Secretive Veep Won't Give Up Documents

Cheney defies executive order to provide sensitive info
By Jonas Oransky,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 22, 2007 2:53 PM CDT
Secretive Veep Won't Give Up Documents
Vice President Dick Cheney, second from left, walks on the grounds of Beit al Bahar, a beach house of Jordan's King Abdullah, as he conducts an interview with Bret Baier of Fox News, second from right, after meeting with King Abdullah in Aqaba, Jordan, Monday May 14, 2007. The Red Sea is seen in the...   (Associated Press)

For the past 4 years, Dick Cheney's office has declined to file reports on classified information in its possession, flouting an executive order. When pressed, the VP's staff recently proposed abolishing the oversight office, reports the Washington Post. Says the chair of the House committee that released a chronology of the dispute yesterday: "He's saying he's above the law."

Cheney has battled lawmakers and the media over privacy, consistently refusing to divulge advisers' and visitors' names or release details of his travels. This dispute, which centers on his office's argument that his role as president of the Senate means he plays both executive and legislative roles, suggests he is willing to go up against another part of the administration. (More Dick Cheney stories.)

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