Cheney opts fora da ordem dos segredos

Os senators democráticos chided ontem o vice-presidente Dick Cheney para declarar seu escritório isento das seções de uma ordem presidencial que envolve matérias da segurança nacional. Os republicanos, mais cautelosamente, disseram que a matéria merece a revisão.

Na edição está uma exigência que os escritórios de filial executiva fornecem dados em quanto material classificam e declassify. Essa informação deve ser fornecida ao escritório do Oversight da segurança da informação nos arquivos nacionais.

A casa branca contends que Cheney complying corretamente. They say the presidential order was not intended to treat the vice president’s office as an executive branch “agency,” and therefore Cheney’s office is exempt from the reporting requirement.

“The vice president is saying he’s above the law, and the fact of the matter is, legal scholars are going to say this is preposterous,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California called Cheney’s move “the height of arrogance.” She said it might not be a bad idea - as some other Democrats have suggested - that money for Cheney’s office be held up until he decides whether or not he’s in the executive branch.

“I find this just amazing,” she said.

Sen. Trent Lott, a Mississippi Republican, countered that conflicts between the White House and Congress over jurisdictional bounds are not unusual.

“Let the courts decide if there’s something wrong here,” he said.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was asked in January to resolve the legal dispute, but he has not yet ruled on the issue.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, led by Rep. Henry Waxman of California is investigating the matter.

“I don’t think that the vice president, with all due respect to everyone, is saying that the law doesn’t apply to him or that he’s above the law,” said Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, a Texas Republican. “I think there are some legal interpretations. We have to look at those.”

Wyden and Hutchison spoke on CNN’s “Late Edition.” Feinstein and Lott appeared on “Fox News Sunday.”

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2705533.ece

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