Judge Orders Cheney To Preserve Records

Bush Administration's Legal Position "Heightens The Court's Concern" That Records May Not Be Kept, Says Judge

(AP)  A federal judge on Saturday ordered Dick Cheney to preserve a wide range of the records from his time as vice president.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly is a setback for the Bush administration in its effort to promote a narrow definition of materials that must be safeguarded under by the Presidential Records Act.

The Bush administration's legal position "heightens the court's concern" that some records may not be preserved, said the judge.

A private group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, is suing Cheney and the Executive Office of the President in an effort to ensure that no presidential records are destroyed or handled in a way that makes them unavailable to the public.

In a 22-page opinion, the judge revealed that in recent days, lawyers for the Bush administration balked at a proposed agreement between the two sides on how to proceed with the case.

Cheney and the other defendants in the case "were only willing to agree to a preservation order that tracked their narrowed interpretation" of the Presidential Records Act, wrote Kollar-Kotelly.

The administration, said the judge, wanted any court order on what records are at issue in the suit to cover only the office of the vice president, not Cheney or the other defendants in the lawsuit. The other defendants include the National Archives and the archivist of the United States.

In response to the ruling, Cheney spokesman James R. Hennigan said that "we will not have any comment on pending litigation."

The lawsuit stems from Cheney's position that his office is not part of the executive branch of government.

This summer, Cheney chief of staff David Addington told Congress the vice president belongs to neither the executive nor legislative branch of government, but rather is attached by the Constitution to Congress. The vice president presides over the Senate.

The lawsuit alleges that the Bush administration's actions over the past 7 1/2 years raise questions over whether the White House will turn over records created by Cheney and his staff to the National Archives in January.

In 2003, Cheney asserted that the office of the vice president is not an entity within the executive branch.

Two historians and three groups of historians and archivists joined CREW in filing the suit two weeks ago.

Gee, what could they possibly have to hide?

[skysoldier75]

Cheney is downright evil and he''s obviously a criminal that''s trying very hard to hide all his crimes behind a bogus legal loophole.

History will remember him as the criminal he is, rest assured, even if the courts and the Congress doesn''t have the balls to go after him.

[strangeworld]

Sarah Cheney, *** Palin, all the same kind of underhanded republican politics. The Sarah Palin Troopergate scandal cover-up in Alaska being run by the McCain camp is about the same kind of slimey politics that we''ve seen from the Bush administration for the last 7+ years. These republicans have shown nothing but arrogant contempt for the American people and surely don''t deserve the presidency at this time.

[tonic1111]

THANK YOU , CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS IN WASHINGTON, THANK YOU.

[jn122736]

The sad fact is that this administration has, at their discretion, defied ALL rulings by judges and/or congressional subpoenas, in the past 8 years, and will continue to do so because they have never been held responsible in the past and will not be held responsible in the future.

[fiteit1]

If he is not part of the executive branch then executive privilege secrecy shouldn''t apply and everything that he has done or said should be revealed.

His henchmen are already shredding papers, deleting email and scrubbing hard drives as we speak.

[hermitdave]

How dare that judge try and tell president Cheney what to do? He has a lot on his mind right now. What with no help from the Harvard business guy. Cheney has to make sure all the money continues to flow into the pockets of all his big business private contractor buddies.

[babooph]

He won''t be the first criminal to wildly try to hide his shameful behavior-he will get away with it-the propaganda system never even asks the candidates if the whole rotten bunch will go before the world court.

[formrusmcsgt]

Time after time, this administration has to be forced to reveal what they do as the public''s business.

The administration''s actions indicate an attitude that Bush and Cheney, rather than serving the public, are running their own private enterprise on our dime.

[Boonierat]

Cheney will no more comply with this court order anymore than he has the slew of others issued against him, I am in full support of impeaching Bush,Cheney,Rice,Rumsfeld and all of the cronies that disregarded the constitution and the will of the people, I want them to stand trial as the criminals they are all and answer for all the innocent people that are dead because of the actions they took.

[barbaraf4]

When Bush leaves office, Cheney will be number one on the Pardons List. The courts will never be able to touch him.

[jmurrieta11]

The hulking sociopath Dik Cheney will no more preserve records than Todd Palin will respond to a subpoena.

The Republican corporate financial elite doesn''t have to answer to the same law as you and me.

They are the law.

Don''t like it?

Vote Obama.

[toby2957]

If McSame is elected, Bush and Cheney will get off scot free. They will know the American people are not serious about holding them or Washington accountable for the tragedy of the last eight years.

[chimpyout]

Is Cheney in the executive or legislative branch, or neither.

He''s neither fish nor fowl. He''s a pig!

[bbinfla]

"The lawsuit stems from Cheney''s position that his office is not part of the executive branch of government. This summer, Cheney chief of staff David Addington told Congress the vice president belongs to neither the executive nor legislative branch of government, but rather is attached by the Constitution to Congress. The vice president presides over the Senate."

Perhaps if Cheney had taken one of Obama''s Constitutional Law classes he would have learned that there are only three branches of the US Government, and that congress is not one of them.

Maybe Cheney is trying to help make Palin look qualified, or maybe he doesn''t want history to realize what a sleaze he is.

Palin more of the McSame.

Obama the change we need!

[downsteamjim]

Cheney needs to send the material to the National Archives and then hire Sandy Berger to dispose of it in an environmentally safe way.

[wogerwabbit]

If we don''t put these neocon devils in the hangman''s noose, it will be a green light for their corruption to feed upon our living bodies and satiate their perverted needs for generations to come until we finally do wake up as a nation. Power and money are their gods despite the weak minded "Christian" base (zombie army) they''ve whipped into a foaming frenzy. If justice is not done here, we will never see justice ever again in this country. Either the "System" works, or it doesn''t... we live by the rule of law or we don''t. Either they''re tried for the war crimes they''ve all but admitted to, or we''ll go down in history as the generation that aided and abetted in extinguishing the shining light of integrity we''ve held aloft since our founding fathers dared to dream this wonderful country we''ve been entrusted with into existance. We''re about to experience the most sdangerous turning point in American history. Are you ready for it? America first... the American middle class first... corporations next... they aren''t people and shouldn''t have the same rights as you or me because they have no soul and no conscience to answer to... their profit is too often our loss. Throughout our history we''ve fought the corporations, grassroots concerns brought the rise of unions, trust busting, the new deal... people power. They own the media, control the message and want the internet tamed too. We''re so screwed if we don''t end this madness now.

[martel_v]

Can you beleive that the Managers of fannie mae and freddie Mac after being ousted from the Bailout just happened to become Obama''''s Economic advisors???? Is that really THE BEST he can do??? They Put the MARKET down the tubes and are picked up by Obama!!!! The DEMONCRAPS are friggin IDIOTS! - Posted by cwazywabt

No, we can''t believe that - because it''s a flat out lie with absolutely no basis in reality. Of course there''s always the likelihood that a small number of completely insane people will believe it, so you might as well keep trying, right?

BTW, I think it''s time to climb out of the rabbit hole to collect your weekly postingbot check from the Republican National Committee.

[toby2957]

At the end of Bill Clinton''s presidency we had the highest budget surplus in our nation''s history. Now, eight years of near total Republican rule and we have an economy in the toilet, and endless war, spiraling debt, home values evaporating, record fuel, food and heating costs, massive financial institutions failing and collapsing and then being paid for by corporate welfare through taxpayer funds, and the neocons STILL try to blame the democrats. These are the facts. It''s just so incredibly pathetic.

It is quite simply not possible to be patriotic American and vote for McSame. The ONLY reason anyone might want to vote for McSame is if they hate minorities and/or want to advance a radical religious agenda (Much like Iraq has done in their government).

Stop the hate. Be a patriot. Vote Obama/Biden 2008!

[randynason]

Is that a picture of a doctored image of Sarah Palin... without the lipstick?

[gwjackie]

I THINK THAT BUSH AND CHENEY SHOULD GO TO JAIL FOR TELLING THE LIES ABOUT THE WAR THAT SHOULD HAVE NEVER HAPPENED.

[oly_joe]

As a former Vice President of America, will Cheney be allowed the honor of selecting his own jail Cell number?

[femaledem]

PLEASE JUDGE DON''T LET THEM GET AWAY WITH ONE SHRED OF PAPER BEING DESTROYED..THAT BELONGS TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE..HE GETS AWAY SCOTT FREE...THEN HE''LL GO BACK TO HALIBURTON(?SP) TO BAD IF IT''S SPELLED WRONG..THAT''S THE LEAST OF MY WORRYS!!!!HOLD HIM ACCOUNTABLE!!!

[alphaa10-2009]

Talk about contempt of court, Cheney probably has done tacitly what Nancy Naive already suspects.
---

White House IT director to Cheney, "Mr. Cheney, do you want the files, uh, lost...?"

Cheney to IT director, "Never would I counsel or even suggest that. It''s against the law, or should be."

IT director, "But, you said.... "

Cheney, "Never mind what you think I said, I am telling you I do not counsel or suggest destruction of federal records. But... carry on with your program of "restructuring" our executive email traffic and other documentation.

"And be careful-- you never know what might happen by accident. Your job depends on it. Do I make myself clear?"

[bizzybirdy]

Bush and Cheney have NO respect for the law or the people of this country. They feel laws are for US not THEM and they never answer to anyone. How have we let them get away with this now and for all these years. Why haven''t they been impeached??? What is wrong with brainwashed voters that even a few consider McSame and crooked, inexperienced, religious zealot Palin??????? Is this country brain dead or just on so many prescription drugs that no one cares anymore? God help us all if the Republicans get back in power! :-((( Please don''t let this happen. Vote Obama/Biden!

[txlakeside]

crooked SOB''s ... this and the *** in Alaska with supeonas being ignored is exactly why the repubs are a sorry, greedy lot that hide like little girls .... with lipstick!

A pig is a pig is a pig and a crook is a crook is a crook .... now they all want to "burn" the evidence of their crimes.

Greedy, redneck, ignorant repubs! They have made a mokery of the laws ... now they want to bail out their friends in the SEC, the banks and big biz and hide their thievery behind BS!

TAX the heck out of the rich .... they deserve it! Trickle down is tinkle on on I am tired of getting wet AND PAYING FOR THE RICH TO CONTINUE BEING RICH!

gd sob''S .... VOTE THESE GREEDY RICH @SSHOLES THAT SAY "LESS OVERSITE IS A FREE MARKET" OUT IN NOV!

[dewbug2]

ordering a slimy politician not to destroy records that would possibly hang his or her sorry ***? oh, yeah, be real sure they will comply with that order.....what naive buttheads would believe that''s going to happen?these slimeballs are so corrupt, my friends, that i will make the statement that we don''t even know who shot LINCOLN, much less the KENNEDYS.
The difference between those two assasinatins is that we didn''t have a Warren Commision to cover up old Abe''s whack job.save records, indeed!

[txlakeside]

Sorry crooked BS REpub CONServatives!

They are all richer and we are all poorer!

Sorry @ssholes derserve to loose it all ... in taxes to pay for where they brought us!

I will slap the next repub @sshole that tells me less gov is good gov or we are a country of free markets .... lieing POS! Less gov is good gov is great as long as the rich make theirs .... but bailouts and social programs for the rich is the norm today!

The free markets are now bailed out, rescued and the american taxpayer, the little guys will pay for it. And the repubs will tell you that more tax cuts for the rich will repair the mess they got us in!

GD GREEDY ***!

[occams_taser]

Why isn''t *** Cheney in handcuffs already?

[walt1944-2009]

VP Darth Vader Cheney has maintained for the past 8 years that his office is an independant of the government and therefore not subject to the laws of the United States.

In normal times, such talk would have meant treason and sedition and would have earned Cheney a date with the gallows. However, because the Vader believes that the United States no longer exists and that the Great Emperor Bush II will quickly find a safe haven on some out of the way island where the Vader can rule the poor residents with an "iron fist" after the Emperor loses the "throne", Cheney needs only to shove several boxes of toilet paper at the National Archives, then get on the next plane for wherever!

The Great Emperor takes care of his loyal subjects VERY WELL!!!

SIG HEIL, THE GREAT ESCAPE, BUSH!!!
sig heil, I NEVER TRIED TO ESCAPE FROM THE HANOI HILTON!!!, McCain!!!!
sig heil, I SEE MIG JETS FROM MY BACK YARD!!!, Palin!!!!

[tapsettle]

Cheney will now be pondering whether it will be Executive Privilege or National Security that he can use to ignore the judge. Who said the neocons have such a hard time making decisions?

[closethippy1]

Sneakypoo Cheney is now obligated to follow the law for freaking once in his last eight years in office.
This guy came into the presidential scene without filling out the required paper work just because he didn''t feel like doing them, and refuses to hand over a whole bunch of documents he''s been asked for by congress.
Sneakypoo Cheney''s shenanigans will be investigated and punished accordingly.

[pirmin3]

I''m sure there will be another fire in his office complex.

[airboatboy1]

What difference would it make if the records don''t have anything to hide? Bush and Cheney are the worst thing that ever happened to America. They''ll do what they want and no one will do a *** thing about it.I can''t believe anyone would vote Republican after these eight years.

[blitzder]

When Reagan instituted ''TRICKLE DOWN ECONOMICS'' for the country, Bush/Cheney took it literally and for the past 8 years pissed on the American public.

[book54552134]

This court order is too little, too late.

One would have to expect that this criminal cabal in the White House has already destroyed both computer & paper files which they didn''t want outsiders to see.

If there is one thing this criminal bunch of bandits have proven, it''s that they''re extremely adept at covering up their criminal trail.

The courts are going to have to do better than this if they truly want justice to be served.

[r_bob1965]

Crooks

[r_bob1965]

I wonder if Cheney has video of Palin''s lap dance. I would love to see his snarl turned up side down...

[closethippy1]

Just picture that mug with a cigar in his mouth and him dress up in a Cowboy costume goin trick or treatin.
Posted by scallywag8 at 02:04 AM : Sep 21, 2008

Just picture him with a cigar in his mouth and dressed like a pinguin.
Holy smoke, Batman!

[n8yvn29]

Is it not obvious that this group of thugs (Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, etc) is trying to destroy potential evidence that could be used to prosecute them in later investigations for their crimes (lying us into a war, spying on Americans, torturing Americans and foreigners, outing a CIA agent, giving out no-bid war-contracts to cronies, illegally firing attorneys, etc) against the American public? What do they take us for?

[slim1h2o]

I sense another fire coming to the Whitehouse.....

[tapsettle]

Just picture him with a cigar in his mouth and dressed like a penguin.
-----
Posted by closethippy1

You can put a cigar in a penguins mouth but its still a penguin.

[woodjd42]

Nixon was an angel compared to this administration.

[tapsettle]

Nixon was an angel compared to this administration.
----
Posted by woodjd42

Saddam Hussein was a freekin angel compared to this administration.

[williewomper]

Sure, he''ll preserve them...right in Dubai where he keeps all the money. Remember, the day before the Pentagon was hit on 9/11, when over $2 billion was missing in the defense budget? Check into ''Ol Dubai D*ck and his partner..Satan!

[sinaann]

If the VP is not part of the executive branch, then why did Cheney have to go to those "secured locations"?

[tapsettle]

Cheney is laughing at america because he knows it does not have the will or stomach to hold him to account. Cheney will laugh all the way to each of his banks.

[sleepyric]

i am particularly interested in the secret Energy Commission meeting records...you know, the ones he ran to the Supreme Court to block access..hmmmm...only time will tell. Despise this man.

[jmurrieta11]

"The lawsuit stems from Cheney''s position that his office is not part of the executive branch of government.
This summer, Cheney chief of staff David Addington told Congress the vice president belongs to neither the executive nor legislative branch of government, but rather is attached by the Constitution to Congress."



So all along, children, you thought there were three branches of the American government: executive, legislative, and judicial.

Bzzt! Wrong! There are four: you forgot to count the *** branch of government. See picture at top of page.

And the Repugs dare to prattle about the U.S. Constitution!

Quick, somebody ask McClone and Bush Baby about this!

Then throw the bums out!

[cbsblogger]

Nixon was an angel compared to this administration.
----
Posted by woodjd42

Saddam Hussein was a freekin angel compared to this administration.

Posted by tapsettle at 06:49 AM : Sep 21, 2008

=============================
Yet many Americans will vote for a repeat. We deserve whatever we get. Talk radio is paid off to promote the neocon agenda and that the crux of the problem. They don''t need taken off the public airwaves but their shows need balanced with opinions from all sides. No more unlimited monologue diatribes from Rush without having another host that presents the other side.

Our airwaves are owned by all Americans (Democrats, Independents, Libertarians, Green, etc) and not only by Republicans.