Rep. Barney Frank said late Monday that Congress should begin an impeachment investigation into the Bush administration's handling of the Leakgate scandal and not wait for Special Proscecutor Patrick Fitzgerald to determine whether any laws were broken.
"During the Clinton impeachment, the Republicans kept saying, remember, impeachment does not mean the end of the process. It is the beginning," Frank told MSNBC "Hardball" substitute host Campbell Brown.
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"I must honestly say, I do not trust the president to do an independent investigation here," Frank explained.
When reminded that the Leakgate probe was in the hands of a special prosecutor, Frank sounded confused, telling Brown: "Yes. But it is still also the president, because I don't think not being convicted of a crime [should] be the only qualification for being deputy chief of staff."
Moments later, Frank was asked whether Democrats should really be "pursuing impeachment proceedings on this" rather than addressing issues like Social Security reform.
"Yes. No, I think we can do both," he insisted.
On Friday, Rep. Frank and his House colleague John Conyers asked the Library of Congress to determine whether "high-ranking members of the President's staff are subject to the Congressional impeachment process."
The Frank-Conyers letter continued:
"We believe that the rationale for impeachment clearly applies to high-ranking officials who wield presidential authority in many cases with even more impact than some cabinet officers. And we do not see any Constitutional language that would exclude such officials from the impeachment process."
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