Posted on 02/08/2007 5:59:33 AM PST by areafiftyone
(CNSNews.com) - Weeks after accusing President Bush of "shameful" behavior over the imprisonment of two Border Patrol agents who shot an unarmed suspected drug smuggler along the U.S.-Mexico border, a federal lawmaker turned up the heat further Wednesday, suggesting the president should be impeached if the two men are killed in prison.
Speaking after the Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed that agent Ignacio Ramos was assaulted by inmates in his Mississippi prison at the weekend, California Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher had a warning for the White House.
"I tell you, Mr. President, if these men -- especially after this assault -- are murdered in prison, or if one of them lose their lives, there's going to be some sort of impeachment talk in Capitol Hill," he said during a press conference in Washington, D.C. (Listen to Audio)
"The president of the United States talks a lot about his Christian charity, and his religious beliefs," Rohrabacher said.
"He now is showing a mean-spirited side to him, an arrogance, in which he will turn his back, even after one of these officers in prison has been brutally assaulted."
When Ramos and colleague Jose Compean began their sentences of 12 and 11 years' imprisonment, respectively, last month, Rohrabacher slammed the president for not pardoning the men, calling it "the worst betrayal of American defenders I have ever seen."
Public outrage over the case has targeted both the administration and U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, who prosecuted the two and offered an immunity deal to the suspected drug smuggler, Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila, in return for his testimony against the agents.
Sutton notes that the agents not only shot an unarmed man while he was fleeing toward the Mexican border, but also tried to cover up the crime by disposing of their shell casings and not reporting the incident to their supervisor.
After a two-week trial last year, the two were convicted by a jury on 11 out of 12 counts, including assault with a dangerous weapon, assault with serious bodily injury, discharge of a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence, willfully violating the illegal immigrant's constitutional rights, lying about the incident and failing to report the truth.
Rohrabacher said he does not believe the agents received a fair trail, and he noted that three of the jurors said afterwards they were inclined to deliver a not guilty verdict but had been told by the jury foreman that the judge wanted them to "go along with majority."
Other Republican lawmakers taking part in Wednesday's press conference included Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.), who said, "The president has lost my respect because he will not step forward to do what is right," and Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), who voiced concern about future implications for the rule of law.
In the absence of a pardon, the lawmakers said the administration should at least consider allowing the agents to go free while their case is heard on appeal.
As a result of additional information that will be brought up during the appeals process, Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) said, the agents stood a "good chance" of being acquitted. Nevertheless, Tancredo said he is still holding out for a pardon.
"The president has shown compassion in the past with pardons," Tancredo said. "Over Christmas he pardoned 18 people, five of whom were drug dealers. So the president has shown compassion, just not to people who have enforced the law."
Tancredo said he has been in touch with Ramos' family and has learned that injuries sustained by the imprisoned man on Saturday included bleeding from the ear, "a degree of paralysis" that has developed in the agent's left arm and migraine headaches.
"I think the president is a good man," said Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.). "I'm optimistic he's going to pardon these guys...we are going to keep working. This is an extreme injustice and these guys have been given the equivalent of a murder sentence."
"Even if you accept every fact exactly as stated by the prosecuting attorney, the verdict handed out was an extreme injustice," he said. "They were given more time than the average convicted murderer."
Hunter also said he wants the administration to open an investigation into the attack on Ramos.
He produced a letter which he had sent on Jan 17 - the day Ramos and Compean began their sentences - to Harley Lappin, the director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, asking that the two be separated from other prisoners "to ensure their safety."
An assistant to Lappin replied that the two men had been classified under the "Central Inmate Monitoring System" in an effort to afford additional protection.
Nevertheless, Ramos was circulated back into the general prison population after being initially segregated, Hunter claimed.
Since almost 30 percent of federal prisoners are criminal illegal aliens, many of whom are drug dealers, the agents face "substantial danger," he said.
Hunter said Lappin should be removed from his position for "ineptitude."
Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas), who was not in attendance, issued a statement saying the government "continues to be on the wrong side of the border war." Poe said lawmakers investigating the case had been "misled" and "stonewalled."
Ramos is serving his sentence at a federal prison in Yazoo City, Miss., while Compean is an inmate at a facility in Elkton, Ohio.
Republicans have to speak what they feel. They can't let fear of democrats sway what they are defending. The Border Agents should be free and the illegal drug smuggler in jail.
What about this don't you understand?
I'd rather impeach all the House Republicans who refused to meet with the Senate and craft a comprehensive bill that would have included border security when they had the chance.
Some on these threads are making DU sound patriotic!
It's the straw that broke the camel's back. It's only a straw, but it tips the balance.
Amen! That's the big picture - Our President is willfully not stopping the invasion of our country by Mexico. Who is he trying to serve here??? His brother, Jeb, is married to a Mexican. Is the tie deeper than any of us know? To teach the Border Patrol agents a lesson, Ramos and Compean are being offered up as sacrificial lambs. Yesterday, one of the Homeland Security Honchos testified before Congress that they lied about this case that they had a written confession of guilt from Ramos and Compean - no such document exists because it never happened. In fact these two men did report what happened, and their superiors are the ones who started the CYA activities (if even that is to be believed). Where is the Media outrage over this travesty. I am so appalled that I can't stand it any more. We no longer have any leaders to turn to. The Dems could make this a huge campaign issue, but they are in total agreement with Bush about all this. Maybe Lieberman could step forward. He is the only one who shows any vestiage of being a Statesman. If these Republican Congressman from Texas let this go, then we'll know that we are totally doomed.
I'd be ashamed if we turned a blind eye to give one of our own a pass on something so despicable in favor of 'Party Loyalty'.
This president needs to LISTEN and ACT.
Every day I'm feeling screwed.
We need to eat some of our own, the Republicans are in need of purification and renewal of vision! Perhaps it's time for some of us 25 to 50 somethings to start moving some of our locally entrenched leadership into permanent pasturage! Change needs to occur locally first and move upward, that way the national leadership gets cut off by its globalist knees!
Not this one.
Well I am ashamed of the Republican party. We are totally screwed in 2008 if we start down this path. That's all I'm saying on this. But, I do agree that Bush did the wrong thing on this case and the guy needs to be pardoned.
The terrorists are sending you great thanks and their regards for such a post that gives them so much aid and comfort.
A very basic theory that I think has credibility is this: quite aside from the campaign to end all border enforcement, it's a political stunt to demonstrate to Mexican voters in the U.S. (I won't call them hyphenated Americans, that isn't where their loyalty lies) that the administration will punish the Hated Vendidos in the Border Patrol for "mistreating" Mexicans. The word Vendido is a slang term meaning "sellout", which is the way Compean and Ramos are viewed.
So it's a "Who's Yer Buddy" sort of demonstration. As bad as the perp in this tale is, he's still viewed by many Mexicans in Texas and the Southwest as a victim of the Evil Border Patrol.
Border security - or the lack of it - is what REALLY lost the election for us last year. When 80some percent of the American people are for something & the politicians just blow them off - there's going to be some blowback.
It wasn't because they were too conservative, it wasn't because of the war in Iraq - IT WAS BECAUSE OF THIS ISSUE.
"The terrorists are sending you great thanks and their regards for such a post that gives them so much aid and comfort."
No, actually the terrorists are thankful for the open borders that Bush has facilitated so they can easily plan an attack against us.
"I'd rather impeach all the House Republicans who refused to meet with the Senate and craft a comprehensive bill that would have included border security when they had the chance. Some on these threads are making DU sound patriotic!"
BS! Bush has EVERY authority and budget he needs right now to defend the border!
You cannot pawn this on the legislature. No new laws are required. It is already the law to prevent invasion. It has been since this nation was founded.
It IS patriotic to demand, DEMAND that Bush perform his sworn duties, or impeacjh him.
It would be spitting on the graves of every soldier (including my brother and ancestors) to NOT impeach him for failure to do his duties which do not even threaten his life while soldiers are dieing while doing their sworn duties to defend the USA.
Soldiers die! Bush cowers. Impeach him. Then get on with fighting the war gainst Islamofascism as if it threatens the survival of Western civilization. It does.
So far I have counted over ten millions straws that broke the camel back as told by the hundreds of Buchananites and third party voters who hate President Bush more than they hate the terrorists.
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