The following press release sent out today by Representative Henry Waxman is almost unbelievable.
The Oversight Committee has learned that over the objections of the National Archives, Vice President Cheney exempted his office from the presidential order that establishes government-wide procedures for safeguarding classified national security information. The Vice President asserts that his office is not an "entity within the executive branch."
As described in a letter from Chairman Waxman to the Vice President, the National Archives protested the Vice President’s position in letters written in June 2006 and August 2006. When these letters were ignored, the National Archives wrote to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in January 2007 to seek a resolution of the impasse. The Vice President’s staff responded by seeking to abolish the agency within the Archives that is responsible for implementing the President’s executive order.
In his letter to the Vice President, Chairman Waxman writes: "I question both the legality and wisdom of your actions….[I]t would appear particularly irresponsible to give an office with your history of security breaches an exemption from the safeguards that apply to all other executive branch officials."
Not an "entity within the executive branch"? What branch of government, then, does Cheney’s office belong to? I’m no constitutional lawyer, but I believe there are only three possibilities. He’s no judge, and he’s not a member of Congress. That leaves only the executive branch. Unless, of course, the veep’s office transcends the Constitution. Yes, perhaps it’s supra-constitutional. Oh heck, why don’t we just call him King? But that would create a problem: what to call the president?
What is this about? It started in the first weeks of the Administration, so it was planned. One gathers that, from the start, Cheney vowed he wasn’t going to make Nixon’s mistake and hold on to incriminating evidence – meaning that – from the start, he knew he was going to be doing incriminating things!
What do you call a person who believes their above the law? And while I’m talking about Cheney, why is it that the soldiers seem to give Cheney such rousing applause when he speaks? Do you think that the soldiers in the audience and abroad know that Cheney had 5 deferrments during the Vietnam War? I think we need to take every opportunity to let the soldiers and their families know how wonderful Cheney really is don’t you?
I think another key point not really addressed is that these policies are government wide. They aren’t specific to any branch of government but rather omnipresent throughout. Therefore claiming that he is exempt is wrong on more than just the count that he IS in fact part of the executive branch.
Cheney and Rove are nothing short of criminals. Period. They need to be removed from their offices and tried for both treason against the American people and also for war crimes. They have lied, deceived and are responsible for thousands of deaths. Bush is no better because while there isn’t a lot of evidence against him right now I suspect that he’s had his hand in it all, too.