DSM - Conyers hearing: venues, events & witnesses finalized!

[paineinthearse]

HEARINGS ON DOWNING STREET MINUTES MOVED TO U.S. CAPITOL AND MOVED TO 2:30

Important Speakers Added to Line-Up at Rally

Citizens urged to lobby Congress Members and Senators, and to meet at DNC, which is serving as overflow room.

On Thursday June 16, 2005, from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Room HC-9 of the U.S. Capitol, Rep. John Conyers, Jr., Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, and other Congress Members will hold a hearing on the Downing Street Minutes and related evidence of efforts to cook the books on pre-war intelligence.

The hearings had been planned for the Democratic National Committee offices because the Republicans controlling the House Judiciary Committee had refused to permit the ranking Democratic Member to use a large room on the Hill. http://www.thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/UndertheDome/index.html

However, the Democrats did have access to a small room in the Capitol, and Congressman Conyers has decided to move the hearings there. This does not indicate any change in position from the Republicans.

Members of the media will be welcome, but citizens in town for the 5 p.m. rally at the White House will have difficulty getting into the 2:30 hearings.

The DNC will serve as an overflow room, so people can still go there: the Wasserman Room at 430 S Capitol St. SE.

AfterDowningStreet.org encourages people, instead, to spend the afternoon lobbying their Congress Member and two Senators, and paying special visits to the offices of Congressmen John Conyers and Maurice Hinchey, Congresswomen Barbara Lee and Lynn Woolsey, and Senators John Kerry and Ted Kennedy to thank them for their leadership. Recommended talking points can be found in a one-page document at the top of www.afterdowningstreet.org.

Later on the same day at 5:00 p.m. ET in Lafayette Square Park, in front of the White House, a large rally will support Congressman Conyers who plans to deliver to the White House a letter addressed to President Bush and signed by over 500,000 Americans and at least 94 Congress Members. The letter asks the President to respond to questions raised by the Downing Street Minutes.

Among those speaking at the hearings will be:

Joe Wilson, Former Ambassador and WMD Expert;
Ray McGovern, 27-year CIA analyst who prepared regular Presidential briefings during the Reagan administration;
Cindy Sheehan, mother of fallen American soldier;
John Bonifaz, renowned constitutional lawyer and co-founder of AfterDowningStreet.org.

Among those speaking at the rally will be:

Congressman John Conyers (schedule permitting);
Congresswoman Barbara Lee (schedule permitting);
Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey (schedule permitting);
Congressman Maurice Hinchey (schedule permitting);
Cindy Sheehan, Co-Founder of Gold Star Families for Peace;
John Bonifaz, Co-Founder of AfterDowningStreet.org;
Medea Benjamin, Co-Founder of Global Exchange;
Stephen Cleghorn, Member of Military Families Speak Out;
Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Board Member of Progressive Democrats of America;
Ray McGovern, former CIA analyst;
Reg Keys, Member of Military Families Against the War, challenger to Tony Blair in last election (flying in from UK);
William Rivers Pitt, Reporter for Progressive Democrats of America;
Leslie Cagan, National Coordinator of United for Peace and Justice;
Kevin Zeese, Director of Democracy Rising

More information, and flyers promoting the rally, are available at www.afterdowningstreet.org

Flyers to print, copy, and distribute widely: http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/downloads/rally.pdf

LOCAL RALLIES PLANNED AROUND COUNTRY

Supporters of this campaign are independently organizing rallies on Thursday at locations around the country. http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=211

AfterDowningStreet.org is a rapidly growing coalition of veterans' groups, peace groups, and political activist groups, which launched on May 26, 2005, a campaign to urge the U.S. Congress to begin a formal investigation into whether President Bush has committed impeachable offenses in connection with the Iraq war.

[DesEtoiles]

1. Rally information (via CODEPINK)

June 16 Memo-Gate Hearing and Rally (Print Flyer)

On Thursday June 16, 2005, from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Wasserman Room at 430 S Capitol St. SE, Washington, D.C., Rep. John Conyers, Jr., Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, and other Congress Members will hold a hearing on the Downing Street Minutes and related evidence of efforts to cook the books on pre-war intelligence.

The hearings are being held at the Democratic National Committee because the Republicans controlling the House Judiciary Committee refused to permit the ranking Democratic Member to use a room on the Hill. Nonetheless, Republicans are welcome to attend.

Later on the same day at 5:00 p.m. ET in Lafayette Square Park, in front of the White House, a large rally will support Congressman Conyers who plans to deliver to the White House a letter addressed to President Bush and signed by over 500,000 Americans and at least 94 Congress Members. The letter asks the President to respond to questions raised by the Downing Street Minutes. On May 1, 2005 a Sunday London Times article disclosed the details of a classified memo, also known as the Downing Street Minutes, recounting the minutes of a July 2002 meeting of Prime Minister Tony Blair that describes an American President already committed to going to war in the summer of 2002, despite contrary assertions to the public and the Congress. The minutes also describe apparent efforts by the Administration to manipulate intelligence data to justify the war. The June 16th hearing will attempt to answer the serious constitutional questions raised by these revelations and will further investigate the Administration's actions in the lead up to war with new documents that further corroborate the Downing Street memo.

WHAT: Democratic hearing on Downing Street Minutes and Pre-war intelligence followed by a rally in Lafayette Park, across from the White House.

WHEN: Thursday, June 16, 2005 (Hearing at 1:30 PM, Rally at 5 PM)

WHERE: Hearing location: Democratic National Committee Head Quarters
Rally location: Lafayette Park (across from the White House)

WITNESSES AT HEARING: Joe Wilson, Former Ambassador and WMD Expert; Ray McGovern, 27-year CIA analyst who prepared regular Presidential briefings during the Reagan administration; Cindy Sheehan, mother of fallen American soldier; John Bonifaz, renowned constitutional lawyer and co-founder of AfterDowningStreet.org.
For details on time and place and for downloadable flyers promoting the rally, please watch the top of the AfterDowningStreet.org website

SPEAKERS AT RALLY: will include Congressman Conyers and various other Congress Members, Cindy Sheehan of Gold Star Families for Peace, John Bonifaz of AfterDowningStreet.org, Ray McGovern former CIA analyst, Medea Benjamin of Global Exchange, Rev. Lennox Yearwood of Progressive Democrats of America, Stephen Cleghorn of Military Families Speak Out, Kevin Zeese, Director of Democracy Rising, Reg Keys of Military Families Against the War (flying in from UK), William Rivers Pitt of Progressive Democrats of America, Leslie Cagan of United for Peace and Justice.

The following additional speakers will take part if their schedules allow: Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey.

http://www.codepinkalert.org//article.php?id=178

[FreedomAngel82]

3. I'm very excited!!!

Do you know how long the rally is supposed to be on CSPAN's site? I wanan video tape it!

[paineinthearse]

5. .

oops

[Roland99]

2. Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah!

[rodeodance]

4. thanks

[AFSCME girl]

6. Kickedy kick!

:bounce:

[Ivote]

7. Oh Yea!

n/t
:kick:

[goclark]

8. Gp Conyers! Kick um

[jojo54]

9. Please, somebody take lots and lots of pictures of the rally?

For those of us who can't be there live. I don't imagine any of the news stations will mention it and if they do, it'll only be 5 seconds. If anybody finds a streaming video on it, please inform us.

[etherealtruth]

13. At some point the MSM is going to stop ignoring this ...

...right? Please somebody assure me I'm not delusional ...

[cthrumatrix]

10. I hope they get the media to testify...so AMERICA can see how

"liberal" they are.... they supported this war from the beginning while DU and the foriegn press was screaming from the mountain tops.

[MelissaB]

11. Thanks, Paine!

:kick:

[Douglas Carpenter]

12. Let's also keep at the media--we're getting somewhere

:bounce:


Just a reminder of some very, very important links:

To sign Congressman Conyers’ letter

http://www.johnconyers.campaignoffice.com


To put and keep pressure on the Mainstream Media:

http://www.downingstreetmemo.com/takeaction.html#awaken


http://www.afterdowningstreet.org


C-SPAN Ask--them to cover the Hearing on Thursday, 16 June:

[email protected]


Peace
O8)

Here is my standard letter to the Media:


Dear Sir/Madam:

As you know, on May 1 of this year a document now commonly referred to as “|The Downing Street Memo” was released into the British Press. These minutes of a British cabinet meeting raise serious question about how the administration was handling intelligence related to Iraq and appears to suggest that the Bush Administration had already decided on war when publicly it was claiming that no such decision had been made. Now further documents have been released in the British media which cast even further doubts.

These documents and other documents suggest that the Bush administration was determined to “fix intelligence” around a predetermined policy. Some of these documents make it clear that the administration had no credible plan for dealing with the post-war occupation.

It is most disturbing that there has been a virtual media blackout regarding “The Downing Street Minutes” and other disturbing documents.

Even more disturbing is the absence in the America media of any credible in-depth follow-up discussion or coverage regarding strong, credible and independent evidence that the Bush Administration intentionally mislead the U.S. Congress, the media and the American people.

I do hope you will accept the responsibility to address this issue and provide serious investigative journalism into this matter.

Furthermore, on Thursday June 16, 2005, Rep. John Conyers, Jr., ranking minority member of the House Judiciary Committee, and other House members will hold a hearing to consider testimony concerning the Downing Street minutes and questions of possible fixing of prewar intelligence. I do hope you will be giving full coverage to these events.

Sincerely,

____________________________________


A Voice for Working People
--Not the Elite--
http://www.bernie.org

[paineinthearse]

14. .

4pm :kick:

[LightningFlash]

15. Deserves to be up here.

Bring this back up to the first page, great information! :thumbsup:

[DesEtoiles]

16. kick

[burrowowl]

17. KICK!

:kick: Bu$hCo A$$

[Blue_In_AK]

18. This is one time I really wish I was in the Lower 48....

....'cause I'd BE THERE.

[Tsiyu]

19. Kick

:kick: