Former White House lawyer: Cheney dares US to indict him
Published: May 19, 2009
Updated 6 months ago
Vice President Cheney is daring the Obama administration to indict him for authorizing torture, according to a former White House lawyer, and it’s time to call him out on his bluff.
“I have written many times in this space that I oppose any criminal prosecution of prior-administration officials on torture or other issues relating to the Iraq War and the war on terrorism, especially those CIA interrogators who relied in good faith on the instructions of policymakers and the legal opinions issued by Justice Department senior officials,” former Special Counsel to the President for Bill Clinton Lanny Davis writes in a column published by the Washington Times Monday. “I have agreed with President Obama on the need to look forward, not backward.”
Davis continues, “But … I have changed my mind about the need to indict former Vice President Dick Cheney for complicity in illegal torture.”
His insistence on putting himself on multiple TV programs and conservative radio talk shows, not only defending torture but offering the defense that it worked, has changed my mind. Not only that - he went on to attack Mr. Obama as weakening the United States in the war on terrorism because Mr. Obama immediately announced that torture would no longer be allowed.
Dem’s fighting words. They are also, in my view, reckless and irresponsible. They seem to be laying down a marker that in case, God forbid, there is a terrorist attack, Mr. Cheney can be the first to blame it on Mr. Obama’s policies and say, “I told you so.”
Even more, they seem to be an in-your-face dare by Mr. Cheney to the U.S. criminal justice system: “I am Dick Cheney, I approved violations of the law in the name of the war on terror, and what are you going to do about it?”
It reminds me of Gary Hart’s reaction in the early days of his 1988 presidential campaign to the rumors of his womanizing. Mr. Hart denied the charge - and then dared the media to catch him. Well, they took him up on his dare (specifically, the Miami Herald did). And they caught him - at least in a compromising situation that led to his withdrawal from the campaign.
So as to Mr. Cheney: I think it is time to take him up on his implicit dare and indict him for violating the 1994 federal law against torture.
The longtime Democrat, who holds the title of Treasurer for Independent Senator Joe Lieberman’s Reuniting Our Country PAC, then lays out how an indictment of Cheney might look.
Davis also served as a member of President George W. Bush’s Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, before resigning in May of 2007 due to his “respectful disagreement with administration officials and most members of the Board over (1) the scope of the Board’s oversight responsibilities; and (2) the interpretation of an ambiguous statute and the degree of independence of the Board intended by congress under that statute.”
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I believe that whole world (a handful of un-American, pro-torture Cheney apologists excepted) would jump for joy if that treasonous son-of-a-bitch was indicted.
He’s digging his own grave; if there is a shred of justice left in this world, he and several of his quisling enablers (i.e. David Addington and the coterie of civilian Pengaton traitors) will live the rest of their lives in ignomy and hopefully, in prison.
Why the surprise and change of heart? Cheney rationally assumed he was above the law because of the power he holds. The alternative is that administration officials are above the law and oversight when they are in power. Most Americans would not agree with that.
Therefore it’s reasonable for Cheney to assume he is above law because of his personal status. Just like he decided he was not part of the Executive branch, but his own separate independent branch of government. Now this lawyer seems to suggest one should not get away with stuff when out of office. Was Cheney a King when he was in office, but not now?
I agree completely. I think Cheney is so mad that he wants his day in Court, and all the publicity that will bring on.
It’s long over due for cheney to be indicted. He has committed treason to the highest degree. He let 911 happen so he could torture for false confessions to get his illegal wars in the middle east (PNAC) making his company Halliburton billions, bankrupting our country, and killing thousands of Americans and foriegn nationals.
He is a disgrace and the fact he is out free spewing his trash in the corporate right wing media is an insult to our country, the rule of law, and the health of the 21st century.
If it also means taking down complicate dems then so be it.
We need to clean up our act or we will be screwed for decades.
Well, DUH. Lannie Davis finally figured it out . . . now the question is when will Obama realize that in order to have any credibility whatsoever with respect for the Rule of Law, the Department of Justice must indict and prosecute those who ordered torture.
He’s daring them because he has ALL THE DIRT on the rest of them.
Politics is carried out by mostly bad people with lots of skeletons in their closets. Once the illegal spying ramped up, the Shrub and the Dick got LOTS of juicy stuff on lots of our “elected leaders”, and he’s content to put it all on the record if anyone “dares to say he’s a dirtball” (officially, of course).
This country is now back to the Feudal bullshit that caused it’s creation in the first place. Now it’s not simply “land” that makes one a god amongst men, or beyond their law, but money.. The rich in America live by different rules, they can drive drunk and never lose their license, they can kill people “on accident” and have it cleaned up, they can use all sorts of drugs with no legal consequence, they can flout just about _any_ law and not suffer one consequence.
The Dick is simply showing all of his “elitist cohorts” that he’s the biggest offender of them all, and that he’ll get away with it because they are all dirtballs with something(s) to hide.
FINALLY! Someone told the MSM what I’ve been saying for MONTHS.
Cheney’s not putting his mug out there to straighten the record, he’s been out there GOADING the Obama Administration to go after him. That’s how fucking arrogant and narcissistic Dickhead is.
I say, give Dickhead what he wants, call that motherfucker’s bluff … GO AFTER HIM.
re: “Vice President Cheney is daring the Obama administration to indict him for authorizing torture, according to a former White House lawyer, and it’s time to call him out on his bluff.”
Of course. Call the bluff. Prosecute.
The Bush/Cheney Torture Conspiracy Must be exposed.
“Those guys were tortured, not to get info, but in an attempt to get fake confessions that there was a link between Iraq and Al Quada.”
Bush and Cheney tortured to cover their lies and manipulate Congress and public opinion. Federal crimes. Heinous Federal Crimes
Torture is never debatable. It Is a Federal Crime. A Capital Crime.
Why is Obama protecting them. Is Obama Soft On Crime? Does Obama support a double standard of Justice?
SIGN THE PETITION Calling For A Special Prosecutor for Torturers
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I am not certain what changed this dude’s mind for sure, but it is and was a no brainer.
Read The Book of Bowser for heaven sake.
Cheney’s indictment is LONG overdue.
Just look at what happened when Cheney went hunting and got drunk and shot one of his hunters. He was given 24 hours before he had to make a police statement. That was OBVIOUSLY because he was drunk and needed to sober up.
That’s the kind of treatment he got. It’s about time he goes to jail like everybody else that would have done the same thing.
I guess it ultimately rests on who will get fucked the most by inditing Cheney. Democrats or republicans? Looks to me like the republicans have the most to lose.
Such wonderful thoughts about indicting Cheney. But it’s NEVER going to happen because Obama and Holder are scared shitless to do the right thing. Obama was inaugurated in January. It’s late May, for Christ’s sake, and no one’s made a move to drag this asshole into court and issue and indictment. The only way this is going to happen is if the issue keeps hitting the headlines, and Holder gets so embarrassed for NOT doing his job that he won’t be able to show his face in public. And even then, he’d likely stay in his limo going from home to work.
Obama are either hoping that the torture issue will somehow blow over, or they’re waiting until the body politic will demand that Obama and Holder ACT, whereupon Obama won’t have to expend political capital from Cheney’s indictment.
There’s a slight resemblance, in the current situation, to the big rock band hanging out behind the curtain waiting for the audience noise in the concert hall to build to a deafening crescendo before strolling out to the stage for an encore. But this isn’t the end of a performance. It’s the beginning. And Obama and Holder have yet to play a tune recognizable by the audience. They’ve hidden the play list even from themselves, it seems.
Torture Hell, what about treason, war crimes, crimes against humanity, war profiteering, genocide, the murder of a million plus Iraqis and Afghans? When did you grow a spine Lanny? The country has been aware of this stuff for years. You’re a little slow on the uptake. Justice delayed is justice denied. Ship Cheney, Bush and most of his administration to the Hague. Not to mention Cheney’s involvement in death squads.
A Cheney indictment, invited or not, would positively clear the political air. However this would leave the media with nothing to talk about except sports scores.
So Lanny ’s mind is changed because Cheney has been on TV? Why not demand a prosecutor because torture is illegal and the administration has sworn to uphold the laws of the United States? Why is this so hard for the Obama dministration? Indict and prosecute, because if you don’t, we will all pay.
I would like to know Karl Rove’s involvement. His name seems to escape scrutiny on this, but it would be a stretch to assume he had no input for or knowledge of the matter. Who arranged for all the legal advice? How did they select their (politically motivated) attorneys? Conspiracy to commit torture? That’s sure what it looks like.