As Bush’s VP Vetter In 2000, Cheney ‘Sidestepped The Scrutiny He Imposed On Others’
As Bush’s VP Vetter In 2000, Cheney ‘Sidestepped The Scrutiny He Imposed On Others’
In July 2000, after serving as the head of then-Texas Governor George W. Bush’s vice presidential search committee, Dick Cheney was announced as the Republican vice presidential nominee. As the vice presidential vetter, Cheney required at least 11 potential candidates to fill out “an extraordinarily detailed, 83-question form” delving into their backgrounds.
Bush’s staff assured the press at the time that Cheney “subjected himself to the same kind of scrutiny” as the other contenders. But a new book by Washington Post reporter Barton Gellman reveals that Cheney “never filled out his own questionnaire.” Gellman explained what happened on Tuesday in an interview with NPR’s Terry Gross:
GELLMAN: Well, secrecy and discretion have always been very big for Dick Cheney and because he was not formally a candidate and in fact kept denying interest, kept denying that he was a candidate, he never filled out the vetting form. At the time, when Cheney’s selection was announced, the campaign’s spokespeople claimed he did put himself through the same process as everyone else and I’ve established that that’s simply not true. He didn’t fill out the questionnaire, which would have called for a giant box load of documents to be delivered.
Listen here:
In 2000, the Bush campaign claimed that it was “Bush himself who did the final, most sensitive background check” on Cheney while then-campaign manager Joe Allbaugh “oversaw the examination of Mr. Cheney’s voting record and public history.” But Cheney refused to turn over much of the pertinent information. Gellman writes in his book:
The story left untold was that no one had access to Cheney’s tax or corporate records, and no one but his own doctor read a word of his medical files. Cheney, who had employed a man named James Steen for many years as his personal archivist, did not submit even his public speeches, interviews, testimony, and voting record to Allbaugh, who ostensibly was combing them for red flags. [Angler, p. 23]
In an interview with Harper’s, Gellman describes Cheney’s selection process as “a kind of prologue to the play of the Bush-Cheney years.” “Cheney worked in strict secrecy and sidestepped the scrutiny he imposed on others,” said Gellman.
Speaking to Gross, Gellman noted that neither Bush nor Cheney interviewed any VP candidates “before Bush chose Cheney. And then they scheduled interviews afterward in order to conceal that.” Gellman told Harper’s that this foretold Bush and Cheney’s “willingness to use deception to manage the news.”
Visit Gellman’s site here.
Transcript:
GROSS: Bart Gellman, welcome back to Fresh Air. Let’s start with how Dick Cheney became Vice President. You write about how he was head of the selection committee, we knew that, but you also say, he selected himself before approaching other candidates and vetting them. So, in other words, he put the other people through this complicated vetting process, knowing that he’d already selected himself as vice president.GELLMAN: Well, they’re have been a lot of jokes over the years about Cheney selecting himself. I wouldn’t say exactly that. Bush selected him, but Cheney did maneuver the process and what’s especially interesting to me is that he collected this extraordinarily intrusive vetting material on many candidates and he told several of them, “we’ll be back to you later in the week or later in the month. We’ll talk.” And they didn’t. There were no interviews with Bush, there were no interviews with Cheney before Bush chose Cheney. And then they scheduled interviews afterward in order to conceal that.
GROSS: So, what did he do, what did Dick Cheney do with all of this very sensitive personal material that he collected from the people that he was vetting for vice president?
GELLMAN: Well, he did what he was supposed to do. It’s an intrusive process. You don’t want a vice presidential nominee who has hidden defects, secret surprises or even is blackmail-able. And so every campaign vets them carefully. There are accusations and a storyline in the book, in chapter one, that he misused the material as well.
GROSS: How?
GELLMAN: One of the candidates, and he was often referred to as on the short list — and in fact Dick Cheney told him he was on the short list — was the governor of Oklahoma, Frank Keating. Keating obviously didn’t get the nod, but when Bush won election and started to form a cabinet, he was considered the front runner to become attorney general. He was a former number 3 in Justice, he was a former FBI agent, assistant U.S. attorney and so on. But Cheney didn’t want him and there was a lot of pressure from conservatives at the Federalist Society and else where to choose Keating. Next thing that happened was that portions of Keating’s vetting file made their way to Newsweek and Keating, in a lengthy interview for the book, blames Cheney for that and explains why he thinks only Cheney could have done it.
GROSS: And at the same time, you say that Cheney didn’t put himself through nearly as rigorous a vetting process as he put everybody else and that some information was withhold like that Halliburton didn’t give up information about Cheney.
GELLMAN: Well, secrecy and discretion have always been very big for Dick Cheney and because he was not formally a candidate and in fact kept denying interest, kept denying that he was a candidate, he never filled out the vetting form. At the time, when Cheney’s selection was announced, the campaign’s spokespeople claimed he did put himself through the same process as everyone else and I’ve established that that’s simply not true. He didn’t fill out the questionnaire, which would have called for a giant box load of documents to be delivered. And when the campaign announced him and began to face the predictable political attacks, Dan Bartlett tells me that they were just caught flat-footed, they had no idea how to answer because they didn’t know Cheney’s detailed record. The other interesting thing about Cheney’s candidacy here is that everyone else had to answer very detailed medical questions and in fact to give a waiver to Cheney allowing him direct access to their medical records. But for the screening of Cheney’s heart condition the campaign relied on assurances from his own doctor and when they sought a second opinion and they announced that Cheney had been cleared for office by a famous heart surgeon in Houston. Well, I found out from the surgeon that he’s never actually met Cheney or reviewed his medical records. He like everybody else relied upon the assurances of Cheney’s own doctor.
Sort Comments By: Top Rated | Date
29 Responses to “As Bush’s VP Vetter In 2000, Cheney ‘Sidestepped The Scrutiny He Imposed On Others’”
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog Roll
So you're, like saying, an out of touch candidate chose a VP candidate, without vetting, who was mean and vindictive.
Lightning never strikes twice does it ?
September 18th, 2008 at 11:02 amAt least this Darth Vader doesn't wear lipstick.
September 18th, 2008 at 11:05 amHeh... Nuff said.
September 18th, 2008 at 11:06 amBush/Cheney are in the rearview mirror and less relevant by the day. Let history eviscerate them.
September 18th, 2008 at 11:06 amCluelessness paired with mendacity is a ticket for trouble, as evidenced by eight years of Bush/Cheney.
Now everyone is running against the hated pair. However, McCon-Pullin' looks incredibly like George-Dick.
September 18th, 2008 at 11:08 ami may be mistaken, but i recall that JON STEWART had the first interview with Gellman about his book "Angler"...
and this factoid was discussed at that time...
... A COMEDY SHOW.
September 18th, 2008 at 11:09 amWhy would anyone think that Cheney would disclose any information to vet himself as VP. He hasn't disclosed any information about anything else in the past eight years.
I think this disproves the theory that Rove is Bush's brain. It's Cheney!
Who is this guys brain? Certainly not Sarah Palin.
September 18th, 2008 at 11:09 amCheney gets to decide who selects the vp and picks himself
Palen wants to decide who will investigate her and picks 3 of her own appointees.
makes sense but not in a democratic society.
September 18th, 2008 at 11:11 amI often wondered how VP Face of Evil, Karl "POS" Rove, Rummy and so on could look at President Dinkledork and not just bust out laughing at what moron he is.
September 18th, 2008 at 11:13 amWaltB Says: #2
But he's still a pig.
September 18th, 2008 at 11:15 amIt would have been great to have known this 8 years ago...
Why do thse Republicans who come forward to atone only do so after their admissions have become fruitless?
September 18th, 2008 at 11:17 amScott Horton at Harpers interviewed Gellman; not only did Cheney refuse to be vetted, he used the information gleaned from the vetting of other candidates to smear them.
September 18th, 2008 at 11:20 amIf you think about it, Cheney being the original vetter was probably the plan all along to get him into the VP slot.
How else could he have passed scrutiny at all?
¶ AIO
September 18th, 2008 at 11:21 amHas anyone from McStain's team stepped up and admitted that he/she was responsible for vetting Palin?
Or are they going to conveniently put that yoke on Fiorina?
PEACE
September 18th, 2008 at 11:25 amConsidering that as of late, every sicophantic bootlicking follower of this Administration's policies is attempting to distance themselves not only from Bush/Cheney but the Republican brand as a whole, hoping to hold onto their seats on the Hill, NOW is the time for Pelosi to get off of her precious behind and get down to the furniture store and BUYY A GOD DAMNED TABLE! If these supposedly "reformed" goosesteppers want to try to show the nation that they are on our side regarding Bush/Cheney, then what better way for the Democtratic Congress to take advantage of the current sea change on the Hill? Let them vote against impeachment hearings and they are forever cemented to Bush's hip. The fresh allegations of Cheney lying to get us into Iraq, their current fiddling about in Pakistan and the WH's complicity in the failing economy are fresh grist for the mill. Let's use their weakness in this issue while it is still available! Some will say it's too late, well it's never too late for justice, damnit! At the very least, beginning the process would at least hamstring Georgie from pre-emptively pardoning every criminal in his Administration, and underscore any dissenter's alliance to the boy king during this election cycle.
"The probability that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just."
"You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today."
-Abraham Lincoln
September 18th, 2008 at 11:25 amGellman still believes Bush chose Cheney?!?
How quaint.
September 18th, 2008 at 11:26 am.
... SO?
.
September 18th, 2008 at 11:32 amClearly, our government is in a shambles.
The rule of law is a joke, there is no enforcement, no consequences, and absolutely no checks and balances.
Who will step up and bring this travesty to the forefront?
*crickets chirrrupping*
So much for our "representatives." Hell, why should I bother to pay taxes anymore or abide by the law? Why not lie on my applications and pretend I've met criteria...and when asked, I'll just say I'm emulating my 'leaders.'
Close enough for government work....
September 18th, 2008 at 11:34 amCheney has already established that he doesn't have to follow the same rules as everyone else under any circumstances. As soon as he took office, he decreed that all White House communications cross his desk, and that he had the power to see, examine, and access anything he wanted to, any time. And let's not forget that he actually tried to divorce himself from the Executive branch to avoid following rules.
His "vetting" of himself mostly consisted of his telling Bush, "hey -- I'm gonna be your running mate so I can keep my hand up your ass at all times."
September 18th, 2008 at 11:37 amA Message to the GOP, McCain surrogates, and any supporters.
I am sick and tired of being labeled elitist because I want to know the background of a VP pick, a person a heartbeat from being President.
The audacity of my petulant desire to know everything possible about a candidate, so I might make an informed choice. No, not so I can make an informed choice, but that every American gets that opportunity. Your damn straight I want to know every sordid detail. And I will make no apologies for my rudeness in getting it.
This country cannot remain free without transparency in the process to the highest offices in the land.
This country and it's electoral process isn't about you Mr. McCain or about your weasle campaign managers. This is the real fundamentals (and I'm not referring to government workers) of democracy.
The most un-American thing McCain can do is keep Palin (and himself it would seem) from the REAL press.
September 18th, 2008 at 11:45 amUh, TP?
Wouldn't it be more... accurate... to say "Cheney GOOSE-STEPPED right on over the scrutiny he imposed on others"?
Jes' askin'...
Personally, I'd like to see BiggusDickus frog-marched off to the Hague in shackles.
September 18th, 2008 at 11:48 amHey! C'mon guys, we just noticing this? Nobody paid attention back then?
September 18th, 2008 at 11:54 amIn 2000, the Bush campaign claimed that it was “Bush himself who did the final, most sensitive background check”
A silver-spoon-in-his-stupid-mouth from birth , legacy admission and graduate from Ivy League schools , an AWOL coward , lifelong failure in business , alcoholic and drug user is doing "background checks" looking for what ?
A similar type of sociopath ?
Congrats , he found his perfect mate.............
September 18th, 2008 at 11:54 amKeep in mind, IF McHoover/Palin win, then Busch/Darth win as well.
Everything will be swept under the rug and their legacy will be polished like a petrified dinosaur turd.
Even though every Rethug is running as far away from them as possible, they are good as gold if McCain wins.
¶ AIO
September 18th, 2008 at 11:57 amTraitors do far more than sidestep scrutiny. Treason, murder, and conspiracy to overthrow the U.S. rank a bit higher than sidestepping. Let's say Cheney's behavior is well into the totalitarian stratosphere, right along with Adolf.
No Pardons - No Cover-up. No Justice - No Peace.
http://www.light-to-dark.com/neocons_betray_plame_and_country.html
Obama-Biden '08
September 18th, 2008 at 12:31 pm27 McMetal - no, Bush looked into his eyes and saw his soul. ;-)
Seriously though, on the tail of Bush/Cheney we have another Veep who was self vetted, who is refusing to work with duly elected authorities in her own state, who is known for petty vindictiveness and a Prez who seems to be totally out of touch with reality, through daddy's connections got into a nice school and graduated almost at the bottom of their class......
The commonalities are so huge that it is scary.
September 18th, 2008 at 1:52 pmCheney under the 12th Ammendment wasn't eligible to be Vice President, as Bush and Cheney were legal residents of Texas! Cheney had been a legal resident of Texas for the 8 previous years. His Driver License, Homestead Exemption, Voters Registration ... were all located in Houston,Texas!
September 18th, 2008 at 2:15 pmSo what did Cheney do? He flew back to Wyoming (in the middle of the night) and established himself a resident of Wyoming, even though he hadn't lived there for many years!
All Wyoming requires is you to be a resident for 30 days before the election!
He and Bush were lying and breaking the law right from the git-go!
“Bush himself who did the final, most sensitive background check”
Yeah, he bent over to see if cheney would at least use lube when he wanted his way.
September 18th, 2008 at 6:36 pmever notice,
October 13th, 2008 at 2:28 amcheney sort of disappears, when there is a crisis going on, and bush gets thrown out of the whitehouse?
while the cat's away, the mice will play..
there is a fire raging in california,
and cheney is out of sight?