AP: Cheney disclosure may be a defense for indicted aide

[PhilipShore]

The Associated Press
Cheney disclosure may be a defense for indicted aide
02.16.2006

http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/116137

WASHINGTON — Vice President Dick Cheney disclosed Wednesday that he has the power to declassify sensitive government information, authority that could set up a criminal defense for his former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

When Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald revealed Libby's assertions to a grand jury that he had been authorized by his superiors to spread sensitive information, the prosecutor did not specify which superiors.

But in an interview on Fox News Channel, Cheney said there is an executive order that gives the vice president, along with the president, the authority to declassify information.

"I have certainly advocated declassification. I have participated in declassification decisions," Cheney said. Asked for details, he said, "I don't want to get into that. There's an executive order that specifies who has classification authority, and obviously it focuses first and foremost on the president, but also includes the vice president."

[Panda1]

1. They're a bunch of lying CROOKS!

[0007]

19. Good work!

[lovuian]

2. That Cheney is a bit off his game ...

[TomInTib]

3. So now the White House writes the law. nt

[MissMillie]

28. If he was de-classifying the information

then why was there a need to "leak" it?

And why not state this from the outset? Why not come out and say this from the very beginning instead of keeping this a big secret until it was dug up by some special prosecutor?

When will the lies end?

[Nancy Waterman]

36. There must be a procedure for declassifying

So where is the paperwork where he said that Valerie Plame's name was no longer classifed? And were is the paperwork on those NIE's that he supposedly declassified. Having a subordiinate call reporters is not "declassifying" information. This is totally BS.

[babylonsister]

4. He shot a man; it was the worst moment in his life; yet he's

setting rules and precedent, and rules of declassification, and all kinds of stuff that he should be too broke up to deal with?
WHY WASN'T THE GUY IN TX, W/THE GUY HE SHOT?
He ain't that important!!!

[caledesi]

5. Cheney is lying...as usual. I can't find the Exec. Order can you?

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/orders/

[PhilipShore]

6. Executive Order 12356, issued April 2, 1982 (Was that Reagan era?)

I am not a lawyer, but I don't think that the Scooter Libby Indictments -- will ever go to Trial because the CIA and/or related information has immunity.

My own opinion is that the Fitz Hearings are just lip service, with the MSM saying—an extensive investigation is being done by Fitz, and he found no wrong, thus paving the way for Jeb to run in 2008.

Did Reagan create this executive order, allowing them to declassify data?

_____________________________



Executive Order 12356, issued April 2, 1982, removed any specific time requirements for declassification. Instead, it provides that information shall be declassified or downgraded as soon as national security considerations permit. Declassification of classified U.S. government originated information less than 30 years old is the responsibility of the originating agency and declassification of foreign government information provided to the U.S. in confidence which is less than 30 years old is the responsibility of the agency initially receiving or classifying the information. Systematic review of classified U.S. government originated information and foreign government information provided in confidence which is more than 30 years old is the responsibility of the National Archives and Records Administration.

[caledesi]

7. 1982 - Reagan Era

Agree - as usual, these thugs will try to get away with anything.

[Warren Stupidity]

14. My reading of that doesn't give Cheney

the right to declassify dick. "Declassification ... is the responsibility of the originating agency".

Duck Cheney is not the 'originating agency' of Plame's covert status.

[underpants]

20. It seems pretty clear, you are right

only the original source can declassify it. At least from that part of the EO.

[wordpix]

24. I totally agree--Dickiebird not the "originating agency"

[PhilipShore]

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

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:

[fasttense]

21. This does not say the vice President or the President can declassify.

It says the originating agency must declassify. Did the CIA declassify Plame's status? I think not. If they had they would not have called for an investigation. In addition, Fitzgerald himself said that Plame's identity was classified at the time it was leaked. I doubt Fitzgerald would have made a mistake like that, as careful as he is.

And in addition, if Cheney knew he had declassified Plame's identity, why didn't he say so from the beginning and stopped Fitzgerald's investigation cold? I think Cheney is twisting the facts, commonly called lying.

[murpheeslaw]

30. Still maybe hoisted on that there petard . . .

Sec. 5.3. Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel.
(a) Establishment and administration.

(1) There is established an Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel. The Departments of State, Defense, and Justice, the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Archives, and the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs shall each be represented by a senior-level representative who is a full-time or permanent part-time Federal officer or employee designated to serve as a member of the Panel by the respective agency head.

. . .

(e) The Panel is established for the sole purpose of advising and assisting the President in the discharge of his constitutional and discretionary authority to protect the national security of the United States. Panel decisions are committed to the discretion of the Panel, unless changed by the President.

(f) Notwithstanding paragraphs (a) through (e) of this section, whenever the Panel reaches a conclusion that information owned or controlled by the Director of Central Intelligence (Director) should be declassified, and the Director notifies the Panel that he objects to its conclusion because he has determined that the information could reasonably be expected to cause damage to the national security and to reveal (1) the identity of a human intelligence source, or (2) information about the application of an intelligence source or method (including any information that concerns, or is provided as a result of, a relationship with a cooperating intelligence element of a foreign government), the information shall remain classified unless the Director's determination is appealed to the President, and the President reverses the determination.

So did he ASK if it would be alright to out her?

If he did and the Panel said NO did the President reverse the determination?

[PhilipShore]

34. National Review: Exec. Order 13292 Gives the VP the power of the president

I am not a lawyer; a FOIA lawyer might know the actual answer.

Executive Order 13292
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_13292

Executive Order 13292 concerns classified national security information of the United States government and "prescribes a uniform system for classifying, safeguarding, and declassifying national security information, including information relating to defense against transnational terrorism." It was issued by President George W. Bush on March 25, 2003 and amends earlier executive orders on classified information, including Executive Order 12356 of April 6, 1982 and Executive Order 12958 of October 14, 1995.

The significance of this executive order was a subject that Vice President Dick Cheney discussed in a February 15, 2006 interview that was mostly focused on the hunting incident which had occurred a few days earlier. That interview included a few questions on a comment by Scooter Libby related to the Plame affair; one of those questions led to the following comment from Cheney:

There is an executive order that specifies who has classification authority, and obviously focuses first and foremost on the President, but also includes the Vice President...

Byron York of the National Review noted some of the changes that Cheney was referring to...

[rodeodance]

16. this is more likely the Exe. order

Declassification of classified material.

http://www.fas.org/sgp/bush/eoamend.html

[leftynyc]

8. I don't believe he was indicted for disclosing

classified info (though I think he should have been). Perjury was the charge. This is no defense.

[salin]

9. bingo

unless the claim is that cheney also simultaneously made classified the fact that Libby was part of a leak campaign, in which case (which would never fly btw as I am being sarcastic) maybe it wasn't perjury because the leak campaign was conveniently classified by Cheney :eyes:

[Vidar]

11. Thank you.

[Vidar]

10. Rule by vp fiat has replaced rule of law. Not surprizing.

[PhilipShore]

12. Military fiat?

I am not a lawyer; but I think the Gonzo hearings (about Wiretapping/National Security law) gives defacto military fiat rights to the PNAC (Bush and Co.) administration to do anything it wants, regardless of rule of law -- as long as it says it involves National Security and the military-industrial-complex.

____________________________________

Talk:Military fiat
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Military_fiat

Military fiat is a process whereby a decision is made and enforced by military means without the participation of other political elements.

[Vidar]

33. sounds about right

[Xipe Totec]

13. If the information was declassified by executive order,

Then Cheney lied when told Fitzgerald that his office did not reveal Valery Plame's identity. That's obstruction of justice.

His only possible defense for lying would have been that he was protecting classified information. Now he has thrown that defense away.

[outhouse]

27. If Cheney had this authority

Then why did the President say that he would dismiss anyone on his staff that leaked this information. Kind of puts that defense to rest.

[rodeodance]

15. But as this Ray says--Libby not charged with leaking classified informatio

Libby is not charged with leaking classified information, and Libby's lawyers said last week there was no truth to a published report that Libby's lawyers had advised the court or prosecutors that he will raise a defense based on authorization by superiors.

Former Whitewater independent counsel Robert Ray said Libby could point to authorization from his superiors as part of his strategy at trial.

"If it turns out that Cheney was actively involved in decisions related to the disclosure of a CIA officer's identity and if the truth of it is that he was orchestrating the disclosure of information to the media, it seems to me that's a fundamentally different case than one centered around the activities of Libby," said Ray.

[sendero]

17. More of the..

... "we can do anything we want" defense. Good luck with that.

[VirginiaDem]

18. Assuming that Cheney had this power wouldn't he

have to officially declassify it. You know, get it in writing? Anyone wanna bet that it's not in writing...

[wordpix]

25. right, I'll wager there's nothing official re: declassification; it's just

Cheney issuing a proclamation or digging thru files himself to get info

[Jim__]

22. Does this power extend to telling aides to lie to the Grand Jury?

My best recollection is that Libby was charged with lying to the FBI and the Grand Jury.I'm not sure how Cheney's authority vis-a-vis government classification helps Libby with these charges.

[wordpix]

23. Chris Matthews said last night it's news to him that VP has this authority

[fasttense]

26. Fitzgerald said during his press conference

that Plame's identity was classified at the time of the leak. Fitzgerald maybe a lot of things but he is certainly very careful about what he says. He in no way implied that Plame's identity had been declassified before the leak. If Cheney knew all along that Plame's identity was declassified, why didn't he tell Fitz and stop the investigation?

[warrens]

29. I imagine there are formal procedures if this is even legal

And I doubt highly that Cheney took those steps. And if he did, I doubt he can legitimize them under the terms of the act. All this does is implicate Cheney.

[thinkingwoman]

31. The AP has it wrong--as usual

Libby is not charged with outing the agent. He's charged with perjury. Whether or not Cheney is/was/may some day be able to declassify info is irrelevant to Libby's current case.

Cheney is not floating forward a defense for Libby. He is floating forward a defense for himself.

[VegasWolf]

32. Assuming Cheney had an authority to declassify certain documents, this

authority definitely would not include the power to out an active CIA agent. Therefore, I fail to understand Cheney floating this defense unless he is still upset over shooting someone. Five draft
deferments kept his scared ass out of Vietnam, but he can shoot fat quails with clipped wings. What a man.

[WhiteTara]

37. when did monkey boy sign that order?

I somehow think that order must have been signed by chimpy himself (probably last week) to cover their tracks.