With A Little Help From His Friends, Cheney Just Keeps On Truckin'

This from the Washington Post:
Cheney Defiant on Classified Material -- Executive Order Ignored Since 2003
By Peter Baker -- Washington Post Staff Writer -- Friday, June 22, 2007

Vice President Cheney's office has refused to comply with an executive order governing the handling of classified information for the past four years and recently tried to abolish the office that sought to enforce those rules, according to documents released by a congressional committee yesterday.

Since 2003, the vice president's staff has not cooperated with an office at the National Archives and Records Administration charged with making sure the executive branch protects classified information. Cheney aides have not filed reports on their possession of classified data and at one point blocked an inspection of their office. After the Archives office pressed the matter, the documents say, Cheney's staff this year proposed eliminating it.

Th[is] . . . underscores a wider struggle waged in the past 6 1/2 years over Cheney's penchant for secrecy. Since becoming vice president, he has fought attempts to peer into the inner workings of his office, shielding an array of information such as the names of industry executives who advised his energy task force, . . .

. . . [T]he fight about classified information regulation indicates that the vice president has resisted oversight even by other parts of the Bush administration. Cheney's office argued that it is exempt from the rules in this case because it is not strictly an executive branch agency.

"He's saying he's above the law," said Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), . . .
Cheney's office declined to discuss what it called internal matters. "We are confident that we are conducting the office properly under the law," said spokeswoman Megan McGinn.

The Justice Department confirmed yesterday that it is looking into the issue. "This matter is currently under review in the department," said spokesman Erik Ablin, who declined to elaborate.
[Emphasis added.]
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Well if Lapdog Gonzales' DoJ is looking into it, I guess we can all rest easy, huh?
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Addendum
From Raw Story:
Democrats plan to cut Cheney out of executive funding bill
Josh Catone -- Published: Saturday June 23, 2007

Following Vice President Dick Cheney's assertion that his office is not a part of the executive branch of the US government, Democratic Caucus Chairman Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) plans to introduce an amendment to the the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill to cut funding for Cheney's office.
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On Thursday, Emanuel suggested that if Cheney feels his office is not part of the executive branch "he should return the salary the American taxpayers have been paying him since January 2001, and move out of the home for which they are footing the bill."
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Emmanuel released this graphic to illustrate the latest silliness:***
In an attempt to de-fang the story, White House Deputy Press Secretary Dana Perino took an unprecedented step: she told the truth, labeling it a "non-issue."
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I could have gotten THAT information from my copy of 'DUH! Magazine'.