Vice President Cheney Defied Security Rules; Turned Away Inspectors

Vice President Dick Cheney has exempted his office from a presidential classification order, refusing to make annual reports to the National Archive and turning away classification inspectors, claiming that his office is not an entity within the executive branch, according to letters from the Archive made public today by a Congressional oversight committee.

Cheney's office has a history of selective secrecy and shoddy information security practices, such as unilateral and selective declassifying of documents to suit political purposes and fighting a government sunshine request for energy task force records up to the Supreme Court. Cheney's top aide is facing 30 months in federal prison for lying to investigators about which Administration official outed an undercover CIA operative whose work focused on fighting the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

src: blog.wired.com...

Not an entity of the executive branch? So what exactly does this balding, fatbody represent then? Obviously he has something to hide thats no secret I just find it incredible how arrogant he can be and how the people accept it. On the other he could just take you hunting instead and that would quiet anyone objecting to his agenda.

brill

Well, what else did you expect from the balding thug? He doesnt need to follow rules.
Rules are for someone else- not him. He's the real president. How dare they!!!!!

Then people laugh when i say the word "Dictator"



Right now he's the "THE DECIDER-IN-CHIEF" until we run into a little problem, that is.

When one person in a nation becomes above the law, democracy dies there.

if he isn't part of the executive branch then what in the world is he?? hey think maybe haliburton moved an office into the white house to be closer to their buddies??
if so, then why isn't haliburton paying his salary. one thing is for sure, if he isn't part of the executive branch then the taxpayer shouldn't be paying him.....the vice president is part of the executive branch, and deserves the tax paid salary, corporate shrills who move into the white house to have a better influence on the policy makers don't deserve a salary compliments of the taxpayer as far as I know. maybe an eviction notice would be more in order?

just curious but if he isn't an entity of the executive branch then what laws could he then be prosecuted/audited/investigated etc etc under?

maybe there is a legal loophole here which could be exploited to force an investigation into him.

With all the shenanigans going on in DC --- and I mean the real serious flaunting of the laws kind of shenanigans --- why isn't anyone stepping-up to take these criminals to task? How is it that Rove's name comes up in legal scuffle after legal scffle but he never seems to get investigated. The saddest part of all is that the whole world is watching this and has come toi know that the US is a fraud. What a shame.

if he's not part of the executive branch of gov't, he has no business being in the white house, since that is the where all the executive branching begins...

I had posted this to another forum thread that may close so I brought it over here

Bush says he is exempt too.

Bush claims oversight exemption too
The White House says the president's own order on classified data does not apply to his office or the vice president's.

WASHINGTON — The White House said Friday that, like Vice President Dick Cheney's office, President Bush's office is not allowing an independent federal watchdog to oversee its handling of classified national security information.
www.latimes.com

[edit on 23/6/2007 by Sauron]

When elected officials are able to remove themselves from public scrutiny like this we're witness to the collapse of democracy. Nothing but absolute despotism and no recourse. Its at this point I understand why assassinations occur. Where's Lee Harvey Oswald when we need him ?

brill

Darth Cheney then had the nerve to try and close the oversight committee down when they complained to DOJ about the problems they where getting from Cheney's office.

Here is the Executive Order

Executive Order
Further Amendment to Executive Order 12958,
As Amended, Classified National Security Information

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to further amend Executive Order 12958, as amended, it is hereby ordered that Executive Order 12958 is amended to read as follows:

www.whitehouse.gov...

[edit on 23/6/2007 by Sauron]

Is there any doubt that this deadly duo can set out to do much more harm in their time left?
Full blown DICTATORSHIP is next,

I imagine, if we were to look at chaney's activities since he's been in the white house, we could determine if he's been functioning as part of the legislature or the executive branch, couldn't we..

I mean, I know for a fact the guy has gone overseas and onto naval ships to meet the troops, he's been on my son's ship. so, what do you think, was he there on a fact finding mission for the legislature, or do you think he was there maybe to drum up the morality of the troops, or maybe relay special orders to the commanders of the ship...who do you think he reported back to once he got back home? the legislature, or the president?? if you think he was reporting back to the president, well, then he was acting as though he was part of the executive branch...

Just past the Oval Office, in the private dining room overlooking the South Lawn, Vice President Cheney joined President Bush at a round parquet table they shared once a week. Cheney brought a four-page text, written in strict secrecy by his lawyer. He carried it back out with him after lunch.

In less than an hour, the document traversed a West Wing circuit that gave its words the power of command. It changed hands four times, according to witnesses, with emphatic instructions to bypass staff review. When it returned to the Oval Office, in a blue portfolio embossed with the presidential seal, Bush pulled a felt-tip pen from his pocket and signed without sitting down. Almost no one else had seen the text.

Cheney's proposal had become a military order from the commander in chief. Foreign terrorism suspects held by the United States were stripped of access to any court -- civilian or military, domestic or foreign. They could be confined indefinitely without charges and would be tried, if at all, in closed "military commissions."

blog.washingtonpost.com...

and, what branch of government does it sound like he's working under in the above description, making up military policies....sounds quite executive to me....



[edit on 24-6-2007 by dawnstar]

In the other thread I had posted an article about Dems wanting to make an amendment that that since he doesnt consider himself as part of the Executive Branch that he wont be funded by them. The only thing is...why the **** are they going to go through this trouble when they should just arrest them both and have impeachment proceedings immediately? They can't make their own damn laws or place them above the ones that already exist! Our government is structured and that structure was laid out the way it is for a reason by men much wiser then they ever have been! This is like a big joke. They laugh at us. Lying to us, stealing from us, making a mockery of America and our laws has been the agenda of this administration from the very beginning.

I suggest all of you look up what an Executive Order is before you start spewing off.

Then, please come back and explain how this applies to the President....

Originally posted by djohnsto77
I suggest all of you look up what an Executive Order is before you start spewing off.

Then, please come back and explain how this applies to the President....

cheney has claimed his office is not part of the executive branch. I ask then what does he represent? There was no mention of the other idiot, just fatboy cheney.

brill

I'm not sure. but after reading the executive orders....ummm.....it seems to be directed to the Agencies within the executive branch.

Bush ammended the one Clinton made...
The ammendant in large part, was aimed at giving Cheney the same power to assign or change the security ranks of documents as the president....so much for Cheney not being part of the executive branch... but technically, I am not sure if he is a part of any agency...I think the agencies are below him in the hierarchy.. maybe what Cheney was arguing was that he wasn't part of any executive agency, in which case, I think he is right..

ain't sure about this though...maybe some others could check on it...and give their interpretation?

Guess what folks...he's right. The office of the vice president is NOT a part of the executive branch. It's a part of the legislative branch per the Constitution.

www.gpoaccess.gov...

The Vice Presidency is a unique office that is neither a part of the executive branch nor a part of the legislative branch, but is attached by the Constitution to the latter. The Vice Presidency performs functions in both the legislative branch (see article I, section 3 of the Constitution) and in the executive branch (see article II, and amendments XII and XXV, of the Constitution, and section 106 of title 3 of the United States Code).

Despite these readily available facts, that any member of the media could easily find, the entire MSM is all over this...and some of you still try to argue that media is conservative biased.

it's funny, the 2004 version of the plum book is the only one that has APPENDICE 5....I couldn't find anywhere in the earlier version such a description of the vp's position.

now that it's official, I guess all those textbooks that clearly state that he is part of the executive branch will have to be rewritten? Heck, the GPO probably should spend some time rewriting the index for their Plum Book....since it places the VP right into the executive branch also:
www.gpoaccess.gov...

matter of fact I think the Federal Government is now gonna have to invest quite a bit of time and money changing over entire network of websites, since this error is made thoughout them.

I guess they should also start going thru Cheney's activities also, start relieving him of all those "executive" tasks that Bush has been piling on his desk...

[edit on 26-6-2007 by dawnstar]

I walked away, got ready for work, but something about this is un-nerving me...
did someone, for some reason, shift the vp from one branch of government to the other around 2004? if so, why? what was the motive?
to make the waters cloudy, so it would be harder to hold the vp offices accountable?
or the vp is gonna take his "presidency of the legislature" a little more serious and add a little pressure??

I don't know....but this is odd...

[edit on 26-6-2007 by dawnstar]

Originally posted by dawnstar
it's funny, the 2004 version of the plum book is the only one that has APPENDICE 5....I couldn't find anywhere in the earlier version such a description of the vp's position.

now that it's official, I guess all those textbooks that clearly state that he is part of the executive branch will have to be rewritten? Heck, the GPO probably should spend some time rewriting the index for their Plum Book....since it places the VP right into the executive branch also:
www.gpoaccess.gov...

matter of fact I think the Federal Government is now gonna have to invest quite a bit of time and money changing over entire network of websites, since this error is made thoughout them.

I guess they should also start going thru Cheney's activities also, start relieving him of all those "executive" tasks that Bush has been piling on his desk...

You're absolutely correct, I found the same thing. Trying to verify using the Constitution only makes it less clear.

Article I - The Legislative Branch
...
Section 3 - The Senate
...
The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.


Article II - The Executive Branch
...
The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice-President chosen for the same Term, be elected

Section 4 - Disqualification

The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.


Amendment 25 - Presidential Disability and Succession.
...
Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide

While I can say that I think our forefathers intended the office of VP to be within the executive branch...you could really argue it either way. I don't know when you looked at the page you posted, but the office of VP is not listed in the executive branch as of this morning. Amusingly, if you look at the list of employees in the white house office, two of the VPs assistants are though. Very odd. I guess we can assume that this change was made in 2004 by the Committee on Governmental Reform of the 108th Congress.

Wow, I can't keep up with this shell game!

Maybe he's a PNAC entity that channels through Bush? Frightening!

Yes, some sort of non-transparent entity. The worst kind. Makes your head spin worse than the devil in The Exorcist.

Where to put his office...hmmmm, how about where he really belongs, the Dubai headquarters of Halliburton...A call to an exorcist might help; or a roll call vote in Congress to impeach this entity...

Let's here it for Cheney! Use the same words he said to Senator Leahy!! Nah, we'ld just get in a shouting match with him.