Conyersblog will soon be relaunched (with apologies to Kos, this is my version 3.0). I think the most important part of any blog is the space that allows for reader comments. However, I set some rules for the blog that seemed to me to be basic and common courtesies. Some were unwilling or unable to abide by these rules and seemed to act with no other purpose than to disrupt the ability to have constructive conversation. In a way, it is a backhanded compliment that this site was receiving so much traffic that some of our less tolerant friends wanted to disrupt it. Nonetheless, I did not want any site I am associated with to carry the kind of rude, profane or bigoted comments that were being left here. I made the decision to turn off the comments until a better system was in place.

On to the good news, in the next couple of days, we launch version 3.0. It will require registration and for paticipants to abide by the rules. It will also have some new features and safeguards that will make it easier to use.

Finally, after the very successful hearing on the DSM, I am pushing forward on a number of fronts. I will announce some of the next steps here at the same time I relaunch the blog.

Thanks to all of you, and especially those who have been such an important part of this site from the very beginning. I look forward to receiving your input, comments and ideas through this blog again in the very very near future.

Things may seem smooth and uneventful on the surface, but beneath the surface, the turmoil over the Downing Street Minutes continues to grow.

Just today, Molly Ivin�s excellent editorial on the growing scandal was reprinted in Common Dreams.

The San Jose Mercury News, the key technology paper in the country, has a good article on the efforts of Gina and Bob Fesmire, who developed the invaluable downingstreetmemo.com site.

None other than the Kennebec Journal, Maine�s oldest newspaper, from Augusta, carries yet more coverage on the issue, and notes that on the day after our DSM hearings more than 1,700 news articles ran on the issue.

Finally, my new favorite domestic paper, the Minneapolis Star Tribune (registration required), ran my rebuttal to the Washington Post�s coverage of the hearings.

Lest I forget, the LA Times ran a Michael Smith commentary (that's Michael Smith from my new favorite international paper, the London Times), explaining how the real bombshell in the DSM was the revelations concerning the increase in bombing activity in the summer of 2002.

This is just a sampling. Every day there are up to scores of articles and web stories. We may not have subpoena power yet, but we do have the power of the people � and the Internet � and we will not let this story die until we receive answers.

Sen. Kerry has formally weighed in on the DSM controversy, asking the Senate Intelligence Committee to conduct a long overdue investigation into manipulation of intelligence. He was joined by Senators Johnson, Corzine, Reed, Lautenberg, Boxer, Kennedy, Harkin, Bingaman, and Durbin. Their letter asks the Committee to complete its review of the misuse of intelligence by policymakers and specifically mentions the DSM. The letter observes in pertinent part:

"The committee's efforts have taken on renewed urgency given recent revelations in the United Kingdom regarding the apparent minutes of a July 23, 2002, meeting between Prime Minister Tony Blair and his senior national security advisors. These minutes-known as the 'Downing Street Memo'-raise troubling questions about the use of intelligence by American policy makers-questions that your committee is uniquely situated to address. The memo indicates that in the summer of 2002, at a time the White House was promising Congress and the American people that war would be their last resort, that they believed military action against Iraq was 'inevitable.' The minutes reveal that President 'Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy.' The American people took the warnings that the administration sounded seriously-warnings that were echoed at the United Nations and here in Congress as we voted to give the president the authority to go to war. For the sake of our democracy and our future national security, the public must know whether such warnings were driven by facts and responsible intelligence, or by political calculation."

In addition to bringing the Senate Democrats into the debate, this letter serves as an important rejoinder to those who would assert that Downing Street is old news and that its charges have been rebutted through reviews by the Senate Intelligence Committee. In point in fact, such a review has never been done. This makes the Administration's stonewalling all the more troubling.

Raw Story has the full text of the letter. I would also note that Krugman again knocked it out of the park in his column today in the New York Times (registration required), with DSM as the focal point.

We have one more week in session before the July 4 recess, and I plan to pursue the Downing Street issue through several additonal avenues. I hope to have more for you next week.

A couple of more stories to bring to your attention. The Knight Ridder news service has done exemplarary work on this issue, running several early and useful articles. Today, they ran another good article, detailing how the American public is souring on the war. They included a particularly good passage ridiculing the White House press office dismissing my investigation, since I voted against military action in the first place: "Did you catch the irony? Conyers has no credibility to challenge the president's actions toward Iraq, the White House argues, because Conyers has opposed the war from the beginning. Yet just a few months ago, the Bush people ridiculed Sen. John Kerry because Kerry allegedly supported the war before being against it - remember all the giddy supporters chanting ``Flip-flop! Flip-flop!''

I also would point out a great opinion piece in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer entitled "Bush's pre-emptive war pre-empted Congress." Everyone of you who submits pieces like this to their local media, is doing a valuable service in keeping this critical issue in the public eye.

I am working on follow up to the hearing, and hope to have more to share with you next week.

Kudos to my hometown paper, the Detroit Free Press, for weighing in yesterday on the Downing Street Minutes in a major way. Not only do they include a guest editorial from yours truly (excerpts from my letter to the president demanding answers), but they penned their own editorial declaring that the DSM are important news. Among other things, their editorial states, "Most important for today, the evidence reflects an administration that makes a major decision and then finds or fits the evidence to back it up and sell it. That's not thoughtful policy. It's marketing." Both are worth a read.

We have now procured an excellent video of my visit to the White House along with numerous members of Congress to deliver the 560,000 plus signatures along with the letter signed by 124 members of Congress demanding answers from the White House. We also have key excerpts from the historic hearing as well. Its on my web site, and you can go here to access the videos.

After ignoring the plain facts for some time, the far right has been forced to respond to the reality of the DSM. If you do a google search, you will see that various right wing blogs and publications, including none other than Rush Limbaugh, have decided to not only acknowledge the issue, but to go on the offesensive against the DSM. Some on the right are even trying to assert the DSM were forged, after previously saying there was nothing new in the DSM. To me, this is an overt sign of the sucess we are having in bringing this critical issue to the attention of the American people.

The hearing we had last Thursday was just another step in the process of getting to the bottom of how President Bush led us into war. I expect the steady drip-drip of stories and revelations to continue. As a matter of fact, today's Guardian has a story on a UK diplomat admitting that claims about WMD were "totally implausible."

BTW, CNN has a new poll showing that less than 4 in 10 Americans support the Iraq War

[UPDATE: ADMIN has turned off all comments. This thread has degraded into a number of anti-religious slurs. ]

I find this truly astounding. As there is a growing bipartisan consensus in Congress that we need to get out of Iraq, and do so very very soon, this Administration appears to be heading in exactly the opposite direction. As Republican Senators publicly proclaim that the situation if Iraq is eroding, we learn that there is no "exit strategy" because no exit is planned. How out of touch with the reality on the ground and the reality here at home is this?

First, I want to say to all those who made contibutions to my campaign -- thank you so much. We have received nearly 1,000 contributions since we included the "What Went Wrong in Ohio" offer, which is incredible to me. As a result of the tremendous interest, we have gotten a little behind in processing signed copies of the books, particularly given how busy we have been with the DSM and other pressing matters. I have signed many books and am about to mail those out, and I hope to get to the remainder as soon as possible. Rest assured you will receive your signed copy, and soon, I hope. My apologies for the delay.

Second, because of the overwhelming number of replies I have received to my recent posts, I have not been able to scrutinize and reply to them individually as I would like too. Again, as things quiet down I hope to be able to return to my previous practice.

Thanks again for all of your support and thoughts.

A commenter in an earlier thread pointed out that I had been remiss in thanking the activists at Democratic Underground for a while. I have corrected that oversight. From Ohio to Downing Street, they have always been there when it mattered.

I did. After that, go read some good reporting in the Times.

I have four categories of things to tell you � three general and one detailed.

First, I could not have achieved the milestone of today�s hearing, letter delivery and other events without your help. DSM is a function of the blogosphere, and throughout the process I have benefitted immeasurably from your comments and support.

Second, today we made abundantly clear, that when rights are being trampled on by the Administration, Democrats will not sit idly by and watch. We can and will act, we can and will investigate, we can and will hold hearings, we can and will take these investigations wherever they lead us.

Third, in terms of my on-line letter, I welcome more signatures, and I will see that every last one is delivered to the president.

Fourth, in terms of the specifics of the day, see below:

� Our long awaited hearing on the Downing Street Minutes was scheduled to begin at 2:30 PM in HC-9 in the basement of the Capitol. This is one of the smallest meeting rooms in the Capitol complex, holding only about 50 people, but was the only room available to us as a result of the GOP�s refusal to make any normal hearing rooms available to us. I got to the hearing at 2PM, and witnessed a phalanx of about ten cameras in the room, with 4 or five more outside the room. There were an additional twenty or so print reporters. About 100 more people � including numerous live bloggers � showed up at our overflow room at the DNC.

� At approximately 2:15 PM, the Republicans scheduled 11 consecutive floor votes, lasting until approximately 4 PM. This is unprecedented in my memory, and if we had allowed it to, it could have ruined the hearing. But a hearty group of Democratic Members helped me carry on, and we were able to continue the hearings through the votes by essentially taking turns running back and forth to the House floor.

� The hearing itself was amazingly informative, moving and informational. Raw Story has my opening statement (along with much more). The witnesses were well informed and helped us create a tremendous record moving forward. Their basic testimony continued until approximately 3 PM, and was followed by a round of questions from most of the 30 members who joined us at one point or another. We also had a surprise guest in the form of Ann Wright, who resigned from the State Department before the start of the Iraq war due to her believe that the intelligence was being fixed and manipulated. At the very end of the hearing all of the family members of deceased soldiers stood up and spoke out. They showed tremendous courage. Bradblog has a great lowdown of the entire hearing, including an audio feed. C-SPAN broadcast live and simulcast and will rebroadcast over the next several days. Radio Pacifica broadcast audio live, and Air America and Randi Rhodes cut in frequently. There was quite a bit of talk among the Members that we had crossed the tipping point on the DSM, and that further disclosures and activism would have a commutative effect on the White House and public opinion. We finished the hearing about 5:30.

� Of course we were not done. About ten members and I proceeded to caravan over to the White House, where we delivered the letter signed by more than 560,000 Americans and 122 Members of Congress demanding answers. There were several hundred protestors at the White House along with least a dozen cameras.. In front of all of these witnesses, the White House staff refused to permit any of us to enter. They did take the petitions, but I would think that sitting Members of Congress deserve a bit more respect.

� There is more. We next proceeded to a rally in front of several hundred more people at LaFayette Park. Many of the witnesses spoke there, along with my friend Tom Hayden and the Members of Congress who had joined me at the White House delivery. Finally, we had to stop as the GOP had scheduled yet more votes on the House floor.

There is much, much more to come, the least of which is we will not stop with this hearing. But I�m exhausted now, so I�ll stop.

I just concluded a very busy day of interviews about the Downing Street Minutes. This morning, I appeared on the Democracy Now Radio and Television show with Amy Goodman, and NPR�s �All Things Considered� (taped for Thursday AM). I taped an interview with CNN�s Bill Schneider for �Inside Politics,� which I believe was broadcast later in the day. I had a very nice visit and interview with Dembloggers.com as well. Late in the day, I taped an interview for AP TV.

(Also, lest you think Downing Street is all I am thinking about, I taped an interview with a group doing a very interesting documentary on Ohio 2004).

The pace will not let up tomorrow either. At 9am, I will be on C-Span�s Washington Journal for a half hour. Shortly after 10, I will be appearing on Stephanie Miller�s show to break some news I am very excited about. Finally, at a time to be determined, I will appear on the Al Franken Show at 12:15pm.

For those commenters who were concerned (or hoping) that there would be a media blackout of the forum, that will not be the case. I have every major network, other than Fox, bringing cameras to the hearing. Nightline is taping the event, which I think represents a welcome development from a well respected investigative program. In addition, C-Span 3 and Radio Pacifica are carrying it live.

Member interest in the hearing has been stellar and participation is expected to be very high. My friends Jerry Nadler, Maxine Waters, Chris Van Hollen, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, Sheila Jackson Lee, Barbara Lee, Jim McDermott, Lynn Woolsey, Major Owens, barney Frank, Cynthia McKinney, Corrine Brown, Jay Inslee, and Charlie Rangel are all likely to attend. A number of other Members are attempting to adjust their schedules to attend as well.

There has been some confusion about where the event will be held. As some of you may be aware, the Republican majority on the Judiciary Committee will not allow me to use Committee space, as I have in the past, for this. As a result, I had to consider some other locations, all with pros and cons. In the end, I decided it was best to hold the hearing in the one official room that was available, a very small room in the basement of the Capitol (HC-9). I want the location to be one that is nonpartisan and one where any Republican member interested in attending can do so.

Consequently, the time of the hearing has been changed to 2:30pm. Because of the lack of seating, I have created an overflow room, where the public can listen to or watch the hearing in the Wasserman Room of the DNC on South Capitol Street. I want people coming to DC to know that it is highly unlikely they will be able to get a seat in the hearing room, it is THAT small.

Following the hearing, I will personally deliver a letter with stacks and stacks of signatures to the White House. This is the culmination of all of your efforts and I hope Thursday makes you very proud. I also hope at the end of the day tomorrow, we will all feel that the truth has begun to be known by more and more Americans and that we are all re-invigorated to do the critical work that comes next.

To review, here are the details:


WHAT: Democratic Hearing on Downing Street Minutes and Pre-war intelligence

WHEN: Thursday, June 16, 2005, 2:30pm

WHERE: HC-9 The Capitol
(Overflow Room � 430 S. Capitol Street, SE � The Wasserman Room)

WITNESSES: 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, renown constitutional lawyer

The DSM story is growing bigger and bigger every day.

I start with the fact that we are now over 540,000 signatures from Americans demanding a response from the Administration to the charges set forth in the DSM. I will deliver these to the White House on Thursday.

We are now at over 100 signatures from Democratic Members and growing too.

We also have the hearing on Thursday. I hope to give you the precise time and location, and viewing and audio information tomorrow, so we can get as many people as possible at the hearing in person or listening and watching with us.

The MSM finally is getting it. The Washington Post (registration required) had an excellent front page story on Sunday. Scripps Howard News service has a good follow up today. I am getting numerous radio, tv and newspaper inquiries on a daily basis.

None of this would be possible without your help and the help of the blogsophere. So thank you and stay tuned.

Was the Iraq war and illegal one? If so, did Blair and Bush know it and what did they do next? We'll find out some answers soon.
[UPDATE: Read this and tell me what you think.]

Friday, June 10 at 8:30 A.M., in 2141 Rayburn Building, Democrats have called for a day of hearings on the Patrriot Act. Bradblog has the story and the full witness list. We have a great panel -- including Amnesty International and Jim Zogby. I would encourage anyone who is in the Washington, D.C. area to attend as my guest. The event may be covered by C-SPAN as well.

Read about it at DailyKos.

On a roll.

Today, I am pleased to announce that Moveon.org, one of the pioneers in internet activism has joined our drive to demonstrate that the stonewalling of the White House on the Downing Street Minutes will not stand. We deserve answers and we deserve them now.

Given Moveon's involvement, I think we can go for half a million signatures, don't you?

With all of the excitement about the Downing Street Minutes, I have neglected to let you know that I am fighting a slew of bad bills coming to the House floor soon.

First, we have the perennial flag desecration constitutional amendment. This time, the GOP didn't even bother having a hearing, not showing much respect for the first ever amendment which would limit the first amendment.

Also, they are moving several bad liability bills: A gun liability bill that would make it easier for terrorists to acquire guns; an obesity bill that would preempt a single lawsuit brought against fast food companies -- talk about special interest; and a so-called "lawsuit abuse" bill, that would change the federal rules of civil procedure to make it harder to bring civil rights suits and easier for foreign corporations to avoid liability.

This is just a sample of the day-in-day-out stuff happening in the "people's house" which has become overrun by the rich and powerful. How many days till the 2006 election?