Cheney’s Request For Torture Intel Denied — But He Can Appeal
Dick Cheney’s request for classified torture intel — DENIED.
I’ve confirmed The Weekly Standard’s report today that the Obama administration has turned down Dick Cheney’s request for the declassifying of two intel documents that he said would prove torture worked.
The Standard quoted from a letter from the CIA to the National Archives, which was processing Cheney’s request, saying that the docs in question were at the center of a Freedom of Information battle, and thus wouldn’t be released.
I’ve got a copy of the letter, and you can read it right here.
This definitely slows Cheney’s push for the docs. But is this all over? Nope. We may still see them. That’s because the letter says he has the option to appeal. And there’s always the possibility that the FOIA fight could be resolved.
It will be interesting to see if Cheney makes another push for the documents. Recall that Senator Russ Feingold said yesterday that he had seen the docs and that there was nothing in them that proves Cheney’s point.
If they’re never released, of course, Cheney can keep saying they prove what he says they do, and no one will ever know the difference.
Update: Sure enough, Cheney will appeal the decision.
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Greg – I think your take on all of this is just flat out wrong. Conservative defenders of EITs are just loving this. At this point we are looking at a Truth Commission that is going to be resisted by Obama (making him look hypocritical with his promises of transparency), that is going to detract from his agenda, that is going to emphasize what the Dems new about ‘torture’ and whether they were complicit in it, that is going to reveal that the methods ‘employed by Cheney’ yielded valuable information that may have saved lives.
Greg
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Don’t forget to point out that the reason for the denial comes from an executive order signed into law by Bush.
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Being as how its highly probably that Cheney knew about that Executive Order I would be very interested to know when the FOIA requests were put in for those documents and if Cheney knew going in that they couldn’t possibly be declassified. Seems at least possible.
They’re loving what, SBJ — that the request was denied?
Also notice that Stephen Hayes doesn’t point out in his article in the Weakly LowStandard who signed the “technicality” as he calls it into law by Executive Order. I wonder what that is…..Maybe because he couldn’t decieve his readers then into thinking President Obama just arbitrarily blocked the declassification.
The denial, of course, supports the conservative narrative. “The docs prove Cheney was right, the denial shows that Obama is a hypocrite who cares not about transparency, and it reveals that Obama is selectively releasing information to politicize national security.” (Let’s not forget that in your alternate reality Cheney knew the docs didn’t reveal what he says they do and he also knew they would never be released – so all is now going per Cheney’s [and conservatives'] plan!)
if they are part of litigation on FOIA then they might be released if the court orders it anyway. I am with SGW on this. If Cheney is so interested he should file an amicus brief on that litigation. Why hasn’t he done that?
sbj
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Then shouldn’t you be gloating and cheering us on? Surely you don’t want the dirty hippies to actually win do you?
Personally, I love the fact that the sole reason Cheney doesn’t get his document is a Bush E.O. It’s a small, small measure of poetic justice, where Cheney is owed a vat of it.
SBJ, your argument is absurd. We should just pretend all is well, and that crimes weren’t committed, so that Obama can get on with his agenda? Are you serious? The conservatives expect that the Democrats won’t push back. The Democrats have always caved when pressured by the right on national security issues. The Democrats, God help them, are spineless. I am a Democrat. It is painful to watch and infuriating.
The best way to win this fight is to disclose everything, and I mean everything, all of it, even the stuff that doesn’t look good for Democrats. The best way to shut conservatives up is to put everything out there once and for all. Not to give in to the right’s pressure. In other words, grow a spine.
Who wants to bet that the MSM, by and large, will just skip over that detail about the Bush executive order being the reason for Cheney’s request being denied?
By the way, here’s a link to Greenwald, in which he posts some key paragraphs from the decision by Judge Hellerstein on releasing the photos. Very worthwhile.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/05/14/afghanistan/index1.html
sg – I thought I WAS gloating? The bit about hippies makes no sense; are you a dirty hippy? I’m gloating because the ‘torture’ debate is not working to the Dems’ advantage. However, I don’t think that any good will come of a truth commission. Personally, I’m not particularly interested in scoring points against Pelosi, Rockefeller, etc. but that’s the only thing you’re gonna end up with. No convictions, not even any impeachments, lots of lack of transparency, hypocracy, and resistance from the administration. The Repubs will end up looking principaled, if wrong, and no worse than they already do. It’ll only hurt Obama and the Dems and will do nothing to help in our current efforts in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, North Korea . . . While I don’t agree with even the premise that laws were broken, the rule of law does not mean that every infraction must be prosecuted.
and that crimes weren’t committed, so that Obama can get on with his agenda?
Exactly what “crimes” were those?
How silly to say that Obama cant release the memos because a Bush Era EO prohibits it. That is so laughable that dems should be embarrassed to post such things. Obama can change an EO with the stroke of a pen. He has been scraping Bush EOs in ever branch of the government. Now when it is politically advantageous he says “nope” cant do it cuz George said so. What ever happened to the great transperant government. Maybe we can ask Pelosi what is in those memos…she certainly has read them too.
Man, why did I fall for this hope and change montra… Its still the same partisan bickering that’s been going on for the past 8 years. It looks Washington is changing Obama instead of the other way around.
If these documents did NOT support what Cheney claims about them, Obamessiah would have released them in a New York minute. As for Joe S’ remark that “Washington is changing Obama instead of the other way around.” No, Joe. Obama learned his thuggish and lying ways in Chicago, if not sooner. What he has yet to figure out is this: it is one thing for a Chicago gangster to lie in public or for a Chicago mayor to do something purely for political gain — like releasing only part of some documents — it is quite another for the president of the USA to do so. In the latter case several hundred million people are watching, not just some jaded and bought-off aldermen and their cronies.
Obama has gleefully reversed other Bush policies and Executive Orders so the only logicial reason he does not want to declassify the documents is that it will show his fellow Democrats are lying through their teeth.
Noreen, You may be right about Obama, but I believed and supported him during the campaign. I really believed in the hope and change that he was going to bring to Washington. Now I’m regretting my vote.
He does remind me of a thug, especially after he clearly went against the law and gave the Auto companies to the UAW…
Joe S
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Then its simple, don’t vote for him next time. But the public hand wringing is pretty annoying.