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What to Expect
The bottom line for Cheney is this: Too much has gone wrong, and Cheney cannot afford to take any chances that there will not be more cracks in the wall protecting Bush-era secrets.
The good news, as far as Cheney is concerned, can be seen in the clear signs that neither Obama nor Holder have any stomach for holding Cheney to account - and still less for holding Bush accountable.
Perhaps there is something in the water here in Washington, but folks in power seem far more interested in circumventing the law than enforcing it - political expediency wins out over solemn oaths to protect and defend the Constitution.
At times this avoidance of accountability assumes ludicrous proportions, with the Obama administration going the extra mile and more to cover up its predecessors' misconduct. For instance, releasing the suppressed testimony of Dick Cheney before U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald in 2004 concerning the leaking of the name of CIA operations officer Valerie Plame (in order to discredit her husband, former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson, who had accused the White House of "twisting" Iraq War intelligence) would certainly throw light on this sorry episode.
In the closing arguments of the trial at which Libby was found guilty of perjury and obstruction of justice, Fitzgerald declared: "There is a cloud over the Vice President"and that cloud remains because this defendant obstructed justice."
Bush's Justice Department refused to release Cheney's testimony, even though, as Fitzgerald said, "there were no agreements, conditions and understandings" about keeping the transcript secret.
Then, instead of living up to President Obama's promise of openness, the new administration continued to oppose releasing Cheney's testimony. In addition to the many reasons adduced by the former administration for keeping the testimony secret, Obama/Holder's lawyers added a new one, dubbed by Dan Froomkin the "Daily Show Disclosure Exclusion."
A Justice Department lawyer actually argued in federal court that there should be an exemption from the Freedom of Information Act disclosure rules for documents that might subject senior administration officials to embarrassment - as on Jon Stewart's "Daily Show" on Comedy Central. Justice civil division lawyer Jeffrey M. Smith contended that, if Cheney's remarks were published, then a future Vice President might refuse to provide candid information during a criminal probe out of concern "that it's going to get on the "Daily Show.'"
If I were Cheney, that feckless kind of lawyering would be music to my ears. I would read it as a sign of cowardice on the part of Obama and Holder.
Obama and Holder sometimes appear so eager to prove themselves to the Washington Establishment that they protect Bush-Cheney secrets even when a disclosure would serve an important national security goal.
After all, a powerful argument for releasing the Cheney transcript would be that it might discourage future senior government officials from leaking the identity of undercover CIA officers for craven political reasons. Also, it might give a politician pause before aiding and abetting a criminal cover-up.
It seems certain that prosecutor Fitzgerald asked Cheney to explain his handwritten note demanding that then-White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan falsely exonerate Libby in the Plame leak, like McClellan had already done for Bush's political adviser Karl Rove.
Cheney wrote:
"not going to protect one staffer and sacrifice the guy that was asked to stick his head in the meat grinder because of incompetence of others - "
However, instead of the words "that was," Cheney had initially written, "this Pres" before striking through "this Pres.," which was still legible.
