittery, my parents taught me to take responsibility for my actions," Lawrence said. "We need hearings in Congress. We need the truth about what the President, Vice-President, and other administration officials know regarding Valerie Plame."

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