"Congress, (heavy mechanical breathing sounds) You Have No Power To Control Me." - Darth Cheney

[marmar]

from the Guardian UK, via CommonDreams:



Published on Tuesday, April 29, 2008 by The Guardian/UK
Cheney Lawyer Claims Congress Has No Authority Over Vice-President
by Elana Schor


The lawyer for US vice-president Dick Cheney claimed today that the Congress lacks any authority to examine his behaviour on the job.

The exception claimed by Cheney’s counsel came in response to requests from congressional Democrats that David Addington, the vice-president’s chief of staff, testify about his involvement in the approval of interrogation tactics used at Guantanamo Bay.

Ruling out voluntary cooperation by Addington, Cheney lawyer Kathryn Wheelbarger said Cheney’s conduct is “not within the committee’s power of inquiry”.

“Congress lacks the constitutional power to regulate by 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,” Wheelbarger wrote to senior aides on Capitol Hill.

The exception claimed by Cheney’s office recalls his attempt last year to evade rules for classified documents by deeming the vice-president’s office a hybrid branch of government - both executive and legislative.

The Democratic congressman who is investigating the legal framework for the violent interrogation of terrorist suspects, John Conyers, has asked Addington and several other top Bush administration lawyers to testify. Thus far all have claimed their deliberations are privileged.

However, Philippe Sands QC, law professor at University College, London, has agreed to appear in Washington and discuss the revelations in Torture Team, his new book on the consequences of the brutal tactics used at Guantanamo. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/04/29/8585/

[rocktivity]

1. TRANSLATION: "I'll be in deep doo-doo if Congress gets within ten miles of what I've been doing."

Maybe they should defund his office again! :think:

But seriously, folks, I thought we had co-equal branches of government, and the legislative branch was in charge of oversight. My bad...

:eyes:
rocknation

[NewJeffCT]

2. "The Ability of Congress to investigate is insignicant next to the Power of My Office"

to really paraphrase Darth Vader...

[marmar]

3. Perfect! ..... The Force will be with you. Always.

:yourock:

[NewJeffCT]

4. If you only knew the power of The Dark Side

...

[indepat]

5. If only the Congress had the power to cut off funding for any-everything Darth has his finger in

:D