There is a lot in Cheney’s interview report – we’ll have a busy weekend. But for the moment, let’s start with this bit:
After the Vice President again mentioned that he was pressed for time, two separate requests were made to Vice President Cheney in an effort to assist the DOJ/FBI investigation into this matter. First, an FBI waiver form was presented to the Vice President and copies were given to his attorneys. It was explained to Vice President Cheney that his signature was being sought on the waiver form in order to release any reporters with whom the Vice President may have had conversations about the subject matter of this investigation, from promises of confidentiality arising from any such conversations. Vice President Cheney acknowledged receipt of the FBIs waiver form but declined to sign until his attorneys have had sufficient time to review it.Cheney refused to release the reporters he spoke with of confidentiality. Now, over the course of his interview, Cheney was asked and he denied speaking with Novak and Cooper [and claimed to have no knowledge of discussions with Judy]. The sole key journalist in question he didn’t deny any knowledge about was Woodward [and, though less important, Andrea Mitchell]. But he basically denied speaking to any journalist. And then he refused to sign a waiver of confidentiality over his conversations with journalists. Couple that with a few more data points…
I post emptywheel‘s comments because, as usual, she’s got a sly take on things – that Cheney was with Scooter when he and Judith Miller ran into each other at the Jackson Hole Rodeo. emptywheel also wonders if Cheney spoke with Novak. But I’m just not up to talking about the Cheney transcript yet. It is, as usual, arrogant, filled with "I don’t recalls," self important. The only reason to read it is to enjoy some more Cheney Narcissism or to hear him fabricate and obfuscate – unless you want to fact check. There’s a way he has of winning in the end. He’s so damned unpleasant that it’s easy to just skim over things. An example: "After the Vice President again mentioned that he was pressed for time…" He’s just too important to hang out with investigators questioning him about scheming and lying…
Cheney has another way of speaking that makes those questioning him stop short of probing, I think: he just sounds so damned confident of what he’s saying. It comes through in the transcripts. His “I have no memory of that” and “I don’t recall” and “I have no idea” don’t come with hemming and hawing that suggest he’s running it through his mind again to see if he can remember.
No, he conveys that it’s very clear in his mind, there is nothing in his memory banks like what you’re asking, so you don’t need to ask more questions about it — and conveying: “of course I didn’t say that,” or “that was such a trivial conversation no one would remember it,” or “I was so busy at that time, this just wasn’t important enough to remember.” “So let’s get this silly exercise over with, so I can go on to my important work of making the world safe for democracy.”