National Review: The Little-Noticed Order That Gave Dick Cheney New Power

[PhilipShore]

National Review
The Little-Noticed Order That Gave Dick Cheney New Power
Have you ever heard of Executive Order 13292?
February 16, 2006

http://www.nationalreview.com/york/york200602160841.asp

In addition to discussing his hunting accident, Vice President Dick Cheney, in his interview on the Fox News Channel Wednesday, also pointed to a little-known but enormously consequential expansion of vice-presidential power that has come about as a result of the Bush administration's war on terror.

Cheney was referring to Executive Order 13292, issued by President Bush on March 25, 2003, which dealt with the handling of classified material. That order was not an entirely new document but was, instead, an amendment to an earlier Executive Order, number 12958, issued by President Bill Clinton on April 17, 1995.

At the time, Bush's order received very little coverage in the press. What mention there was focused on the order's provisions making it easier for the government to keep classified documents under wraps. But as Cheney pointed out Wednesday, the Bush order also contained a number of provisions which significantly increased the vice president's power.

Throughout Executive Order 13292, there are changes to the original Clinton order which, in effect, give the vice president the power of the president in dealing with classified material. In the original Clinton executive order, for example, there appeared the following passage:

[marmar]

1. Setting up his legal defense, perhaps...

Clearly he's about to be outed as a central figure in Plamegate.

[gulfbreeze]

5. But does this give him authority to de-classify

information? Or the authority to have Libby disclose information that is currently classified?

[marmar]

6. Buenas preguntas....

I'm sure he'll claim it does.

[berni_mccoy]

9. Is OUTING A COVERT CIA AGENT PART OF HIS DUTIES?

I doubt it. Therefore, he still broke the law.

[Roland99]

22. In no way, shape, or form!

He's a treasonous bastard and deserves a traitor's fate.

[LeftNYC]

2. The most secretive administration in US History and

Cheney declassifies one piece of intelligence so he can smear somebody...what a slimy bastard..

[Julius Civitatus]

3. But who cares when Brangelina's preggers and Tomkat's splitting?

This is a nation with its priorities straight, dontcha know?

:sarcasm:

[LeftNYC]

4. Is TomKat really splitting?

lol!

[The Backlash Cometh]

15. So, he is WEAK on national security, isn't he?

[EVDebs]

20. The wiretapping at NSA has ties to the Plame case in an odd sorta way

See No Evil: What Bush Didn't (Want To) Know About 9/11
TomPaine.com
Saturday, March 1, 2003
http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=195&row=1

""Despite these tantalizing facts, Abdullah and his operations were A-OK with the FBI chiefs, if not their working agents. Just a dumb SNAFU? Not according to a top-level CIA operative who spoke with us on condition of strictest anonymity. After Bush took office, he said, "there was a major policy shift" at the National Security Agency. Investigators were ordered to "back off" from any inquiries into Saudi Arabian financing of terror networks, especially if they touched on Saudi royals and their retainers. That put the bin Ladens, a family worth a reported $12 billion and a virtual arm of the Saudi royal household, off-limits for investigation. Osama was the exception; he remained a wanted man, but agents could not look too closely at how he filled his piggy bank. The key rule of any investigation, "follow the money," was now violated, and investigations -- at least before 9/11 -- began to die.""

Pre 9/11 'policy shift' at NSA away from OBL and on to...Bush's enemies, defined as citizens exercising their lawful right to dissent. The OIGs of NSA(DOD) and the DOJ have shirked their duly authorized responsibilities. We must now rely soley upon the conscience and morals of the only man doing his sworn job to protect and defend the Constitution: Fitzgerald. That's it folks, the ONLY man right now between us and the end of the Republic for which it stands.

[spuddonna]

24. "Help us, ObiWanFitzgerald, you're our only hope!"

So many scandals and dirty little secrets, it all runs together...

I hope our country survives long enough for the truth to come out... :(

[thecrow]

7. "C'mere Dubya, there's something else you have to sign"

Godammit, you don't have to *read* it.
No I don't want any *#)&%# reporters present either.
Okay you can go back to your *^&@)(#* gameboy now..

[AuntiBush]

8. Can One Say

Cover thy butt bunches of times without getting tongue-tied?

They seem to have no problem changing laws that fit around their crimes. :puke:

[FormerRepublican]

10. Cheney is still toast on obstruction of justice.

And even if Cheney authorized Libby to disclose classified information, and it was legal for him to do so, Cheney can't authorize Libby to lie to law enforcement and the prosecutor. Nor can Cheney legally lie to them himself. In addition, if this weren't a cover-up, Cheney would have just spilled the beans to the prosecutors back when the whole thing started, and the investigation would have ended. Cheney could have merely called the CIA to say - hey, George, I declassified Plame's status and told Libby he could spread it around in the press.

This is definately a cover-up, and every major player in the administration is attempting to find some legal maneuver to get off scott free. That's why this info is trickling out instead of coming out all at once - as they think up a new strategy, they play it out.

[carolinalady]

11. K&R what a bunch of crap! No wonder he is so damn cocky.

[Toucano]

12. "...in the performance of executive duties..."

Classification Authority.
(a) The authority to classify information originally may be exercised only by:
(1) the President and, in the performance of executive duties, the Vice President;
(2) agency heads and officials designated by the President in the Federal Register...


What is the meaning and reason for that clause?

Obviously, when the president does something, he's doing it in the performance of executive duties. But why did they add that clause to the vice-president?

[gasperc]

13. thanks, but give Cheney give a verbal order

order can he point to an executive duty, and if this was the case why not state this 3 years, why the 800hour delay?

[underpants]

17. It means that Dick IS the President and W is a stooge a figurehead

anyone paying an attention already knew that but now it is official. It is now official that Fox News is the state news agency.

[The Backlash Cometh]

14. But weren't they doing this BEFORE 2003?

[lovuian]

16. He still is toast!!!

Karma Karma Karma!!!

[EVDebs]

18. This post explains why Cheney DOESN'T have the power he claims

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x441331

It also shows that Cheney may have cooked his own goose. BTW, why are the Inspector Generals at both DOD/NSA and the DOJ (Mr Gimble for NSA and Mr Fine at DOJ) conspicuously inactive ? Could it be they have been compromised in some way to prevent their investigating the cavalcade of whistleblower claims ?

Neva Rodgers, Sibel Edmonds, Colleen Rowley, Indira Singh, the list just goes on forever and they just keep sweeping things under the rug.

[druidity33]

26. thank you

I was going to post a link to the other thread b/c no one here seemed to notice that the EO is for classification not de-classification... seems to me there would be different procedure for each.

[blm]

19. STARTED PLAN TO OUT PLAME in March 2003 - order proves PRE-MEDITATION

doesn't it?

[EVDebs]

21. You got it. See post #20. It gets worse. eom

[kitkat65]

23. Call me naive, but so what if there's a presidential order giving VP

more power. That doesn't give the VP carte blanche to do whatever he wants without consequence.

Let's say there was a presidential order that allowed the VP to, oh, I dunno, shoot American citizens in the face and he does just that. Is the action legal? Does the executive order trump a preceding consensus-driven law that has already stated such an action is definitely not?

Now as for Plame, wasn't it Bush Sr. that said outing a CIA agent was an act of treason? Wasn't this also a presidential order? Does Junior's order trump Senior's?

In other words, the sitting president really only has as much power as Congress will let him get away with.

Unfortunately, our Congress is filled with ineffectual assholes.

[spuddonna]

25. You answered your own question... :)

Unless the Congress or Judiciary says "That's unconstitutional" the executive order stands as a law, as much as any law that the Congress passes. (Or at least that's my understanding - I'm no legal scholar.)

So, we have a do nothing Congress, maybe Cheney will get * to sign an executive order that it's ok to shoot your hunting buddy in the face? :shrug:

[notadmblnd]

27. So why didn't they just say that from the get go?

seems to me a whole lot of confusion could have been cleared up immediately if this had been disclosed a year ago or so.

[eppur_se_muova]

28. REGARDELESS of any authority he may or may not have, it is TREASON.

By sabotaging an undercover operation, Cheney greatly impaired the US's ability to monitor black-market exchanges of nuclear technology, and may have made it easier for Iran to further its nuclear ambitions. He also endangered the lives of undercover operatives. And he did it for purely PARTISAN political motivations, not for any "duty" that was his as Vice President.

This is like arguments over whether ** has "authority" to wiretap, or torture, or rendition, or start a war -- it distracts from the question of WHY. When you start asking WHY, your find all the reasons are wrong, and the question of permission /authority is put into its proper perspective.

[AnnInLa]

29. Please see Steve Clemons post on this...secret aspects of exec order?

Please go to http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/ and read the whole article (2nd one down), then look at this observation:



"One lucid observer shared with me the thought this morning that there may, in fact, be "classified" aspects to the March 2003 Executive Order that we mere members of the public are not privy to."

"But let's warn the White House now: Secret Orders that give the President or Vice President secret new powers are not consistent in any way with democracy and this nation's heritage."