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.
BDS alert.
You know, over the last few years Mark has made an enormous number of posts all over the internet in total support of the Bush policy in Iraq and the middle east.
That he is willing to say what he is saying now should give you pause. And the fact that real Republican Congressmen - guys like Rohrabacher - are now mad enough to say intemperate things like this should give you even greater pause.
What's happening now is real life, not some people on the internet going crazy. The truth of this guy's policy towards our country and its borders is now obvious to even the casual political observer.
Criticism is required when someone does the wrong thing. It's not disloyalty. It's duty.
While I agree with almost everything you say, including Bush's behavior concerning the border borders on an impeachable offense, such an action would not be very practical.
Our President has proven himself to be what I initially feared. But I did vote for him twice, as the alternatives presented were ridculously odius.
I am very disappointed in the President's response to this case, but impeachment? I'm sure the 'Rats will help all they can....
But all the Republican tribe kool-aid drinkers will keep voting for Republicans because they must "work to change the party from the inside" and they are the "lesser of two evils".
Any honest Christian knows that you cannot change evil from the inside. And you never vote for evil no matter how small it is.
If everybody who says they vote for the lesser of two evils voted for a non-Rep/Dem candidate it would cause a revolution becauswe the non-R/D candiates would be getting over 30%.
Ross Perot shook up politics, and he was a terrible candidate.
"I am very disappointed in the President's response to this case, but impeachment? I'm sure the 'Rats will help all they can...."
I hope so.
How can any American not impeach a man who is fighting to keep our border open AGAINST the law, and against the wishes of over 80% of US citizens.
Hey lunatic, we got your message the first time. You don't have to run around screaming it every chance you get.
People like you disgust me. The more times and the louder you scream the lie, the more you think you accomplish. Calling our President a coward is about as accurate as calling you reasonable, not an ounce of truth to it.
Yes, and we're being told - once again - in the next election, we will have to vote for the lesser of two evils. I'm sick of it. It's getting the country nowhere.
They're being made an example of because they had this crazy idea that their job down there was to try and keep drug-dealing scum out of our country, and they were doing it a little too well.
This is an unmistakable message to every Border Patrol Agent on duty: don't get carried away, because you're just for show.
No one who really supports President Bush and the war in Iraq will call for impeaching the President over the beating of someone in jail.
We know that any attempt to enforce restrictions against illegal entry across the southern border is opposed by this administration. The people doing this are in violation of their oath of office as well as the law. Anyone who has a suggestion as to how to solve this problem without impeachment should speak up now.
It is amazing to me how otherwise decent people can so easily lose their common sense bearings. It amazes me further that folks don't see how easily they are being manipulated by the left wing who are bound and determined to use this issue to further their own goals, which is most definitely NOT about closing the border.
It's become unreal. Any ideas on how to change it? I laughed at first, then I got mad...now I'm not sure what to do.
Tell me the gangs will do the same. The gangs are already killing and have killed more people than were killed on 911. There is a real disconnect by this president and I am terribly dismayed he doesn't defend our border and those who protect our border. I have cried over this, as much as I have cried over 911. I read every day about more and more illegals and the deaths illegals are causing, and I see people turning away while more Americans die.....and I don't know why.....so I cry.....
Too risky?? What do you mean?
One tenth of the Mexican population, many of them hopeless people are able to successfully penetrate the border. Why wouldn't Al Quieda or Hizbollah vermin who are highly trained be willing to do this.
Also, 9/11 was just one attack that they utilized the legal visas. We don't know what they are planning. Remember that they tend to plan these events for many years.
The CFR
look it up
Wait for a thank you note from Bin Laden, Zawahiri, Ahmadinajad, Bachar Al Assad, and a host of other prominent terrorists.
I don't think its worth it to get all caught up in the samantics of a debate about impeachment. Its a red herring and a distraction because it will never happen. The real important thing is the issue itself about his reckless disregard of the border and disgusting screwing of those that pretect it, along with the calloboration with the very government that sends its millitary to attack our border!!
"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.""
Maybe it's just me, but if some Jury Foreman had told me that, I would have had 2 responses. Neither one of them would he have cared to hear.
Being on a Jury is the most important duty that a person can do. Why are people so damned stupid about it.
Can we also impeach Presidents Reagan and Bush 41 in absentia for not putting the Army on the border? Ever read "Holy War on the Home Front"? If it's Islamofascists you are concerned about, try the airports, since most have come in with passports. Why bother with a trek across the desert when you can ride first class?
But go ahead and continue the call for impeachment. It fits in pretty well with the left who also has the same goal as you.
But the real joke is that the calls for President Bush's impeachment is not for the current open borders, but for a border patrol agent who was beat up in jail.
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