Documents from Dick, not Bush?!?!?

As ThinkProgress reports, the Senate Judiciary Committee was about to issue subpoenas on the warrantless wiretapping program. And then Cheney told Specter no. And Specter did what Cheney told him to do. Lesson number 383,947 in why Specter is the most pathetic piece of haggis in the Senate.

In fact, we were about to issue subpoenas then and one of thesenators came to our meeting and said that the vice president had metwith the Republican senators and told them they were not allowed toissue subpoenas.

Not quite sure that’s my understanding of the separation of powers, but it seemed to work at that time.

I’m just guessing outtamyarse, but what do you want to bet the subpoenas in question were ones Schumer wanted to issue to John Ashcroft, James Comey, and Jack Goldsmith back in February 2006? You know, the ones that would have elicited the hospital story from Comey before the PATRIOT Act got renewed? You think maybe Cheney told Specter that he couldn’t solicit the very same testimony that has gotten the Administration in such hot water this year?

Nah.

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  1. P J Evans says:

    My guess: if Congress got the documents, the documents would show that Bush was involved in this as much as Cheney and Rove, and that they knew what they were doing was illegal and unconstitutional. They’d probably also show that Congress and the news media were being tapped too, along with anyone the WH considers a dissident.

  2. cboldt says:

    There are four separate June 27 â€subpoenas packets.†One to WH, one to OVP, one to NSC, and a fourth to DOJ.

  3. Anonymous says:

    Right (which has the neat result that Addington is named on his).

    But why follow two different approaches and specify that OVP is separate in this response?

  4. cboldt says:

    Without looking up any details, my guess as to arguing OVP is not part of the executive branch is to facilitate mounting a technical argument about what has to be retained/disclosed as a matter of WH records law. WH might repose certain documents in OVP, then claim those documents are out of reach of Congress.

    The mention by WH, if that’s what Leahy is saying, strikes me as odd too. We’ll know eventually. This issue has been kicking around since December 2005, and it’s not going to go away quietly.

  5. cboldt says:

    I have to LOL at the notion of claiming â€we’re not executive, we’re Congress,†and then withholding material from the same Congress that the office claims to be part of.

  6. Anonymous says:

    Ah, good suggestion, cboldt.

    IIRC, David Addington’s name is the one on that subpoena. I hear there’s an unwritten permanent exemption on the Geneva Convention for guys who believe the Geneva Convention is â€quaint.â€

  7. cboldt says:

    Kind of like a â€blind trust,†but instead of for investments, this one is for government/public policy.

    Who knows. I’ve read some of the most gawd-awful BS arguments out of Gonzales, et al, nothing would surprise me at this point.

  8. Anonymous says:

    Now, EW, do you have an AGSquared auto-penned memo to that effect? Written by Addington of course….

  9. Anonymous says:

    See, that is why I like cboldt so much; it is the precision of language. The description of â€gawd-awful BS arguments out of Gonzales†is exactly correct. You can hear arguments â€out†of Gonzales; but not â€from†Gonzales, because he can sign or repeat other’s sophisticated arguments, but he doesn’t do that himself, because intellectually he is an empty cipher.

  10. zhiv says:

    if it’s on the White House web site, then it must be true.

    Hard to believe that the 4th branch is still leading its zombie undead existence. Is there some argument that Addington can make so that Cheney and the 4th branch stay intact after 11/08, so he can continue to bomb and pillage?

  11. readerOfTeaLeaves says:

    Sorry to be dismally stupid, but as I read this, the Sen. Judiciary Committee as finally going to call bullsh*t on the WH stonewalling, and issue subpeonas.

    But Cheney called up Spectre to say, ’you’re ’not allowed’ to do that’?’
    And Spectre believed him…?
    (Why do I feel about as nauseaus as if I’d just seen a dog get run over by a car…? Ick! Ick!!)

    Off in search of some aspirin, a hot tub, and a large bottle of wine.
    Maybe this’ll make more sense if I re-read after a little R&R.

  12. MarkH says:

    My momma always said surreal is as surreal does.

    Apparently the Republicans have bought into the dictator scenario and have written off the separate but equal branches of government along with checks & balances.

    Also, if they take orders from Cheney, then the big question is whether Cheney is atop the pile or if he takes orders from Bush with the same obedience.

    It’s getting curiouser and curiouser.

  13. BillE says:

    That’s our Arlen. Him and HuckleberryGrahm are such classics. All bluster then do what the master is bidding. In Grahams case its homosexual allegations which Cheney probably has all the goods on. What is it with Arlen, he has been a good company man ever since the magic bullet theory? Is he some kind of closet case?

  14. dotsright says:

    Hmmm. Fielding is White House counsel and was specifically brought on board to coordinate response to subpoenas from the Congress. Cheney seems to be going his own way. Did Fielding throw Cheney overboard or is it just Cheney being a Dick and deciding that he’d rather mount his own defense?

  15. Dismayed says:

    Cheney is at the power center of the neocon machine. He was brought on to run the executive and agency machines. Bush is his beard. Bush works for Cheney, but no one bothered to tell him that. The architechs of this coup knew that the right circle around Bush would keep him on strings. It’s probably just now dawning on Bush that he’s a puppet, but what’s a puppet that’s broken the law to do, bow to the guy who has hold of the levers, of course.

    This Cheney told us we weren’t allowed to business is a huge stick that Dem candidates can shove up a bunch of incumbant ass at will during the campaigns.

    I smell desparation, can’t quite put my finger on the details, but this whole neo-con shit house is creaking, and it’s going to blow.

  16. readerOfTeaLeaves says:

    I smell desparation, can’t quite put my finger on the details, but this whole neo-con shit house is creaking, and it’s going to blow. I agree. Tea leaves that might be relevant…

    http://www.iht.com/articles/20…..wealth.php
    U.S. Fears Overseas Funds Could ’Buy Up America’

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6957738.stm
    Surge in US Home Repossessions
    â€There was a 93% jump in filings for repossessions on the same month a year ago, and a 9% rise on June’s figure, property firm RealtyTrac said….The RealtyTrac data showed there were 179,599 foreclosure – or repossession – filings in July. This equates to one for every 693 households….â€

    http://www.iht.com/articles/20…..dvarzi.php
    A Debt Culture Gone Awry (the writer is evidently an Iranian banker)
    â€The U.S. economy, once the envy of the world, is now viewed across the globe with suspicion… The United States borrows a whopping $2.5 billion daily from abroad to service its burgeoning debt.†[Bold is mine.]

    I think the desparation is legal, as well as economic. But the foreign press tends to cover it better than the US press, IMHO. (However, I really do need to catch up on Britney’s manic act, and I’ve lost track of who Brad Pitt is shagging at the moment. Yikes – I’d better go check msnbc and cnn to catch up!)