Cheney's Total Impunity, How far will Cheney go to shield himself & his office from public scrutiny?

[maddezmom]

By Dan Froomkin
Special to washingtonpost.com
Tuesday, April 29, 2008; 1:20 PM

How far will Vice President Cheney go to shield himself and his office from public scrutiny?

Last spring, Cheney asserted that he wasn't subject to executive-branch rules about classified information because he wasn't actually part of the executive branch.

Now his office argues that he and his staff are completely immune from congressional oversight. That's right: Completely immune.

Cheney's latest claim came in a response to a House Judiciary Committee request for vice presidential chief of staff David S. Addington to testify about his central role in developing the administration's torture policies.

Cheney lawyer Kathryn L. Wheelbarger wrote back: "Congress lacks the constitutional power to regulate by a law what a Vice President communicates in the performance of the Vice President's official duties, or what a Vice President recommends that a President communicate in the President's performance of official duties, and therefore those matters are not within the Committee's power of inquiry."

more:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2008/04/29/BL2008042901347.html?hpid=opinionsbox1


TPM:Administration Officials to Conyers: Catch Us if You Can
By Paul Kiel - April 29, 2008, 11:17AM
House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) knew he was going to get a fight. And he's getting one.

Earlier this month, he scheduled a hearing for next week on the administration's authorization of torture, and along with John Yoo, has invited former Attorney General John Ashcroft, former CIA Director George Tenet, former Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith, Chief of Staff to the Vice President David Addington, and former Assistant Attorney General Daniel Levin.

Yesterday Conyers released some of the correspondence he's been having with lawyers for Addington, Yoo, and Ashcroft. As expected, none of them want to testify, and they're not short on reasons.

Both Yoo and Ashcroft say that they have not been authorized by the Department of Justice to discuss the context of the key torture memos, internal discussions about them, and the like. And both say that they are the subject of lawsuits, and so it would be "inappropriate" to testify.

more:http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/04/administration_officials_to_co.php

[acmavm]

1. He sounds scared. Very scared.

[gateley]

5. I don't think he's scared,

I think he feels he's invincible - can't touch him.

He KNOWS he'd be in t-r-o-u-b-l-e, but isn't worried about having to face the music.

My fear is that he'll die in office and we won't get a chance to prosecute and incarcerate him. I really want him to SUFFER, and I hate him even more for making me feel that way.

[Hydra]

6. In your dreams

Cheney currently has the power to disappear ANYONE on no charge. We haven't seen 1/10th of what he's capable of if someone actually stings him.

Remember Bushco's POV- they don't care how they look as long as they get what they want. I don't see anyone stopping him or holding him accountable, myself.

[acmavm]

8. No, I don't thing so. What happens if when they lose power? What

happens when (I pray) the investigations start?

[Hydra]

11. You forget how long this has been going on

Cheney and his buddies didn't get nailed during Watergate- why should they be put away now?

Same s***, different day. When are we going to say "ENOUGH!"?

[acmavm]

12. No, I haven't forgotten. I'm just basing my hopes on the

old "Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small" train of thought.

Or whoever you chose to see as being the miller.

[Hydra]

13. I used to be religious

But now in my agnosticism, I see clearly that if we don't bring justice, no one will.

And no one is. There is no miller right now.

[DavidDvorkin]

2. And how far will the next president go to shield Cheney?

And Bush?

In the long run, that may be a more important question.

[LakeSamish706]

4. The only candidate in the running that we have a chance with doing anything...

about this asswipe is Senator Obama... I am pretty certain that neither Clinton or McCain would take this on.

[DavidDvorkin]

14. I know you're probably right about McCain and think you're right about Clinton

I hope you're right about Obama.

[grannylib]

3. Well, Congress DOES control funding. So Congress should dry

up the purse strings when it comes to any and all funding for the office of the VP as long as Darth Cheney occupies it.

[Bennet Kelley]

7. He's Doing the Rope-a-Dope

Cheney knows time is on his side. It took 2 years to resolve the issue of access to his Energy Task Force documents (he won).

The Dems are going to need to hold something Bush wants hostage to have a chance - but I suspect this is the last thing Bush wants to have Congress review. If they make such a move, it will be interesting to see how McCain votes.

[Demeter]

9. Dubai, Probably, and the Sooner, the Better

If ever a need for casting out devils existed, this is it.

[Phred42]

10. All the Way!