The White House is siding with Dick Cheney on whether he can ignore legal requirements in an Executive Order meant to make officials accountable for their handling of classified information.
In 2001-02, Cheney filed reports required by the National Archives and Records Administration, but he stopped complying in 2003 (the same year Administration officials blew ex-CIA agent Valerie Plame's cover, who is suing Cheney and other officials over it).
Cheney's arguement: he "does not have to comply because the vice president serves as president of the Senate, which means that his office is not an 'entity within the executive branch'" (Washington Post)....
Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill) noted that if Cheney isn't part of the executive branch, he shouldn't get executive-branch funds (Wapo). Ethics watchdog group CREW suggested that Senate rules might apply to Cheney.
With a straight face, a White House spokesperson asserted:
"This is a little bit of a non-issue, because the president gets to decide whether or not he [Cheney] should be treated separately, and he's decided that he should" (WaPo).
Now, President Bush says the Executive Order never meant to cover his office either (Los Angeles Times). Translation: neither Bush nor Cheney are accountable for their handling of classified information.
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