Still Stealing Fire and handing it to mortals

The entire report can be read here. I'm only posting the Summary part of it, which in my opinion, should be enough to look with contempt at this corrupt administration and their crooked and evil ways.


In preparing this Report we reviewed tens of thousands of documents and
materials, including testimony submitted at two hearings held by Rep. Conyers
concerning the Downing Street Minutes and warrantless domestic surveillance;
hundreds of media reports, articles, and books, including interviews with past and
present Administration employees and other confidential sources; scores of
government and non-profit reports, hearings, and analyses; numerous letters and
materials submitted to Rep. Conyers; staff interviews; relevant laws, cases,
regulations, and administrative guidelines; and the Administration ’s own words and
statements.

In brief, we have found that there is substantial evidence the President, the
Vice-President and other high ranking members of the Bush Administration misled
Congress and the American people regarding the decision to go to war in Iraq;
misstated and manipulated intelligence information regarding the justification for
such war; countenanced torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment in Iraq;
permitted inappropriate retaliation against critics of their Administration; and
approved domestic surveillance that is both illegal and unconstitutional. As further
detailed in the Report, there is evidence that these actions violate a number of
federal laws, including:
1-Making False Statements to Congress, for example, saying you have learned Iraq is
attempting to buy uranium from Niger, when you have been warned by the CIA
that this is not the case.
2- The War Powers Resolution and Misuse of Government Funds, for example,
redeploying troops and initiating bombing raids before receiving congressional
authorization.
3-Federal laws and international treaties prohibiting torture and cruel, inhuman, and
degrading treatment, for example, ordering detainees to be ghosted and removed,


Summary
This Minority Report has been produced at the direction of Representative John
Conyers, Jr., Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee. The Report is
divided into two principal parts.

NSA’s domestic surveillance programs, we have also found that members of the Bush Administration made a number of misleading statements regarding its operation and scope; the legal justifications proffered by the Bush Administration are constitutionally destabilizing; there is little evidence the programs have been beneficial in combating terrorism and may have affirmatively placed terrorism prosecutions at risk; and the programs appear to have designed and implemented in a manner designed to stifle legitimate concerns.

The Report rejects the frequent contention by the Bush Administration that
their pre-war conduct has been reviewed and they have been exonerated. No entity
has ever considered whether the Administration misled Americans about the decision
to go to war. The Senate Intelligence Committee has not yet conducted a review of
pre-war intelligence distortion and manipulation, while the presidentially appointed
Silberman-Robb Commission Report specifically cautioned that intelligence
manipulation “was not part of our inquiry. ” There has also not been any independent"

The National Security Act, for example, failing to keep all Members of the House
and Senate Intelligence Committees “fully and currently informed ” of intelligence
activities, such as the warrantless surveillance programs.

With regard to the FISA and the Fourth Amendment, for example intercepting thousands of
communications “to or from any person within the United States, ” without
obtaining a warrant. The Stored Communications Act of 1986 and the Communications Act of 1934, for example, obtaining millions of U.S. customer telephone records without obtaining
a subpoena or warrant, without customer consent, and outside of any applicable
“emergency exceptions. and tolerating and laying the legal ground work for their torture and
mistreatment. Federal laws concerning retaliating against witnesses and other individuals, for
example, demoting Bunnatine Greenhouse, the chief contracting officer at the
Army Corps of Engineers, because she exposed contracting abuses involving
Halliburton.

Federal requirements concerning leaking and other misuse of intelligence, for
example, failing to enforce the executive order requiring disciplining those who
leak classified information, whether intentional or not.
Federal regulations and ethical requirements governing conflicts of interest, for
example, then Attorney General John Aschcroft ’s being personally briefed on FBI
interviews concerning possible misconduct by Karl Rove even though Mr. Rove had
previously received nearly $750,000 in fees for political work on Mr. Ashcroft ’s
campaigns. Violating FISA requests, increasing available resources.
requiring the President to report on the pardon of any former or current officials
who could implicate the President or other Administration officials implicated by
pending investigations.
requiring the President to notify Congress upon the declassification of intelligence
information.
-) providing for enhanced protection for national security whistle-blowers.
-) strengthening the authority of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board.

We also make a number of additional recommendations within the jurisdiction
of the House Judiciary Committee to help respond to the ongoing threat of terrorism,
including:
-) increasing funding and resources for local law enforcement and first responders
and insuring that anti-terrorism funds are distributed based on risk, not politics.
-) implementing the 9-11 Commission Recommendations, including providing for
enhanced port, infrastructure, and chemical plant security and ensuring that all
loose nuclear materials are secured.

FISA and the criminal code contain the exclusive means for
conducting domestic warrantless surveillance and, to the extent that more
personnel are needed to process
inquiry concerning torture and other legal violations in Iraq; nor has there been an
independent review of the pattern of cover-ups and political retribution by the Bush
Administration against its critics, other than the very narrow and still ongoing inquiry
of Special Counsel Fitzgerald into the outing of Valerie Plame.

There also has been no independent review of the circumstances surrounding
the Bush Administration ’s domestic spying scandals. The Administration summarily
rejected all requests for special counsels, as well as reviews by the Department of
Justice and Department of Defense Inspector Generals. When the DOJ Office of
Professional Responsibility opened an investigation, the Bush Administration
effectively squashed it by denying the investigators security clearances. Neither the
House nor Senate Intelligence Committee have undertaken any sort of comprehensive
investigation, and the Bush Administration has sought to cut off any court review of
the NSA programs by repeatedly invoking the state secrets doctrine.

As a result of our findings, we have made a number of recommendations to
help prevent the recurrence of these events in the future, including:

-) obtaining enhanced investigatory authority to access documentary information and
testimony regarding the various allegations set forth in this Report.
-) reaffirming that
-) banning corporate trade with state sponsors of terrorism and eliminating sovereign
immunity protections for state sponsors of terrorism.
-) enhancing laws against wartime fraud.