Under What AUTHORITY Did Cheney Send Gonzales To Ashcrofts Room?

[kpete]

“Cheney sent Mr. Gonzales … “

This disclosure had not previously appeared anywhere else in print, including the news pages of the Times. Yet the Times’ editorial page published it as indisputable fact. On Tuesday, the guest on CNN’s “Larry King Live” was none other than Vice President Cheney. King asked Cheney about the Times’ report about his order to Gonzales. “I don’t recall,” replied Cheney in a classic nondenial denial. “That would be something you would recall,” King continued. “I would think so,” said Cheney. “But certainly I was involved because I was a big advocate of the Terrorist Surveillance Program.”

But under what authority did the vice president give this order to the then White House counsel? That is not a matter for editorial writers, but for Congress.

....................

Now, in light of the Times’ revelation of Cheney’s order to Gonzales, the relevant committees of Congress are justified in requesting or subpoenaing documents from the Justice Department about the intrusion of the Office of the Vice President into domestic legal matters. The trail of what happened from 2001 to the present will be visible, to the extent it remains a record, embedded in e-mail communications and memorandums from the OVP to the Justice Department or in internal memos referring to such communications. Requesting them from the department end rather than the White House makes any claim of executive privilege hollow regarding departments or agencies outside the White House itself. The Justice Department has already cooperated with Congress in turning over documents. Why would it suddenly now refuse?

If executive privilege were to be applied in this instance to the Justice Department, then the unitary theory of government in which all power resides in a single vessel, a great Decider, would render the Constitution’s grant of powers to three branches of government defunct.

more at:
http://www.salon.com/opinion/blumenthal/2007/08/02/alberto_gonzales/?source=whitelist

[williesgirl]

1. Hopefully this won't get buried by the time our esteemed legislators return from their

vacation. Recommended

[babylonsister]

2. Let me guess; executive privilege should do nicely. nt

[Dhalgren]

3. K&R. This is very important. It won't make a difference in this nation's

demise, but it will be historically important for future historians to unravel exactly why and how the Republic fell.

[tularetom]

4. See, someone has finally figured it out

He don't need no steenking authority to do anything. He's the dick and he can do WTF he wants.

Only congress can put a stop to this and I would not bet the farm that they'll even attempt to. They may harumph a bit but I'd be very surprised if anything came out of it.

[UTUSN]

5. "The Master-Houseboy Dispatch Act of 1864"? n/t

[yellowcanine]

6. "Authority? I don't need no steenkin' authority."

[kenny blankenship]

7. "The You Follow Orders From Dick Cheney, Or You Get Shot In The Face" Rule

Ask any D.C. lawyer.

Everyone knows now, thanks to the Washington Post, that Dick Cheney has a "Man-Sized Safe" in his office at V.P.'s Residence. What most people haven't heard yet is that he also has a Man Sized Chipper-Shredder in the basement.

[L. Coyote]

8. RECIPE FOR BS STEW: Begin with pure speculations and no real facts..

This sounds like a real house of cards based on an entirely speculative premise.

It also sounds like a pile of distraction from Mr. Bush's ultimate responsebility for the actions of his cabinet members.

[Richard Steele]

16. "No real facts"?

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[young_at_heart]

9. "I don't recall" means you can never be held accountable?

Something is clearly wrong with our system if the government can't be held responsible for anything.

[Senator]

10. K&R

[shadowknows69]

11. Dark Lord of the Sith authoritah!

"You don't know the POWER of the dark side!!!"
-Dick....um...er...I mean....Darth.

[Snazzy]

12. I thought that was Lieberman

{Wow, now you get thousands of hits on Lieberman/Palpatine. Been saying that for years, before he went darkside (check the jedi DU archives). If he wasn't on the wrong side of science, maybe stem cells, well, begun the clone war we would have.}

(edit better smaller image)

[alphafemale]

13. I picked up on that immediately when I saw the movie.

The guy's a dead ringer for Lieberman.

Right down to the cloven chin.

[Greeby]

14. The authority of "Beacuse I said so"?

That's all he's ever needed

[undeterred]

15. Didn't you know? He's a medical doctor too.

And he had ordered they take Ashcroft a little something to make him cooperate.

[radfringe]

17. by royal authority