The attempted coup by Conyers, Drinan, and Holtzman
December 15, 1998 Rodger Schultz
"My friends across the aisle, please let me remind you that it is you who are trying to overturn the results of two national elections, you who are attempting a legislative takeover of the executive branch, and you -- not the president -- who have the burden of coming forward with evidence to sustain your actions."
- Rep. Conyers Opening Statement, December 10, 1998
Near the end of his December 15th broadcast, Rush Limbaugh delivered a stunning bit of information. Reading from text sent to him by Jerome Zeifman, the Democrats' chief counsel on the House Judiciary Committee during the 1974 Nixon impeachment probe, Rush informed us of an abortive coup.
According to Zeifman, he "was sickened" by the actions of his "good friend John Conyers," and other Democrats in the Impeachment process. He especially took umbrage over the bogus claim by Conyers, and others, that Republicans were trying to overturn the results of two national elections. As he correctly pointed out, Bob Dole would not become president, Al Gore would, if the impeachment process was successful. Then, the stunner.
"And let me add, too, how difficult it was to cast the vote for impeachment. It was solemn, hard and unpleasant. Much as I disliked Richard Nixon's policies, I did not relish for one moment voting for impeachment. "
- Elizabeth Holtzman Opening Statement, December 8, 1998
The Silent Coup Attempt Zeifman recalled how it was Conyers himself, along with Elizabeth Holtzman, Robert Drinan and Wayne Owens who had once attempted a silent coup. They had, Zeifman stated, argued against the appointment of Gerald Ford as Spiro Agnew's successor to the vice-presidency, and for the immediate impeachment of Nixon. That, of course, would have installed House Speaker Carl Albert, a Democrat, as President of the United States. "Conyers misrepresented Ford's position on civil rights" by claiming he had fought legislation and only jumped aboard when the legislation was inevitable.
"The procedure followed by the House Judiciary Committee at that time was, however, even-handed."
- Robert Drinan, Opening Statement, December 8, 1998
Jerome Zeifman also accuses Hillary Clinton of trying to sabotage the [Nixon] inquiry by withholding critical evidence. In his diary of
May 4, 1974, he wrote:
"I am incensed with Hillary Rodham. " Nixon's henchmen were "crude amateurs" compared to the "arrogance and deceit of some of Doar's assistants".
-Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
Limbaugh stated, accurately, that Zeifman has been notably absent on the talking head shows, and from the pages of the Washington Post and New York Times. "They don't like his message," he said, "so he has to do this in order to get the word out.
"While we recognize that impeachment was a political process, we were determined that it would not be a partisan process ..."
- Wayne Owens, Opening Statement, December 8, 1998
The Wall Street Journal did pay attention to Mr. Zeifman by printing his plea, To Save the Party, Democrats Must Vote to Impeach on its October 6, 1998 editorial page. One gets a sense of why Jerry Zeifman is ignored by the media which is seemingly intent on saving the Clinton Presidency:
To date the only defense taken by the White House and the Democrats on the Judiciary Committee is to take the offensive. They are attacking Kenneth Starr, arguing in the media that he has abused his legal authority.
They have also declared "war" on Congress itself by charging Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry Hyde and House Republicans with partisanship and "unfairness."
My recommendation [during Watergate ] was that we not attempt to modify any of the rules of the House. To do so would raise the issue of fairness.
Albert, O'Neill and Deschler agreed with me--and the four of us passed our unanimous recommendations on to Judiciary Chairman Peter Rodino and the House Democrats as well as the Republicans.
[S]ome Democrats, including Mr. Rodino, who favored amending the House rules. They attempted to deny Nixon representation by counsel, were opposed to holding hearings with live witnesses, and wanted to prolong an impeachment vote for as long as possible for partisan political purposes.
Democrats on the Judiciary Committee are arguing that special new rules should be adopted regarding impeachment procedures--and that the traditional rules and impeachment precedents we relied on at the time of Watergate are not applicable to Mr. Clinton.
In my view there is now more than substantial evidence to consider our president a felon who has committed impeachable offenses.
And there is this from 1996:
"As a Democrat I don't want to turn around and ignore all the principles that we stood for against Nixon. We went after Nixon because of the perceived abuse of power, not because we were certain we'd get a conviction of a felony," Mr. Zeifman explains heatedly.
His point is important. Some Washington pundits and presidential defenders would have us believe that unless Mr. Clinton can be convicted of a felony he should be left alone. Mr. Zeifman argues that such a position is rank hypocrisy. For a vindication of his views, Mr. Zeifman turns to the ultimate conservative, Edmund Burke.
"The historic impeachment trial was led by Edmund Burke, who was seeking the removal of one of Mad King George's officers," he explains. "Burke set the terms for public accountability.
'Not upon the niceties of a narrow jurisprudence, but upon the enlarged and solid principles of state morality' were his criteria.
It was in that spirit that Democrats and the media [??] went after Nixon, and those principles have beenabandoned."
"Take Susan McDougal," he continues. "She has refused to testify and is in contempt of court. That type of situation should have caused an angry reaction in the media. They should have demanded to know what she was hiding. During Watergate, The Washington Post and The New York Times helped bring Nixon down. Now the Post and the Times and the pundits on CNN are Clinton's defenders. It's chilling, and it's a great disservice to the American public."
- Wishing upon a Starr, by Scott Morris
For those who have developed the opinion that there is not an honest, nor honerable Democrat to be found on the landscape, Zeifman reminds us of what once was.
Mr Zeifman is author of "Without Honor: The Impeachment of President Nixon and the Crimes of Camelot" (Thunder's Mouth Press, 1996). |
