Reid: Cheney Obstructing Investigation

[Rose Siding]

From Laura Rosen at War and Piece...

Reid on Fire

The New Republic has more on what I reported last month: that Cheney has intervened with chairman Pat Roberts to obstruct the Senate Select Intelligence committee's investigation of the Bush administration's use of Iraq intelligence. TNR write:

...--More dramatically, Reid also made it clear that he believes the delay in the Senate Intelligence Committee's investigation of prewar Iraq WMD--the underlying issue behind Tuesday's closed session--is entirely attributable to Vice President Dick Cheney. "Nothing happens regarding intelligence gathering ... unless it's signed off on by the Vice President," he said. " Roberts couldn't do it"--i.e., Roberts couldn't conduct a full investigation without Cheney's approval. When I asked Reid whether he meant to state so flatly that Cheney was personally and directly stalling the Intelligence Committee's work, he didn't pause a beat. In fact he almost stood from his chair. "Yes. I say that without any qualification ... Circle it." ...

I don't understand why we haven't heard Pat Roberts complaining more vociferously about the obstruction he's experienced from the Veep. Why would the Senator stand for the administration bucking oversight and Congressional reporting requirements on Iraq intelligence, torture, black site prisons, etc.? (Via Tapped's Ezra Klein).

http://www.warandpiece.com/blogdirs/002979.html

[jaysunb]

1. Cheney needs to resign !

and prepare for his day in court.
Bush has thrown him overboard ( or under the bus, if you like ) that's why the media and others feel free to pile on.
In mafia speak....he's been "greenlighted."

[maryallen]

12. Cheney needs to be indicted for "high crimes ..."

[jaysunb]

27. of course you're right ....

n/t

[ClassWarrior]

34. Of course, but if he had any dignity, he'd resign before that point.

NGU.

[burythehatchet]

45. Cheney needs to hang in the public square

[Turn CO Blue]

48. Too easy.

I'm not trying to sound lofty or magnanimous, I just don't wish a violent death on even one as wicked as Cheney; rather one due to loneliness, disease or natural causes. A quick death is too easy.

I imagine that his ol' ticker will give out sooner than we'd imagine, but even that is too easy.

I watched my beautiful and passionate mother in extreme pain the last year of her life on ibuprofen, pot and oxycontin, barely able to draw breath -- then finally, on morphine, and the last week, dilautid.

If there is any justice in this universe, Cheney will die in that kind of pain wracked for a simple breath and filled with an ocean of regret, knowing his legacy is vile and loathsome, and feeling wretchedly alone except for the sure and swift judgment of his God.

[ClintonTyree]

58. How about setting his pacemaker on "warp drive".....

and watching him twitch around on the floor for 5 minutes or so? I'll make the popcorn. :shrug:

[goclark]

2. kick

[mike_c]

3. kicking and recommending....

Cheney needs to be squarely in the cross-hairs.

[lyonn]

4. The repubs have had the wagons circled for years

Kinda hard to break through and get a few. It is amazing that there is No New Blood in this whole admin. Purely PNAC!!

[savemefromdumbya]

5. This is VERY important

[progressoid]

6. Gaaaah, this pisses me off. Where is the MSM on this?

[Rose Siding]

7. More from Harry in the TNR link-

11.03.05
HARRY REID UNPLUGGED:
........
--Reid seemed genuinely angry at Bill Frist's bitter denunciation of his move to bring the Senate into closed session as a breach of Senate etiquette. "What right do the Senate Republicans have to talk about the rules?" he asked. Reid noted (as The Plank did on Tuesday) that such complaints ring hollow, coming as they do from Republicans who have been plotting to rewrite Senate debate rules via the "nuclear option."
.........
--Finally, Reid had a newsy tidbit about John McCain's recently-passed amendment to ban cruel and inhumane interrogation of detainees. He said McCain had just told him on the Senate floor that Republican leaders are planning to kill off the amendment--which McCain attached to the annual Pentagon budget bill last month by a 90-9 vote--when it reaches a House-Senate conference committee (a sleazy but now-standard tactic of Republican congressional leaders).

Overall, Reid was a man in a defiant, fighting mood. Tom Daschle was an honorable Democratic leader. But he never seemed half as primed for partisan combat as Reid did today.

http://www.tnr.com/blog/theplank?pid=3261

[jsamuel]

8. bamb!!!

[Skidmore]

9. Get the feeling that the only thing between Cheney and prison is

his title and the privilege he claims while he has it? I pray he get his "due."

[0007]

31. Just a matter to time and also the fact that if Cheney can live that long.

[texpatriot2004]

10. Why would Roberts allow Cheney to obstruct this inquiry? Hmm.

I wonder what would keep the Senator from preforming his oversight duties?

:sarcasm:

[Rose Siding]

14. Roberts has already exonerated the cabal, saying...

"We see no evidence, or at least I can speak in regards to my staff, that there was any significant impact of the National Intelligence Estimate of 2002 by the Office of Special Plans, so that is, uh, basically on the back burner."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=5243654&mesg_id=5243654

[ClintonTyree]

59. It's pretty easy to "see no evidence"....

when he and his staff don't even look into it. Roberts is a lying, festering pus-bag along with the rest of them.
All the sudden he's "honest Pat", telling people that it's Cheney who's been obstructing the investigation. It takes two to tango, Cheney may be obstructing it but Roberts hasn't made a peep in protest so he's as guilty as Cheney in my book. None of them want the truth to come out, they just want to hang on to power, their "precious". They're all criminals, up and down the board. Every Repiglicken is rotten to the core.

[Tennessee Gal]

11. kick

[donkeyotay]

13. Hot, hot, hot

snip>
But committee staff sources say that before the cooperation ceased, the committee had received from Feith’s office internal memos suggesting that the office may indeed have been conducting unlawful activities. In particular, Democratic staffers are interested in a secret December 2001 meeting of two Feith deputies, Larry Franklin and Harold Rhode, with Ghorbanifar in Rome. The meeting also included members of a foreign intelligence service (Italy’s SISMI). The catch is that it wasn’t reported in advance to the intelligence committee or the CIA, in possible violation of Section 502 of the National Security Act, which says that anyone conducting intelligence activities must inform the committee and the agency.
end>

http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewWeb&articleId=10446

[Stand and Fight]

16. The Niger documents...

You should start a thread on this connection alone.

[BR_Parkway]

18. That would be Larry Franklin, convicted spy now.

[damntexdem]

15. Two-word explanation:

Kansas Republican.

Enough said.

[Spiffarino]

17. Reid opens up a can!

[Tiggeroshii]

19. Lovitt!

Hah! Very good...

[Spiffarino]

30. Can't take all the credit

In fact, I can't take most of it. A friend of mine did everything but the can o' Whoopass.

BTW...he's a REPUBLICAN. :D:thumbsup:

[FreedomAngel82]

43. Wow

:) Nice.

[LittleClarkie]

24. I thought that was a can of Libby he was opening.

Beware the Stormin' Mormon.

[FreedomAngel82]

42. Awesome

I just noticed Schumer's eyes in that picture. He's looking at the press angrly. Sometimes he really confuses me. One minute he's a pitbull democrat and the next an apologist. :crazy: Durbin is always great.

[Arkana]

20. Reid has put down the pistol and picked up a rocket launcher.

I don't have enough good things to say about this man.

[rateyes]

21. Give 'em hell, Harry! Kick him when he's down....

19% approval rating for Cheney...let's get it to ZERO by continuing to attack by speaking the truth...Harry has found his voice. Let's make sure he doesn't lose it!!!

[beltanefauve]

65. At 19%

even the "base" is eroding!

[H2O Man]

22. On Fox this

afternoon (4:02 est), two guest republicans said they think if the democrats take the House in 2006, there will be an impeachment.

[AntiFascist]

23. Wow, this is great news from Fox no less....

but don't let the wrong people be alerted so that the 2006 elections can be corrupted!

[H2O Man]

25. Ha-ha!

They seemed nervous. They know Cheney is in serious trouble.

[FreedomAngel82]

44. Of course there will be

It feels good to hear it talked about though.

[Lasher]

51. This has been my hope since the 2004 fiasco

Well, to be more precise, I've been hoping we could retake the Senate, and maybe even the House, then subject the Bush cartel to their first real oversight. Last year I had no idea things would fall apart for the repugs so much and so quickly as they have, so I figured at that time that retaking the House was just an unrealistic dream on my part.

I think we'll still need to retake the Senate if Phase 2 is to be anything but a whitewash. As has been confirmed, Roberts is on a short leash and has been enthusiastically covering for the White House at every turn. Maybe it will be different now that Senate Democrats have grown backbones, I don't know.

Whatever form Phase 2 takes, I hope it isn't used to sabotage Fitz's criminal prosecution. Remember when Oliver North's criminal conviction was vacated because Congress had granted him immunity in return for his testimony before them? Roberts would love to hand Scooter a pass just like that.

[ClintonTyree]

60. Don't look now Foxy......

but we're going after the Senate as well. That may be a little more difficult but we're primed and ready to go. With the way the bush administration and a few key Senators have been behaving it isn't out of the realm of reason. ;) We're comin' to getcha'!

[maleficentia]

63. Seems to me

That would be a good way to ensure voter turnout by the * loyalists, warn of a pending impeachment if you don't get out to the polls..

[Overseas]

26. Kick to impeach ! nt

[shanti]

28. INDICT HIM!!!!

n/t

[DearAbby]

29. Go Harry....Behind you all the way!

[Blaze Diem]

32. And The Answer to the Impeachment of Bush & Cheney, AND..

..and the yanking away of Bush's ability to pardon these criminals, rests in OUR diligence to restoring verifiable voting mechanisms.

The hijacking of our voting system is what got us GWBUSH. That is all that stands between impeachment and the continuing demise of our democracy.
Bush needs to be stopped, the Senate and House needs to be ours in a majority.
With poll numbers such as George and Dick's, at the moment, the fine line of our future lies in a continued push for restoration of a legal and verifiable election process.

We MUST start at local level in each State, county & precinct, START NOW. Join, speak out. Demand the riddance of Diebold like systems, and the God Grateful riddance of Bush, Cheney and the Corporate hijacking of OUR AMERICA.

We at DU have enormous power at our disposal..PLEASE make use of it. We have to begin now so its in place by this time next year..
Yea folks..only ONE year to go..You can be certain that the Repub Neocons have already begun to secure their thieving process.
It is their insurance, and will stop at nothing to keep their criminal mission to dismantle American Democracy "for profit".

We can piss and moan and hand it over to them AGAIN in 2006, or we can START NOW to find every way possible to force a shift in majority power in OUR House & Senate.
Some of these races will be very close, and ALL of them will be nasty..Pay Attention Duers...
This is what its all about from here on..

There are procedures already in place for a thorough White House cleaning..but cannot be moved forward without a change in majority power.
What are the groups and websites that will assist us in this fight??
Contact Freaking Howard Dean and find out..
I'll begin posting a list this week..
Anyone realizing this battle as the bright light that it is please join me.

see this post for further pleading...thanks all DUers.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=103&topic_id=170118&mesg_id=170118


Thanks Blaze

[Blaze Diem]

33. And here's a Great Start..Fix the Damn Voting System..

THank YOu Mass.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1898620

They're starting now...can we lend our strength to every other race in 2006?

Thanks
Blaze

[mopinko]

37. they have more reason every day to keep stealing.

you read my mind. with this much at stake, they will stop at nothing.

[paparush]

61. AMEN BLAZE!!

We MUST wrestle the right to vote back from the ReThugs NOW!!

[Vidar]

35. Stay the course, Harry!

[Zinfandel]

36. Everyone needs to know this...

Fucking republican owned corporate media will ignore these facts...That's why these crimes by BushCo have and will continue!!!

Never no accountability by the media, they refuse to do their job...they believe their job is to cheerlead for Bush...Cheerlead for a republican president...Hold Democrats accountable!

[DoYouEverWonder]

55. Isn't it obstruction of justice when the VP

deliberately obstructs a Senate investigation?

[Hailtothechimp]

38. RECOMMENDED. Cheney hates America.

He loves only what it gives to him.

[usregimechange]

39. Reid for President! Kidding but damn.

[FreedomAngel82]

40. I believe Reid is so onto everything

I think he probably knows so much that is going on. He knows how involved the White House is with the Senate which is what he told in his press briefing when he closed down the Senate as to why he didn't tell Frist he was doing this. I'm glad he's calling them out. Go Reid!

[bostonbabs]

64. Reid on the day he was elected called Bush a "liar" n/t

[NVMojo]

41. just like the 9-11 investigation? I'll bet money on it ...

[KatieB]

46. Kick - This needs to be heard

[fearnobush]

47. Ok, time for the History Lesson. Reid knows what Karen knows

Why Reid is going after Chaney. Why Chaney is so impeachable. The evidence overwhelming.

1st,

A star witness: Lieutenant Colonel Karen Kwiatkowski

"Kwiatkowski got there just as war fever was spreading, or being spread as she would later argue, through the halls of Washington. Indeed, shortly after her arrival, a piece of NESA was broken off, expanded and re-dubbed with the Orwellian name of the Office of Special Plans. The OSP’s task was, ostensibly, to help the Pentagon develop policy around the Iraq crisis.

She would soon conclude that the OSP — a pet project of Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Don Rumsfeld — was more akin to a nerve center for what she now calls a “neoconservative coup, a hijacking of the Pentagon.”

This is a must read:
<http://www.laweekly.com/ink/04/13/news-cooper.php>

"That decision was made by the time I got there. So there was no debate over WMD, the possible relations Saddam Hussein may have had with terrorist groups and so on. They spent their energy gathering pieces of information and creating a propaganda storyline, which is the same storyline we heard the president and Vice President Cheney tell the American people in the fall of 2002.

The very phrases they used are coming back to haunt them because they are blatantly false and not based on any intelligence. The OSP and the Vice President’s Office were critical in this propaganda effort — to convince Americans that there was some just requirement for pre-emptive war"

Karen Kwiatkowski's letter to the senate Judiciary Comittee, Faxed 14 May 2004 to Senate offices.

<http://www.nathancallahan.com/kwiatletter.html>

"I am sending this to reporters and others who have contacted me in the past, as a matter of courtesy and concern.
Michael Rubin is currently attempting to smear me as both a LaRouche adherent and anti-Semite, along with others at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and the National Review Online. Additionally, Senator Jon Kyl, R, Arizona, has taken these types of lies and insinuations and published them (see attached letter and text below)."
....
Obviously, the intent is to negatively impact my credibility as a witness to what went on in the Pentagon leading up to the invasion of Iraq.
....
Lastly, if this false and slanderous information has been provided to you by others, I would appreciate knowing their names and organizations. I do know that Richard Perle has been falsely claiming a LaRouche link since at least January 2004, as I was asked on video by a BBC journalist about Perle’s private statement to him in this regard. I corrected the falsehood on the record for the BBC, but obviously, the word has not gotten out to the U.S. Congress.

Thank you for your quick and honorable attention to this matter.

Karen U. Kwiatkowski

cc: Senator Hatch Senator Kennedy Senator Graham
Senator Grassley Senator Biden Senator Schumer
Senator Specter Senator Leahy Senator Craig
Senator Dewine Senator Feinstein Senator Durban
Senator Sessions Senator Kohl Senator Chambliss
Senator Edwards Senator Cornyn Senator Daschle
Senator Byrd Senator Reid Senator Dorgan
Senate Republican Policy Committee

[kestrel91316]

49. Cheney needs to be taken from the WH and (blank).................

I don't dare say it. But I REALLY mean it.

I'm callin' treason in wartime.

[mwb970]

54. If anyone had done what Dick has done during WW II...

They would have been executed. That's what we used to do to traitors. Now we re-elect them.

[kestrel91316]

57. You got it.

[Virginian]

50. Separation of powers, checks and balances

Seems like the neo-cons have done an end run around the Constitution. We need to put in more safeguards to keep this from happening again. Just as soon as we get enough votes to beat the voting machines.

[Disturbed]

52. Reid should charge Pat Roberts with aiding and abetting

Obstruction of Justice and call for Roberts to resign from the Senate.

[sunnystarr]

56. Bingo! You're so right on. (nt)

[mwb970]

53. Cheney is by far the worst of the lot.

This evil, snarling monster has done more to weaken and ruin America than any other individual person in our history. Worse than Nixon. Much worse than Reagan.

He deserves to be tortured in one of his own gulags. I hope he doesn't die before he gets what's coming to him. Death is too good for this vile snake. I'd punch him myself if they'd let me.

[PurityOfEssence]

62. Well, it's a hard fought distinction, don't ya think?

What about Rumsfeld? He's easily as evil as Cheney. Then there's James Baker, too. The list of truly vile creatures is a big one, and the smart ones--like these three--are the most dangerous.

Reagan was a doddering old fool, but he definitely was a greedy, nasty asshole. Poindexter's a mean old cuss, but he's made too many missteps to really be a player anymore.

There's a big list of the truly ugly: Elliot Abrams, Otto Reich, Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz, Karl Rove, John Bolton, Michael Ledeen, George Schultz, Dick Thornburgh, Robert Mosbacher, Jeanne Kirkpatrick and Alexander Haig. There are many, many more, but my stomach turns at the conjured images.

You'll note that I don't mention either Bush; they were and are morons more controlled by their puppet masters than even Reagan.

Cheney truly is a vile thing, right down to the LITERALLY THOUSANDS of farm-raised birds he kills for "sport". He's a serial liar and a greedy thug without even a shred of a proto-scruple about him.

I love how Reid hammers him and ignores Junior; this shows the world what a nobody this little nobody really is, and it's a theme that's gaining resonance no matter how the right tries to spin it.