The Impeachment of George W. Bush

With the midterm elections—and the possibility of majority shifts in both the House and Senate—talk of presidential impeachment is in the air. Holtzman, former congresswoman and Brooklyn D.A., and Cooper, a journalist and lawyer, have assembled a compact but thorough legal and constitutional accounting of five major issues upon which they claim the current president could be impeached. They are "Deceptions into Taking the Country into War in Iraq"; "Reckless Indifference to Human Life in Katrina and Iraq"; "Illegal Wiretapping and Surveillance of Americans"; "Permitting Torture"; and "Leaking Classified Information." While the authors have a clear political agenda, their book also provides a useful guide to the theory behind and the legal mechanisms of presidential impeachment, clearing up many misunderstandings readers might have, such as the fact that "high crimes and misdemeanors are not limited to actual crimes" and the correct use of the Independent Counsel Act (which Holtzman helped author in 1978). The book argues its points based on examples from the impeachments of Nixon and Clinton (Holtzman sat on the House Judiciary Committee during the Nixon impeachment). While this volume will be read and cherished by those who agree with its political stance—and dismissed and argued against by those who don't—it's an important, comprehensive argument and document for our current political moment. (Oct.)