Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan drew national attention to the impeachment movement this week when she and a group of protestors were arrested on Capitol Hill and Sheehan announced her intention to run for Congress on an independent ticket. After announcing that she was stepping down from the anti-war movement in May, Sheehan launched a two-week, cross-country tour from Crawford, Texas to Washington. On Monday, she led a contingent of some 50 protestors to House Judiciary Committee Chair John Conyers’ (D-MI) office to stage a sit-in, demanding impeachment. After an hour, Sheehan and 45 other protestors were arrested and taken away by Capitol Hill police.
Before her arrest, Sheehan announced that she will run against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) in the 2008 election on an impeachment platform. Pacifica Radio reports that over 80 cities or municipalities have passed resolutions calling for impeachment. San Francisco, Speaker Pelosi’s home district, is among the cities calling for Congressional action on impeachment.
Conyers argues that there are not enough pro-impeachment votes in Congress to move forward, and Speaker Pelosi insists that Congress should work towards ending the war in Iraq before anything else.
Meanwhile, members of the House and Senate are taking other actions against the current administration. The House Judiciary Committee voted on straight party lines to send to the floor two contempt of Congress citations for White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten and former White House Counsel Harriet Miers, and Senate Judiciary Chair Patrick Leahy (D-VT) subpoenaed White House adviser Karl Rove and his deputy. Additionally, four key senators requested the appointment of independent special counsel from outside the Department of Justice — which falls under the Executive Branch — to investigate whether or not Attorney General Alberto Gonzales perjured himself during testimony on the firings of several US attorneys.
