Rawstory is claiming an exclusive on a story involving a letter sent by Vice President Cheney's Chief of Staff, David Addington, to Senator John Kerry. Rawstory's link to the letter was broken at the time of this posting, but apparently Addington refined the Vice President's claim that he is not obligated to protect the nation's secrets in accordance with the President's Executive Order because the Vice President is not an "agency." Addington's letter is reported to contain the following:
"The executive order on classified national security information -- Executive Order 12958 as amended in 2003 -- makes clear that the Vice President is treated like the President and distinguishes the two of them from 'agencies.'Unfortunately for Addington and the Vice President, Senator Kerry points out that, in addition to agencies, the executive order applies to "any other entity within the executive branch that comes into the possession of classified information." The Vice President would seem to be an entity. Wouldn't he?
"The executive order gives the [Information Security Oversight Office], under the supervision of the Archivist of the United States, responsibility to oversee certain activities of 'agencies,' but not of the Vice President or the President.""
I can't wait to read the letter.
It would appear that Addington's legal argument might be a little addled.
I am still asking my basic questions about this mess. What secret documents has the Vice President or his office lost? When did he lose them? Why the cover-up? Is the Vice President a traitor or just an incompetent old fool?
