It goes without saying that, where there is a story of constitutional or human rights abuse, Dick Cheney cannot be far behind. It is therefore little surprise to learn this week that, according to sources in the recent disclosure of a hidden counterterrorism program, the prior concealment from Congress was allegedly ordered by Cheney.
The Central Intelligence Agency reportedly withheld information about program for eight years on orders from Cheney, who continually fought any disclosures on a host of subjects to either Congress or the courts.
As I discussed on this segment of MSNBC Countdown, it is a crime to withhold such information from Congress — yet another crime that is not being investigated by the Obama Administration.
While covert operations can be limited to disclosures to the Gang of Eight, the National Security Act of 1947 requires such disclosure.
It was previously known that Cheney’s legal adviser, David S. Addington, (another dark character in these scandals) was involved in this matter as well.
Once again, it is astonishing that Attorney General Eric Holder continues to refuse to appoint a special prosecutor to deal with the mounting allegations of criminal acts by the Bush Administration. The blocking of such investigations by the Obama Administration reaffirms the view that our intelligence services live beyond the reach of the law and that our leaders are unaccountable under the criminal laws that they apply to average citizens. While Obama insists that no one is above the law, he has ensured that we have two separate systems of justice for the powerful and the plebes.
In another story, Gen. Michael Hayden who carried out many of the presumptively unlawful programs during the Bush Administration insists that Congress was informed of this particular program, here.
For the full story, click here
I asked before but got no response. Prof. Turley can you put up a video section of all your interviews. I think that this would be great for your followers and would cut down on search times. Thanks for the post Mr. Byrne
Source for saying..not exactly.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVtKjiRjN_8&hl=en&fs=1&]
Jim,
I am glad you saw the link, but the Vice President is part of the Excutive Branch and not the Senate. He does have Senatorial duties, but he is a member of the Executive Branch. Even Cheney has argued that he is part of the Executive Branch, but he changed his tune to try to protect his backside. Here is a link to a CREW article which discussed a court ordering Cheney to preserve records and stating that he is part of the Executive Branch. http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/34213
Jill,
I agree that Cheney is still able to be prosecuted for any crimes that he has committed. And you are right that he has admitted to ordering waterboarding on more than one media appearance.
“What isn’t in doubt is that Cheney has admitted to ordering waterboarding.”
Not exactly true, but for the sake of argument…let’s say he did.
“As a citizen of the US, whether he received the O.K. from the president, was acting inside or outside his official duties, he committed a war crime as defined by law.”
A citizen has no authority to order anything. If someone in the U.S. Military, or the CIA, or NSA, followed an order of a U.S. Citizen, they may have well have done so on their own initiative.
If I called a friend at GITMO, and ordered him to torture a detainee…and he did so; they would prosecute him..not me.
I know it’s frustrating, but…if I’m correct, this was all planned in advance in order to avoid prosecution. -Could Cheney have planned such. -I think so.
Could Dick Cheney have set up assassinations in Lebanon in 2004 and 2005?
What isn’t in doubt is that Cheney has admitted to ordering waterboarding. As a citizen of the US, whether he received the O.K. from the president, was acting inside or outside his official duties, he committed a war crime as defined by law. High office or lack of high office is not a protection against Cheney, as US citizen, being responsible for obeying US law. As a citizen, he is liable to prosecution.
rafflaw,
Thanks for the link to the executive order. I’ll need to do a little more research in order to determine if the president can delegate classification authority to the VP.
The Office of VP is not well defined. There has been much debate as to whether the VP is part of the Executive, or part of the Senate. -Some say both and some say neither. -Since the Constitution makes him President of the Senate, I would consider him part of the Senate. As such, I would imagine that the Separation of Powers Doctrine would prevent him from having executive authority (even delegated executive authority).
Holder is simply and miserably Obama’s Coward of Obstruction. We need mass arrests by the military in Washington D.C. Persecuting Obama and Holder would start us in the right direction.
From emptywheel,
“Next, the story reveals that the invocation of State Secrets in the Jeppesen suit was done without Obama’s involvement–presumably by dead-enders.”
I’m suprised to here this idea bandied about again as it has already been disproven. The court has asked and the Obama administration has certified that they are making the claims they are making. Obama’s DOJ told this directly to the court. They have made affirmative statements in this case. It’s not dead enders.
Bush fired US attys. Are we to believe neither Obama nor Holder is able to fire people who work for them when Bush did it. Were they lying to the court on the several occasions they certified these claims as their own?
From the HP article:
“Holder is considering whether to appoint a prosecutor and will make a final decision within the next few weeks, a Justice Department official told The Associated Press. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on a pending matter.”
To me, all these articles point to the same thing–they are propaganda. I believe this because the law is not optional, there is nothing for Holder to consider–he must prosecute and should have done so immediately upon confirmation as AG. We’ve seen this before. When things heated up for a while back, all the presidents’ men came out hinting that he’d prosecute, It’s a common tactic. This is just a way to keep people’s hopes up while the administration continues to torture and block multiple investigations into both war and financial crimes. It’s a diversion after the poor reception Obama got for saying he’d like to imprison the innocent and for the information coming out on the CIA.
I guess I wrote that last posting too quickly for my brain. The word “and” in the first line should read “an”. Lo Siento!
JB and AY,
Here is a link to the Executive Order that was and amendment to a previous Exec Order that included the VP in the Declassifying process. http://www.fas.org/sgp/bush/eoamend.html
JB and AY,
First of all, I think I remember some posts a long while back that stated that Bush had provided Cheney with the ability to declassify intelligence on his own.(via executive order, if I remember correctly) If he can declassify information, the order may have provided him additional authority. Secondly, even if Bush is the one that ok’d a request by Cheney, Bush is still violating the law and defying Congress. Finally, if the CIA has to answer to the Executive Branch, doesn’t the VP have some authority, subject to Bush’s final say to order them to take actions? I will try to find the authority that Bush granted to Cheney and provide it here, if and when I find it. It is tough getting old!
To Jim Byrne:
Your theory of Cheney’s strategy for use of power without accountability is quite disturbing if true.
Do you have any federal legal precedent to illustrate your point, if I understand correctly, that a high ranking official exercising power not vested in himself cannot be found guilty of breaking laws even if said exercise were in violation of statute/constitution?
Do we assume that the entire Bush presidential nomination was simply a cover for Cheney from the start, culminating in Cheney, as head of the VP search “committee” picking himself for Bush’s running mate?
JB,
I think you are correct.
rafflaw said “the bottom line that if he didn’t have the authority, Bush would have granted it to him without hesitation so it still comes down to Bush and Cheney here.”
I don’t think the POTUS can delegate such authority. If I am correct, any authority exercised by Cheney would give Bush plausible deniability.
Anyone in the CIA or NSA that took orders from the Vice President would have done so as if it we on their own initiative. –You can’t place the blame on the guy that had no authority to issue the order.
I’m pretty sure that Cheney is evil and devious, but I also think he’s pretty smart. I think he learned a lot from Watergate. -How to avoid accountability being lesson #1.
You know if Cheney was somehow taken to Gitmo, would we know? I rephrase this, would anyone care?
anon, did you put in a lot of links? That will sometimes delay the posting, maybe to make sure they are all safe.
Mike S.,
Thanks for the links. I was especially interested in reading the Fire Dog Lake link. I do seem to agree with you that Holder is going to do the right thing here, but it will be done slowly. I hope I am not misreading your meaning. The Greenwald Salon link give earlier is also important because he updates it to show Scott Horton’s article suggesting Holder will not be limiting the scope of the special prosecutor’s reach. I do hope Horton is correct.
Jim Byrne,
Your question about Cheney’s authority is something I have been thinking about, but I keep coming down to the bottom line that if he didn’t have the authority, Bush would have granted it to him without hesitation so it still comes down to Bush and Cheney here.
Hmmmm… This is the first time that I’ve seen the statement “Your coment is awaiting moderation.” When is the “moderation” process triggered?