00:00Impeaching Peter Brian Hegseth, Secretary of Defense for High Crimes and Misdemeanors,
00:05resolved that Peter Brian Hegseth, Secretary of Defense, also referred to as Secretary
00:12of War by the administration, is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, and that
00:17the following articles of impeachment be exhibited to the United States Senate.
00:23Articles of impeachment exhibited by the House of Representatives of the United States of
00:29America, in the name of itself and of the people of the United States of America, against
00:35Peter Brian Hegseth, Secretary of Defense, in maintenance and support of its impeachment
00:40against him for high crimes and misdemeanors.
00:43Article 1, waging war in contravention of the War Powers Resolution of 1973, Section 2C.
00:52The Constitution provides that the House of Representatives shall have the sole power
00:56of impeachment, and that civil officers of the United States, including the Secretary
01:01of Defense, shall be removed from office on impeachment for and conviction of treason, bribery,
01:08or other high crimes and misdemeanors.
01:11In his conduct, while Secretary of Defense Peter Brian Hegseth, in violation of his oath
01:17to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional
01:23duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, especially with regard to the Commission
01:29of War, has abused the powers of the Department of Defense, in that the Declare War Clause
01:36of the United States Constitution, Article 1, Section 8, Clause 11, vests in Congress the exclusive
01:43initiatory powers of war, while the Military Administrative and Clemency Clause of the United
01:49States Constitution, Article 2, Section 2, Clause 1, establishes the President as the Commander-in-Chief
01:57of the Armed Forces and vests in him operational control over wars lawfully authorized by Congress.
02:05In an effort to statutorily delineate the circumstances under which the President may introduce United
02:11States Armed Forces into hostilities absent congressional authorization, the 93rd Congress of the United
02:19States enacted into law House Joint Resolution 542, the War Powers Resolution of 1973, Public Law 93-148,
02:32by overriding the veto of President Richard Nixon.
02:37Peter Brian Hegseth, in his capacity as Secretary of Defense, has executed unlawful orders in contravention
02:44of Section 2C of the War Powers Resolution of 1973, Section 1541C of Title 50, United States Code.
02:54Section 2C provides that the constitutional powers of the President as Commander-in-Chief to introduce
03:01United States Armed Forces into hostilities or into situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is
03:08clearly indicated by the circumstances are exercised only pursuant to, one, a declaration of war, two, specific statutory
03:19authorization, or three, a national emergency created by an attack upon the United States, its territories or
03:28possessions, or its armed forces. The War Powers Resolution further expressly provides that nothing contained therein
03:35shall be construed as granting any authority to the President or to introduce United States Armed Forces
03:42into hostilities which the President would not otherwise possess in the absence of the Resolution.
03:49Accordingly, the reporting and termination procedures subsequently established by the Resolution do not
03:56themselves constitute affirmative statutory authorization to commence hostilities. Rather, the introduction of
04:03United States Armed Forces into hostilities must rest upon one of the authorities or circumstances
04:09identified in Section 2C in order for a conflict to be considered lawful. With respect to the United States
04:17Armed Forces being introduced into hostilities in the Islamic Republic of Iran, on February 28th,
04:242026, Secretary Hegseth directed and caused United States Armed Forces to be introduced into hostilities
04:31against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Notwithstanding that, Congress had not declared war against
04:38the Islamic Republic of Iran. Congress had not enacted any specific statutory authorization for the
04:45introduction of United States Armed Forces into hostilities against the Islamic Republic of Iran. And no
04:53national emergency had been created by an attack by the Islamic Republic of Iran upon the United States.
05:00its territories or possessions or its armed forces. Furthermore, no imminent attack upon the
05:07United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces existed. As affirmed in the March 17,
05:142026 resignation letter of Joe Kent, then Director of the National Counter-Terrorism Center, in which he stated,
05:23quote, I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat
05:30to our nation, unquote. The introduction of United States Armed Forces into hostilities against the Islamic
05:37Republic of Iran, therefore satisfied none of the circumstances expressly identified in Section 2C
05:44of the War Powers Resolution and was undertaken from its inception without Congressional authorization
05:51or independent Article 2 authority, thereby rendering both the initial introduction of the United States Armed Forces
05:59into hostilities and all subsequent actions taken thereafter unlawful. Secretary Hegseth nevertheless knowingly executed
06:09and implemented the order to commence such hostilities, employing the powers, personnel, weapons,
06:16and resources of the Department of Defense to initiate military action against another sovereign nation
06:23in violation of Section 1541C of Title 50, United States Code.
