Speaker's office denies '10,000 letters' impeachment rumor Jason Rhyne

Published: Thursday November 15, 2007



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Print This Email This The office of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Thursday denied an internet rumor suggesting that Rep. Pelosi would pursue an impeachment measure against Vice President Dick Cheney should she receive 10,000 handwritten letters in favor of the measure. Pelosi spokesman Brendan Daly called the notion "absolutely not true" in an email sent to RAW STORY . The rumor appears to have stemmed from a Sunday blog post at Thinking Out Loud, which claimed to have received a tip that Pelosi would reconsider moving forward with a recent impeachment resolution against Cheney brought by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) -- but only if she received enough handwritten letters demanding it. "The following alert was in my e-mail this morning from Emily West," stated the blog post. "I havent verified the information, but decided its a good idea no matter what." That message was as follows: "Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is reported to have replied to the question of impeachment that if she received 10,000 hand-written letters she would proceed with it. What are we waiting for? Letters should go to her San Francisco office." The blog said West was a "strong supporter of Dennis Kucinich." The rumor has quickly taken hold at other blogs and websites, including the popular Democratic Underground. "Today 'theres rumors on the Internets'...that Pelosi will reconsider her no-impeachment stance  IF  she receives 10,000 HAND WRITTEN letters supporting the impeachment of Dick Cheney," read one DU post on Tuesday."So, if you really want to see Congress  especially the Democrats  start acting like the co-equal branch of Government that they were intended to be  PLEASE write to Pelosi today." "It's obvious patent nonsense," pro-impeachment activist David Swanson told RAW STORY . "It's a sort-of rumor that's taken various forms for the past year and a half." Swanson's own website, AfterDowningStreet.org, carries a reference to the Pelosi rumor, although he says he didn't author that particular entry and didn't realize it had been included in the post. Although untrue, Swanson adds that the hearsay was still beneficial to the cause of those advocating for the impeachment of Cheney. "It's one of these false rumors that's actually very helpful," he added. "There's a burst of people sending [letters] and that's good." Kucinich introduced a privileged resolution seeking the impeachment of Cheney to the House floor last week. Following a failed attempt by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer(D-MD) to effectively kill the measure, the resolution was subsequently forwarded to the House Judiciary Committee.



