suedanim
04-29-2008, 08:24 PM
The executive branch once again avoids accountability. Nov. 7 cannot come fast enough.
Cheney lawyer claims Congress lacks power to conduct oversight over vice president (http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Cheney_lawyer_claims_Congress_has_no_0429.html)
'I trust you will not turn your back' on respecting Congress, Democrat says
In what appears yet another effort to strengthen his position in the executive branch, the attorney for Vice President Dick Cheney said in a letter released by Congress Thursday that the Congress "lacks the constitutional power" to conduct oversight over his job.
The letter came in response to requests that Cheney's chief of staff David Addington testify about the his role in approving harsh interrogation tactics -- which some see as torture -- at Guantanamo Bay.
Cheney has long battled Congress over oversight. In particular, Congress has sought, and failed, to acquire information from his office regarding his meetings with oil company executives (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/15/AR2005111501842.html) to discuss energy policy in 2001. Cheney was also the subject of a Washington Post series which detailed his attempts to strengthen the position of the vice presidency as a bulwark against inquiry.
"As the U.S. Supreme Court made clear in Barenblatt V. United States, 460 U.S. 109 (1959), the power of Congress under the Constitution to inquire (which Members of Congress and congressional employees often refer to by the term "oversight") is coextensive with its power to legislate," Cheney lawyer Kathryn Wheelbarger wrote. "The power of Congress to legislate is not limitless and therefore is neither the power to inquire.
"Congress lacks the constitutional power to regulate by a law what a Vice President communicates in the performance of the Vice President's official duties, or what a Vice President recommends that a President communicate in the President's performance of official duties, and therefore those matters are not within the Committee's power of inquiry," Wheelbarger added.
Wheelbarger cites Barenblatt V. United States, 460 U.S. 109 (1959), as her justification.
House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers fired back in a letter Thursday questioning Wheelbarger's rationale. He quotes a Supreme Court justice's opinion in the case:
"The power of inquiry has been employed by Congress throughout our history, over the whole range of the national interests concerning which Congress might legislate," wrote Supreme Court Justice John Harlan in his opinion (http://www.oyez.org/cases/1950-1959/1958/1958_35/). "...The scope of the power of inquiry, in short, is as penetrating and far-reaching as the potential power to enact and appropriate under the Constitution."
Conyers notes later in his reply that numerous White House officials have testified to committees of Congress, including White House counsels and chiefs of staff and the Chief of Staff to the Vice President.
"On October 17, 1974, I was present when President Ford himself testified before a House Judiciary subcommittee on issues relating to the Nixon pardon," the Detroit Democrat writes. "The invitation to appear is thus based on a long tradition of comity between the branches... These principles have served our nation well, and I trust you will not turn your back on them now."
Wheelbarger, however, has more legal weapons in her arsenal.
She says that Cheney's chief of staff isn't the most appropriate to ask questions of if Congress is looking to get answers regarding the President's opinions. She suggests that Congress seek to ask questions of the Attorney General instead.
"With respect to Presidential power in wartime and related issues under U.S. and international law, the Attorney General or his designee would be the appropriate witness," she writes.
Further, she indicates that even if Cheney's chief of staff were to testify, little of his testimony would be of any use because he would be limited by executive and attorney client privilege. Prior to being appointed Cheney's chief of staff, Addington was Cheney's personal attorney.
Wheelbarger's letter is transcribed below. It is available in PDF format here (http://rawstory.com/images/other/wheelbargerletter.pdf).
Cheney lawyer claims Congress lacks power to conduct oversight over vice president (http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Cheney_lawyer_claims_Congress_has_no_0429.html)
'I trust you will not turn your back' on respecting Congress, Democrat says
In what appears yet another effort to strengthen his position in the executive branch, the attorney for Vice President Dick Cheney said in a letter released by Congress Thursday that the Congress "lacks the constitutional power" to conduct oversight over his job.
The letter came in response to requests that Cheney's chief of staff David Addington testify about the his role in approving harsh interrogation tactics -- which some see as torture -- at Guantanamo Bay.
Cheney has long battled Congress over oversight. In particular, Congress has sought, and failed, to acquire information from his office regarding his meetings with oil company executives (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/15/AR2005111501842.html) to discuss energy policy in 2001. Cheney was also the subject of a Washington Post series which detailed his attempts to strengthen the position of the vice presidency as a bulwark against inquiry.
"As the U.S. Supreme Court made clear in Barenblatt V. United States, 460 U.S. 109 (1959), the power of Congress under the Constitution to inquire (which Members of Congress and congressional employees often refer to by the term "oversight") is coextensive with its power to legislate," Cheney lawyer Kathryn Wheelbarger wrote. "The power of Congress to legislate is not limitless and therefore is neither the power to inquire.
"Congress lacks the constitutional power to regulate by a law what a Vice President communicates in the performance of the Vice President's official duties, or what a Vice President recommends that a President communicate in the President's performance of official duties, and therefore those matters are not within the Committee's power of inquiry," Wheelbarger added.
Wheelbarger cites Barenblatt V. United States, 460 U.S. 109 (1959), as her justification.
House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers fired back in a letter Thursday questioning Wheelbarger's rationale. He quotes a Supreme Court justice's opinion in the case:
"The power of inquiry has been employed by Congress throughout our history, over the whole range of the national interests concerning which Congress might legislate," wrote Supreme Court Justice John Harlan in his opinion (http://www.oyez.org/cases/1950-1959/1958/1958_35/). "...The scope of the power of inquiry, in short, is as penetrating and far-reaching as the potential power to enact and appropriate under the Constitution."
Conyers notes later in his reply that numerous White House officials have testified to committees of Congress, including White House counsels and chiefs of staff and the Chief of Staff to the Vice President.
"On October 17, 1974, I was present when President Ford himself testified before a House Judiciary subcommittee on issues relating to the Nixon pardon," the Detroit Democrat writes. "The invitation to appear is thus based on a long tradition of comity between the branches... These principles have served our nation well, and I trust you will not turn your back on them now."
Wheelbarger, however, has more legal weapons in her arsenal.
She says that Cheney's chief of staff isn't the most appropriate to ask questions of if Congress is looking to get answers regarding the President's opinions. She suggests that Congress seek to ask questions of the Attorney General instead.
"With respect to Presidential power in wartime and related issues under U.S. and international law, the Attorney General or his designee would be the appropriate witness," she writes.
Further, she indicates that even if Cheney's chief of staff were to testify, little of his testimony would be of any use because he would be limited by executive and attorney client privilege. Prior to being appointed Cheney's chief of staff, Addington was Cheney's personal attorney.
Wheelbarger's letter is transcribed below. It is available in PDF format here (http://rawstory.com/images/other/wheelbargerletter.pdf).