Mukasey Contradicts Cheney And Addington: Vice President Is ‘Obviously’ In Executive Branch
Mukasey Contradicts Cheney And Addington: Vice President Is ‘Obviously’ In Executive Branch
Last year, House investigators revealed that Vice President Cheney exempted his office from an executive order designed to safeguard classified national security information by claiming that the Office of the Vice President is not an “entity within the executive branch.”
Cheney’s chief of staff David Addington reaffirmed before Congress last month that the Vice President’s office is “attached” to the legislature:
[P]erhaps the best that can be said is that the vice president belongs neither to the executive nor to the legislative branch, but is attached by the constitution to the latter.
Testifying before the House Judiciary Committee yesterday, Attorney General Michael Mukasey had an entirely different take than Addington and Cheney on the matter:
It’s my own belief that the Vice President is a member of the executive branch. … The Vice President is obviously one of the closest advisers to the president, and he is a close adviser to the president within the executive branch. That in my view is where he sits.
Watch it:
The idea of ambiguously tying Cheney to the legislative branch seems to be grounded in political convenience rather than fact. Cheney himself has said (on camera) that “the vice president’s become an important part of the administration of the executive branch.” Some other examples:
– In 2001, the White House argued that a probe into Cheney’s energy task force “would unconstitutionally interfere with the functioning of the executive branch.” [Link]
– Cheney said that a probe concerned “meetings in the Executive Branch between the Vice President and other individuals.” [Link]
– On April 9, 2003, Cheney lauded a recent court ruling, stating, “I think it restored some of the legitimate authority of the executive branch, the president and the vice president, to be able to conduct their business.” [Link]
Rather than the Vice President title, Cheney apparently prefers to be tagged with the label “unique creature.”
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It’s my own belief that the Vice President is a member of the executive branch.
Nice parsing of the phrase from our Attorney General. Isn’t he supposed to be The Authority on these matters?
July 24th, 2008 at 10:14 amPssst, Mukasey, you might want to tell that to 5-deferment Dickhead Cheney, then he’ll shoot you in the face.
July 24th, 2008 at 10:21 amIsn’t the Attorney General supposed to be speaking for the Constitution?
Ohhhhh, that’s right. If Mukasey suddenly decides to start speaking for the Constitution, there’s a whole lot of stuff that he’ll have to look at, and his boss might not like that.
July 24th, 2008 at 10:22 amI don’t care what branch he is in so long as the branch is in one of the cell blocks at Leavenworth.
July 24th, 2008 at 10:22 amThe lies have become so common as to be boring now.
White House Lies Again, World Yawns
July 24th, 2008 at 10:22 amWaitaminnit — Mukasey said something without first clearing it through Darth? Impossible. Since Cheney waffles back and forth between being part of the legislative branch, the executive branch, and being a “unique creature”, I can only surmise that it’s to Cheney’s advantage to be part of the executive branch this week for some reason.
July 24th, 2008 at 10:22 amObvious follow up question: So, what investigations will your department be launching about the activities undertaken by the vice-president’s office that they claimed were not subject to regulations concerning the executuive branch? He’s got a different take on it, so what is he going to do based on his take?
Yeah, right!
July 24th, 2008 at 10:23 amHow about the REAL reason Mukasey is in front of Congress today?
From an email by the ACLU (sent to me by my favorite Witch1):
1. Gut habeas corpus — the freedom that protects people from being thrown in prison illegally — with no help, no end in sight and no due process.
2. Cover up the Bush administration’s systemic torture and abuse of detainees. Judges would not be allowed to see evidence of torture and abuse and would instead simply have to trust that a president is holding the right people as ”enemy combatants.”
War without end — on the citizens of the US.
July 24th, 2008 at 10:30 amI agree missmolly - because he’s only part of the executive branch when it suits him.
‘It’s my own belief’ that Mukasey is not qualified for his job.
July 24th, 2008 at 10:33 amOops, forgot this part:
Mukasey is demanding that Congress issue a new declaration of war that would make the entire globe — including the United States itself — a “battlefield” where the president decides who will be locked up forever.
Instead of ending the Bush system of injustice, he wants Congress to make it permanent.
Scary stuff, especially with this Congress.
July 24th, 2008 at 10:34 amThis is one of the stupidest things that the administration has come up with. The vice president is there because if something happens to the president we need a chief executive, hence, we have a vice president.
Cheney is full of crap.
July 24th, 2008 at 10:37 ampickens windmill tycoon (full coverage)
July 24th, 2008 at 10:37 amIt’s my own belief that the Vice President is a member of the executive branch. … The Vice President is obviously one of the closest advisers to the president, and he is a close adviser to the president within the executive branch. That in my view is where he sits.
Mukasey actually got one right? Well, even a stopped watch is right twice a day.
http://progressiveworldreview.com
July 24th, 2008 at 10:43 amUnique creatures customarily are kept in a Zoo.
The real question is, which part of the Zoo?
-With the Elephants?
-The Monkeys?
-The Hyenas?
-The Jackasses?
-Sloths?
It’s obvious we have an important decision to make here.
July 24th, 2008 at 10:46 amAdditional suggestions are welcomed…
14. Zimzone
July 24th, 2008 at 10:53 amI vote monkeys cuz he likes to play with himself in public and fling his turds at people passing by.
Come on people. Cheney belongs to whatever branch he wants to belong to when he wants to belong to it. Sheesh, where have you guys been?
July 24th, 2008 at 11:26 amI started this early this am (inspired by a post on TPMmuckraker and then got distracted by a comment by Cry-Havoc on the Kagan thread to which I HAD to respond “with extreme prejudice”, so the following is incomplete but as the “Kawfee-Ttawk” lady says when she gets “verklempt”—:Discuss amongst yaw-selves” (I numbered parts for specific attention but now I can’t be bothered, I’m so behind at the moment) So have at it if you will, or not, I don’t mind.
Dan Lungren (R-CA) is worried that if Gitmo prisoners were tried in non-giant-bouncy-marsupial courts, they might well be acquitted and released into the US urban-wild like so many formerly confused wayward dolphins–only with opposable thumbs, a genetic disposition for bomb-making and evil intent in their hearts. He put this clearly non-hypothetical question to Attorney General Mukasey whose conscience conveniently permitted him to answer thusly:
MUKASEY: “The Court has left that matter open, and the fact- it has said that at the end of the day it must be open to a decision maker to direct release. Now, um, the fact is that all of these people, every single one of them are aliens captured abroad [1], in essentially battle conditions [2] um, who had absolutely no right to be here [3], and there’s no good reason to have a court bring somebody here for purposes of release [4] and release them to our communities [5] - people who could pose a significant danger [6[. Um, we want that particular possibility [7] cut off. Um, we don’t want to face it, we shouldn’t have to face it. “
This is so nonsensical it beggars belief. SO there it is, just for the record.
July 24th, 2008 at 11:27 amI am sure he will retract that statement after he is contacted by the WH.
July 24th, 2008 at 11:42 am