Vice President Dick Cheney has declared that his office is exempt from sections of a presidential order involving matters of national security. Mr. Cheney has rebuffed a request from the Information Security Oversight Office at the National Archives to provide data on how much material his office was being classified and declassified.
According to a report by the LA Times, the federal watchdog agency asked to inspect the president’s executive offices in the White House in 2005 for evidence of suspected leaks of classified information, but was prohibited by Bush administration officials. It is the job of the Information Security Oversight Office to inspect government agencies to make sure they are in compliance with a 2003 executive order designed to ensure classified national security information doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. The order addressed a system of safeguards for government agencies so that improper leaks of such information are investigated promptly and that government secrets are properly declassified at the appropriate time.
Spokeswoman for the White House, Dana Perino, told reporters on Monday that the president considered his office and that of the vice president exempt from the 2003 directive. The offices of the president and vice president handle some of the most highly classified information on national security.
According to Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles), the chairman of the House oversight committee, provided a copy of the letter to former White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card about the blocked inspection to the LA Times on Monday. Waxman has released letters which show that Cheney’s office had blocked other efforts by the oversight agency in 2003. Waxman also reports that the 2005 incident involved the inspection of the West Wing, where the presidents top advisors work. According to Waxman, when the agency went to inspect the executive branch offices, “the security officers reported that after an initial meeting, a senior White House official intervened and instructed the White House Security Office to block any inspection of the West Wing. The security officers expressed shock that the Information Security Oversight Office was not permitted to conduct an inspection.”
Waxman told former White House Chief of Staff Card that his staff investigators found numerous problems with the way in which the White House handled its classified information. This investigation occurred after a March hearing revealed that the White House had never done an internal investigation into finding the source of the leaks which allowed the identity of new-retired CIA officer Valerie Plame to be revealed. Waxman called this failure to take action an apparent violation of the president’s executive order.
It has also been reported by CNN that Mr. Cheney’s office had suggested that the National Archives Office be abolished under a new revision of the presidential order now in consideration. "I question both the legality and wisdom of your actions," Waxman wrote in a letter Thursday to Cheney.
Democrats in the Senate have been up in arms with the vice president since this report surfaced. ABC News reports Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) called Cheney’s move “the height of arrogance”. She went on to say that it might not be a bad idea that money for Cheney’s office he withheld until he decides whether or not he’s in the executive branch. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) stated, “The vice president is saying he’s above the law, and the fact of the matter is, legal scholars are going to say this is preposterous”.
Republicans on the other hand are taking a more cautious tone. Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi countered arguments, saying that conflicts between the White House and Congress over jurisdictional bounds are not unusual. “Let the courts decide if there’s something wrong here,” he stated. “I don't think that the vice president, with all due respect to everyone, is saying that the law doesn't apply to him or that he's above the law," said Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX). "I think there are some legal interpretations. We have to look at those.”
Well, how convenient - the Bush Administration, by Excutive Order "creates a watchdog agency to protect national security secrets" and then exempts themselves from the process. This is just more ick for me from the Administration.
revealed that the White House had never done an internal investigation into finding the source of the leaks which allowed the identity of new-retired CIA officer Valerie Plame to be revealed.
Of course they never did an investigation. They know exactly who did it, they just don't want anyone else to know.
Vice President Dick Cheney has declared that his office is exempt from sections of a presidential order involving matters of national security. Mr. Cheney has rebuffed a request from the Information Security Oversight Office at the National Archives to provide data on how much material his office was being classified and declassified.
This old corporate autocrat needs to be taken down a peg or two. Does he really represent Americans or democracy? Maybe some of you articulate Americans who enjoy posting opinions to this site should write some letters and make some phone calls to Washington while you still retain a modicum of your precious liberty.
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