Dick Cheney's top aide: "We're one bomb away" from our goal"

[kpete]

They literally decided they would break whatever laws they wanted -- one law after the next. Until they could "get rid of" that law altogether -- through the only tactic they know: exploitation of Terrorism -- they simply decided to violate it at will.

Goldsmith, now a Harvard Law Professor, has just written a book, to be released this month, criticizing and, in some cases, exposing for the first time, many of Bush's executive power abuses.......

Glenn Greenwald
Tuesday September 4, 2007 07:25 EST
Dick Cheney's top aide: "We're one bomb away" from our goal

........................

Two revelations in particular are extraordinary and deserve (but are unlikely to receive) intense media coverage. First, it was Goldsmith who first argued that the administration's secret, warrantless surveillance programs were illegal, and it was that conclusion which sparked the now famous refusal of Ashcroft/Comey in early 2004 to certify the program's legality. Goldsmith argued continuously about his conclusion with Addington, and during the course of those arguments, this is what happened:

..............................

Goldsmith shared the White House's concern that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act might prevent wiretaps on international calls involving terrorists. But Goldsmith deplored the way the White House tried to fix the problem, which was highly contemptuous of Congress and the courts. "We're one bomb away from getting rid of that obnoxious court," Goldsmith recalls Addington telling him in February 2004.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/09/magazine/09rosen.html?pagewanted=1

Their goal all along was to "get rid of the obnoxious FISA court" entirely, so that they could freely eavesdrop on whomever they wanted with no warrants or oversight of any kind. And here is Dick Cheney's top aide, drooling with anticipation at the prospect of another terrorist attack so that they could seize this power without challenge. Addington views the Next Terrorist Attack as the golden opportunity to seize yet more power. Sitting around the White House dreaming of all the great new powers they will have once the new terrorist attack occurs -- as Addington was doing -- is nothing short of deranged.

Contrary to the claims made by Bush and his followers ever since the NSA scandal arose, their real objective in secretly creating "The Terrorist Surveillance Program" was never to find a narrow means to circumvent FISA when, in those few cases, it impeded necessary eavesdropping. Rather, the goal was to get rid of FISA altogether and return the country to the days when our government could spy on us in total secrecy, with no oversight. Of course, until they could "get rid of" that law altogether -- through the only tactic they know: exploitation of Terrorism -- they simply decided to violate it at will.

More revealing still is Goldsmith's description of how the Bush administration systematically violated one law after the next -- employing tactics that are truly the hallmark of the most lawless third-world dictators:

In his book, Goldsmith claims that Addington and other top officials treated the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act the same way they handled other laws they objected to: "They blew through them in secret based on flimsy legal opinions that they guarded closely so no one could question the legal basis for the operations," he writes.

Goldsmith's first experienced this extraordinary concealment, or "strict compartmentalization," in late 2003 when, he recalls, Addington angrily denied a request by the N.S.A.'s inspector general to see a copy of the Office of Legal Counsel's legal analysis supporting the secret surveillance program. "Before I arrived in O.L.C., not even N.S.A. lawyers were allowed to see the Justice Department's legal analysis of what N.S.A. was doing," Goldsmith writes.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/09/magazine/09rosen.html?pagewanted=1
..........

more at:
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/09/04/addington/index.html

[Forkboy]

1. Well that's comforting.

[Demeter]

42. And Not At All Surprising

Tell the Supremes they are next (or maybe they already heard?)

[Solly Mack]

2. ah..the deluge of books...hail the coming

[annabanana]

4. Of what? The "Too Late" brigade?

I have an idea Solly. . let's go help guys rob banks for nearly a decade, and then write "tell-alls" and make a friggen fortune.

[Solly Mack]

5. LOL! Exactly!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you!!!

[Maat]

38. Ding! Ding! We have a winner.

That's what it is all about - let's just let the country go to H*ll for 6-7 years, and then write about it later!

:puke:

[gratuitous]

10. I'm waiting for the second wave

That will be all the journalists telling us how they knew all about this all along, but they didn't report any of it because they were such good and patriotic Americans. Or some other rationalization that excuses their complete failure to expose any of this corruption and skullduggery.

[Solly Mack]

11. Yes!!!!!! Yes!!!!! Yes!!!! And you know it's coming

[robinlynne]

34. oh no, they didn't know.....they were victims of deceit.....

[TheMadMonk]

63. One could hope they will turn on the their employers.

Report (for a change) how they were gagged and threatened with loss of their jobs if they did not "report" what they were told to report.

Any rationalisation other than the truth is not going to wash with the public once other truths make it into the light of day.

[cali]

3. Holy shit!

I'm emailing this to Senator Leahy.

[peacetalksforall]

23. Hasn't he already given approval to bomb Iran - what could be worse?

[robinlynne]

35. Email it to Pelosi who helped them get rid of the "obnoxious fisa court".

and feinstein.

[Bryan Sacks]

61. yes, thank goodness

That'll fix things.

[leftchick]

6. they didn't even need the bomb

with this congress.

[Tesla]

8. If you were to write a story like this, it would have to be a bad comic

Because you would never believe an intelligent society would let this happen AGAIN!
Right in front of their eyes!

[lynnertic]

15. You have voiced my sentiments exactly.

If life was a musical during the Clinton Administration, it's a bad comic in this one. Complete with evil masterminds and their minions with strangely synchronicitous names.

Where's the superhero?

[JDPriestly]

51. Presented as true by an outsider to the Bush administration,

these facts would be dismissed as a "conspiracy theory." This is only believable because it comes from an insider.

[LaloBorges]

65. Intelligent Society

"Because you would never believe an intelligent society would let this happen AGAIN!"

I do believe that we are an intelligent society, but a lazy, uninformed, don't-give-a-dam-while-I-have-beer-and-football-on-tv society.

That is why things happen here, and until something worst happens where beer/football/cable-TV are jeopardized, people will not move a finger.

There is a high number of intelligent citizens today that vote republican or democrat because "my grand-parents were republican, and my parents are republican, so I am a republican" and the same goes for democrats. they don't bother to learn the realities of the country's situation and they don't want to know either. Ever wonder how Joe Lieberman won in Connecticut? Ever wonder how indicted politicians get re-elected? Because people have seen their pictures and they can recognize the face so...if the face of the politician is likable, they will vote for them with no thought behind their vote.

That is why things like this happen; the mafiosos at the white house only pretend to be incompetent, but they know the citizens of this country are not informed and that a "meme" is easy to circulate and have the desired effects, and that is what they have exploited and that is why things happen and no one does a thing about it either.

[CGowen]

13. It's probably do what we say or else a bomb goes off...n/t

[Raven]

7. I am certainly not going to buy any books written by these guys

who played along with this criminal administration and then landed cushey jobs with think tanks and elite universities. No forgiveness for the destruction they suborned.

[Skidmore]

9. So Goldsmith & his ilk wait till now to have crises of conscious.

[Ezlivin]

12. Do any of you think that Congress will do one damned thing about this?

I don't believe that we will see any action from this or any subsequent Congress.

Please correct me if you think that I'm wrong. I'd love to be wrong this time. Really.

[dickbearton]

50. Congress is bought and paid for...

by the corporate fascist oligarchy.

[Hubert Flottz]

14. This is why impeachment of Cheney then Bush is so important.

These people are insane.

[burythehatchet]

16. who needs a bomb when Democrats willingly acquiesce?

[formercia]

17. Some interesting background on Addington

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Addington

Addington was assistant general counsel for the Central Intelligence Agency from 1981 to 1984. From 1984 to 1987 he was counsel for the House committees on intelligence and international relations. He served as a staff attorney on the joint U.S. House-Senate committee investigation of the Iran-Contra scandal as an assistant to Congressman Dick Cheney, and was one of the principal authors of a controversial minority report issued at the conclusion of the joint committee's investigation.<3>

Addington was also a special assistant to President Ronald Reagan for one year in 1987, before becoming Reagan's deputy assistant. He was Republican counsel on the Iran-Contra committee in the 1980's. From 1989 to 1992, Addington served as special assistant to the Secretary of Defense, before becoming the Department of Defense's general counsel in 1992.

From 1993 to 2001, he worked in private practice, for law firms Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz and Holland & Knight, and the American Trucking Associations.<3> He headed a political action committee, the Alliance for American Leadership, set up in large part to explore a possible presidential candidacy for Mr. Cheney.


Some interesting social network connections:

http://www.newsmeat.com/washington_political_donations/David_Addington.php

Alan Greenspan seems to be part of the social network too:

http://www.newsmeat.com/washington_political_donations/Alan_Greenspan.php

http://www.kintera.org/htmlcontent.asp?cid=40229

Lee S. Wolosky is Of Counsel to the law firm of Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP in its Armonk office. Mr. Wolosky joined the firm in 2001 from the White House, where he was Director for Transnational Threats on the National Security Council. During his tenure, the Office of Transnational Threats coordinated U.S. government policy relating to terrorism, domestic preparedness, critical infrastructure protection and international crime. In 1995, he graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School and in 1990 he graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College. Mr. Wolosky is an Adjunct Professor in International Affairs at Columbia University. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a member of the Alliance for American Leadership (AAL), a founding member of Next Generation Democrats and the Foreign Policy Leadership Council, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Council for Emerging National Security Affairs (CENSA). His recent articles have appeared in Wall Street Journal Europe, The International Herald Tribune, The Los Angeles Times and Foreign Affairs. He is also an Adjunct Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington.


What is a 'Next Generation Democrat?'

[formercia]

20. Another member of the crew:

http://politicalscience.stanford.edu/faculty/weinstein.html

Professional Activities

* Member of the Board of Trustees, Swarthmore College (1999-2003)
* Term Member, Council on Foreign Relations
* Member of the Board of Directors, Alliance for American Leadership (AAL)
* Member, Laboratory in Comparative Ethnic Processes (LiCEP)
* Member, American Political Science Association

[formercia]

22. Infesting the Democratic Party:

http://english.safe-democracy.org/bios/beers-rand.html

Beers, Rand

President, Alliance for American Leadership and Adjunct Lecturer, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University

Currently the President of the Alliance for American Leadership, a national security communications organization, and an Adjunct Lecturer on terrorism at Harvard University. Most recently worked as the national security advisor for the Kerry-Edwards campaign. His final government position was as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Combating Terrorism on the NSC Staff (2002-2003). Resigned in 2003 before joining the Kerry campaign in 2003.

[leveymg]

18. This is a post-mortem. Goldsmith was sent by DoD to DoJ to stop "The Program"

This is no "kiss and tell" book - Goldsmith is truly an unhailed hero. He's the indispensible man. You see, Goldsmith was the top lawyer inside the DoD Inspector General's office. He already had the highest possible security clearance and was fully familiar with the details of how Bush-Cheney had expanded TIA into a domestic political tool of the Administration, spying on everyone, Senators and Congressmen, the FBI, US Attorneys. Everyone. The Generals and Admirals rebelled when the White House began using NSA to try to interfere with investigations of espionage and corruption, and as a tool of the White House's own obstruction and coverups.

So, the Generals and Admirals did what the Senators and Congressmen either wouldn't or couldn't do at the time. They started the chain of investigations that would lead to Scooter Libby's prosecution and Dick Cheney's own doorstep. The irony was that the main instrument the top brass used to push back was the very mechanism of total surveillance, the NSA. You see, the Pentagon ultimately controls the codes and records of the Vice President's secure phones and Rove's e-mails, not the White House, not the RNC.

Almost unnoticed, Bush-Cheney has been contained in place and relieved of most of its power since 2004. If they hadn't been, we would already have bombed Iran.

Actually, most of those involved in the WMD fraud that got us into the Iraq War are long gone, as are many of the original architects of the GWOT torture cells and rendition flights.

Here's a rough chronology of what happened. The Joint Chiefs and CIA knew that the evidence of Iraq WMDs being offered by the Administration to invade was largely a fraud, but everyone hoped that some significant stockpiles of at least biological weapons would be found. There was also lies told about nuclear technologies -- an ace up the sleave -- allegedly sold by AQ Khan to Iraq, but that was a fabrication sold by Iraqi exiles and Italian friends of the neocons. Nothing of the sort was, in fact, found inside Iraq. The initial draft of the Iraq Survey Group study was circulated inside the Pentagon in May, 2003 -- the obvious truth was disclosed -- the White House had been caught in its own naked web of lies. The Generals, feeling betrayed, let lose the dogs. The White House under pressure overplayed their hand, countered by outing Plame, destroying CIA Counter-Proliferation Division where she worked.

Valerie Plame was publicly outed in July 2003, after which the CIA conducted its own damage assessment, sharing that information with the Generals. That assessment became a political football, but in October the CIA IG finally referred the Plame case to the FBI.

The immediate operatives in Office of Special Plans (OSP) -- Feith, Rhodes, Wolfowitz -- were fired or moved out of DoD by early 2004. The core of the parallel Iran WMD falsification operation -- Franklin and the AIPAC guys -- were placed under close FBI surveillance, and their Mossad handler, Naor Gilon, fled the country in July 2004 when word of the FBI investigation was leaked. Franklin and the AIPAC operatives were prosecuted.

By September of that year, Fitzgerald had put together a Grand Jury. On September 30, the final version of the Iraq Survey Group study was published, finding that there had been no WMD. In October, Rove was first called to testify.

Yoo and Haynes resigned soon after the Abu Ghraib story was leaked by military intelligence in late April 2004. Gonzalez hung on somewhat longer, as did Rove. The Plame trial provided enough evidence for the House to indict Cheney.

I disagree. There has been push back, and it isn't over. Cheney's next. The military brass and IC aren't going to let Cheney get away with it again. There isn't going to be an attack on Iran - that's a psyops program.

[enough]

19. Thanks, leveymg.

[mod mom]

25. thank you for your insight-leveymg. Question: If b/c has been neutered,

they who is operating the pyschops regarding Iran?

[leveymg]

26. The Pentagon - it's a holding operation, intended to keep Iran

off-balance and in a constrained bargaining position pending a resolution of a regional agreement on the division of Iraq. After that, they can have their new, western province.

BTW: despite the recognized fact that the occupation of Iraq has degraded readiness and taken a terrible toll on morale, there is still the desire among most of the senior officers that the withdrawal, when it happens, be on better terms than it would be if U.S. forces simply bugged out immediately, as has everyone else in the coalition, most recently (and glaringly) the Brits.

It would also be nice if Tehran agreed to again suspend its nuclear program, but nobody really expects that, after all that's happened, they're going to go back to the agreement they reached with Clinton in 1995.

[RainDog]

62. if the U.S. can elect a sane person...

and have sane people in the pentagon, it would seem to be in Iran's interests to negotiate a new nuclear agreement with the U.S. Obviously we are armed to the teeth...and in fact, I believe we were the nation that first stopped honoring the nuclear test ban treaty. Isn't that the case?

And really, wouldn't Iran be likely to seek a cordial relationship with the U.S. since bin Laden is Sunni? I mean, why wouldn't Iran want the U.S. to do its fighting for them since the def. contractors are the U.S. export economy. (snark)

Thanks so much for your analysis of the situation. Sounds right to me, considering the reportage of Sy Hersh (osp and abu ghraib and Laura Rozen (Franklin, the Italian job) and the exit of so many.

I do hope Bush/Cheney are sidelined for the good of this nation. I'm waiting until 9-17 to see if Cheney is still kicking. That would be so sweet- if he decided to "retire."

The gay blogger guy also has more right wingers he intends to out. With these various events, hopefully the testosterone level of the R. party will plummet so far they
won't even have cojones. As far as winning an election (not governing, imo) this would help get rid of r's in the exec. and legis. branches.

I would like Bugliosi to reopen the impeachment case against Scalia..Thomas and Kennedy too. Rehnquist and O'Connor have retired, but they would be a part of any such action for the history books. Barring that, Scalia has spoken on the record about his theocratic views and has called democracy "the problem" when executing ppl in a democracy. yeesh. Unfortunately, Bush left us with a supreme court that I'm not too confident about, as far as our status as a non-theocratic nation.

[annabanana]

27. This info makes me feel a bit better...

It's like finally seeing that there's an adult present somewhere in a room full of angry toddlers bent on injuring everything in their path.

[mod mom]

28. Me too. I wondered how everyone allowed some spoiled evil children to destroy

the world.

My fear is that the pentagon, I assumed ruled by the military industrial complex, will not allow the truth to come out only sweep it under the rug. This will allow it to fester until another a future time (think how those involved with Watergate, and Iran Contra have resurfaced to become today's neocons.

We need full exposure and justice to prevent another episode down the line. Someone must pay for the death, destruction and raiding of the public coffers for profit reason.

[leveymg]

39. Giant, 800 pound toddlers

[bleever]

31. Thank you, Mark.

That's the most encouraging thing I've read in a very long time.

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

33. Intriguing post, Thank You. nt

[Demeter]

43. By All That's Holy, I Hope You Are Right

It would be our last best hope, given the Jello Congress (see, it wiggles!)

[Jacobin]

45. Thank you for the post

Extremely enlightening and the players did leave about the times you detailed.

It seems that Cheney has been largely neutered, at least for now, by those you describe. Let's hope that the brinksmanship Cheney is now playing with Iran doesn't lead to some Gulf of Tonkin type of incident to give Cheney an excuse to let the dogs of war loose again

[mod mom]

46. According to Muck-Cheney out "selling the war w Iran" (declare Iran a terrorist group)

Selling War with Iran: Next Week at AEI
By Spencer Ackerman - September 4, 2007, 2:45 PM
Barnett Rubin is the last person to set off wild speculation about war with Iran: the longtime Afghanistan expert is wonky, moderate and thoroughly analytical. But that's exactly what happened on Wednesday, when Rubin blogged that an anonymous, plugged-in friend told him that Dick Cheney's office had issued "instructions" to conservative think tanks like the American Enterprise Institute to start a drumbeat for attacking Iran. In order to determine precisely what he's alleging, and get a sense of its credibility, I spoke with Rubin, a senior fellow at NYU's Center on International Cooperation this morning.

Cheney's likely motivation for issuing such instructions to his think-tank allies would be to win an inter-administration battle over the future of Iran policy. Cheney, an advocate of confronting the Iranians militarily, faces opposition from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, where the primary concern is preventing an open-ended Iraq commitment from decimating military preparedness for additional crises. A new war is the last thing the chiefs want, and on this, they're backed by Defense Secretary Bob Gates. "It may be that the president hasn't decided yet," says Rubin.

On this reading, the real target of any coordinated campaign between the VP and right-wing D.C. think tanks on Iran isn't the Iranians themselves, or even general public opinion, but the Pentagon. Cheney needs to soften up his opposition inside the administration if Bush is to ultimately double down on a future conflict, something that a drumbeat of warnings about the Iranian threat can help accomplish. When asked if a third war seems surreal, given the depth of investment the U.S. has given Iraq and Afghanistan, Rubin replies, "I'm out of adjectives."

How would an actual war be launched, given the expected opposition of the Democratic-controlled Congress? To that end, President Bush's decision to declare Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist group provides an opportunity. If the IRGC, Iran's alternate military, is a terrorist group, Bush could claim authority under the September 18, 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force in Afghanistan to take action against Iran without Congressional approval, citing the AUMF's broad provision that "the President has authority under the Constitution to take action to deter and prevent acts of international terrorism against the United States." (It's a stretch, but the administration has already made the more-tendentious argument that the AUMF authorized the warrantless surveillance program.) "The AUMF applies, according to the Cheney-Addington view of the Constitution," says Rubin.

-snip

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004064.php#comments

[DemReadingDU]

47. Thanks for your timeline!

Appreciate that you have been connecting the dots for us!


Edit to add: So Cheney's next? Is he going to resign, or is the House going to indict him?

[AntiFascist]

58. Fascinating leveymg!

Glad to hear their objective was to flush out the neocons and that the Iran wardrums are all "talk". What's holding up Congress from signing onto Cheney's impeachment, or are they trying to get him to resign?

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

66. Kick. I can't get your post 3 days ago out of my head.

I even printed it. I think the fact that Iran has not been bombed allready, shows you know what your talking about here.

In essence, Cheney et * not only have no fangs, they've had all their teeth yanked. Making them pretty much all bark, no bite; aside from these executive orders Addington chucks up to inflame us once in awhile.

Still intrigued.

[underpants]

21. Double down baby come on double zeros!!!!

They can't leave the table they are way too far down to even think about settling up

[mod mom]

24. TREASON: "WE'RE 1 BOMB AWAY FROM GETTING RID OF THAT OBNOXIOUS COURT"

"We're one bomb away from getting rid of that obnoxious court," Goldsmith recalls Addington telling him in February 2004.

AND THIS ASSHOLE IS STILL IN POWER!

[Nikki Stone1]

29. Is it time for impeachment yet?

Please?

[mod mom]

30. Goldsmith on the Ashcroft Hospital Scene adds a Mrs Ashcroft tidbit:

As he recalled it to me, Goldsmith received a call in the evening from his deputy, Philbin, telling him to go to the George Washington University Hospital immediately, since Gonzales and Card were on the way there. Goldsmith raced to the hospital, double-parked outside and walked into a dark room. Ashcroft lay with a bright light shining on him and tubes and wires coming out of his body.

Suddenly, Gonzales and Card came in the room and announced that they were there in connection with the classified program. “Ashcroft, who looked like he was near death, sort of puffed up his chest,” Goldsmith recalls. “All of a sudden, energy and color came into his face, and he said that he didn’t appreciate them coming to visit him under those circumstances, that he had concerns about the matter they were asking about and that, in any event, he wasn’t the attorney general at the moment; Jim Comey was. He actually gave a two-minute speech, and I was sure at the end of it he was going to die. It was the most amazing scene I’ve ever witnessed.”

After a bit of silence, Goldsmith told me, Gonzales thanked Ashcroft, and he and Card walked out of the room. “At that moment,” Goldsmith recalled, “Mrs. Ashcroft, who obviously couldn’t believe what she saw happening to her sick husband, looked at Gonzales and Card as they walked out of the room and stuck her tongue out at them. She had no idea what we were discussing, but this sweet-looking woman sticking out her tongue was the ultimate expression of disapproval. It captured the feeling in the room perfectly.”

-snip
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004061.php#comments

[Blackhatjack]

32. If Addington does not end up behind bars, there is no justice ....

THis is just the kind of 'take over the world, forget democracy, and silence all the critics' NeoCon who will never stop violating the law until he is behind bars.

The fact he wields such power in his position tells you all you need to know about Cheney, his agenda, and his total lack of morality.

We have to rid ourselves of these megalomaniacs. And the first step is to expose them for who they really are and what they have been doing.

[NewJeffCT]

36. "Not everything we do is illegal"

Wasn't there a quote from a Sr. Bush Administration official in the New Yorker (or some other mag) that said something almost exactly like that...

[Netbeavis]

37. now they know how we all feel...

we've all felt like we've been just one bomb away from getting an honest VP.

[Disturbed]

40. The Busholini Regime violated the FISA Law many times.

Nothing will be done about that.

[Demeter]

44. Ah, You Impossible Dreamer, You!

Wouldn't it be Loverly?

[Raksha]

41. This gives credibility to Deep Modem's prediction: "Cheney's next."

He must have known when he made the prediction that this book was about to be released and publicized. Addington is Cheney's Chief of Staff, isn't he?

[seemslikeadream]

48. That's David (Geneva Convention is "Quaint") Addington

ADDINGTON'S ROLE IN CHENEY'S OFFICE DRAWS FRESH ATTENTION

That's David (Geneva Convention is "Quaint") Addington


http://nationaljournal.com/about/njweekly/stories/2005/1030nj1.htm

By Murray Waas and Paul Singer

10-30-05

David Addington, counsel to Vice President Cheney, has been named to succeed Scooter Libby as Cheney's chief of staff. Addington's own role in the Plame matter is emerging just as the vice president selects him for the top job.

...

Further, Addington played a leading role in 2004 on behalf of the Bush administration when it refused to give the Senate Intelligence Committee documents from Libby's office on the alleged misuse of intelligence information regarding Iraq. Because Addington may be in line to succeed Libby, the Intelligence Committee-White House battle over the documents has sparked new interest on Capitol Hill.

....

Rockefeller's call for an inquiry by the Intelligence Committee captured the attention of many senators Friday, but did not attract wider press attention. It also surprised senators because Rockefeller, who is a political moderate, was often praised by the Republican chairman of the committee, Pat Roberts of Kansas, and other Republicans for serving as vice chairman in a bipartisan matter. Indeed, some other Democratic senators on the committee have privately complained that Rockefeller had not pressed Republicans hard enough on some oversight issues.

....

During confirmation hearings of Alberto Gonzales to be attorney general, it was revealed that Addington helped draft the White House memo that concluded that the Geneva Convention against torture did not apply to prisoners captured in the war on terror. The memo declared that terrorism "renders obsolete Geneva's strict limitations on questioning of enemy prisoners and renders quaint some of its provisions."

....

helped out that torture guy Gonzales too (who maybe under indictment also)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=1262353&mesg_id=1262353



http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article323785.ece

By Andrew Buncombe in Washington
Published: 01 November 2005
The Independent


Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the senior White House official charged over the CIA leak affair, is to appear in court this week, as investigators continue their inquiries into the activities of President George Bush's senior political adviser, Karl Rove.

An official said yesterday that Mr Libby would appear in a federal court in Washington on Thursday morning, where he would be formally charged, or arraigned. He faces five charges ­ two of lying to investigators, two of lying to a grand jury and one of obstructing justice ­ in relation to the leaking of the identity of a covert CIA operative, Valerie Plame.

Mr Libby, 55, has made it clear he will plead not guilty. He was replaced yesterday by David Addington, a longtime aide to Vice-President Dick Cheney and his top legal adviser. Mr Addington was among the authors of a White House memo justifying torture of terrorism suspects.

Over the weekend Mr Libby's lawyers said they would argue that, as a busy White House official, he could not be expected to recollect the full details of every conversation he had with reporters. They will deny that he deliberately intended to lie to either investigators or members of the grand jury about what he had told reporters about Ms Plame.


http://thinkprogress.org/2005/10/31/cheney-promotes

Cheney Promotes Individuals Named In Indictment

"Both Addington and Hannah are named in the indictment. Hannah was intimately involved in the strategy of leaking Plame’s identity. From the indictment:

13. Shortly after publication of the article in The New Republic, LIBBY spoke by telephone with his then Principal Deputy and discussed the article. That official asked LIBBY whether information about Wilson’s trip could be shared with the press to rebut the allegations that the Vice President had sent Wilson. LIBBY responded that there would be complications at the CIA in disclosing that information publicly, and that he could not discuss the matter on a non-secure telephone line.

Addington provided legal counsel to Libby in helping to divulge Plame’s identity.

18. Also on or about July 8, 2003, LIBBY met with the Counsel to the Vice President in an anteroom outside the Vice President’s Office. During their brief conversation, LIBBY asked the Counsel to the Vice President, in sum and substance, what paperwork there would be at the CIA if an employee’s spouse undertook an overseas trip.

http://www.larouchepub.com/other/2004/3128addington_memo.html
Addington, a "swell " guy...
Cheney's Lawyer Addington
Penned Key Torture Memo
by Jeffrey Steinberg

David Addington, the General Counsel to Vice President Dick Cheney, was the actual author of one of the now-infamous White House "torture memos" that claimed for President Bush the authority to violate the Geneva Conventions on the Treatment of Prisoners of War, in the so-called "war on terrorism." The immediate result of this Hitlerian document was the scenes of inhuman torture at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, and the as-yet untold tales of similar torture at other secret prison locations in Afghanistan, at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and in other countries around the world.



http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/entity.jsp?id=1521846767-3158

David S. Addington actively participated in the following events:
January 21, 2002 Torture in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere

White House lawyers visit Guantanamo Bay. On the flight back, Alberto Gonzales agrees with David Addington that all Guantanamo detainees should be designated eligible for trial by military commission under the president's November 13 Military Order (see January 20, 2002).
People and organizations involved: Alberto R. Gonzales, David S. Addington

'Passive' participant in the following events:
Torture, rendition, and other abuses against captives in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere - November 13, 2001 - President Bush issues a 3- ...


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=5223042
Page 4 - ("Under Secretary of State")International Security Affairs John Bolton or Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Marc Grossman?

Page 4 - ("A senior officer of the CIA") ?

Page 5 ("An aide to the VP") John Hannah - Senior Nation Security Aide or David Wurmser - Middle East Advisor?

Page 5 (CIA briefer") ?

Page 6 ("Libby's then Pincipal Deputy") John Hannah

Page 7 ("WH Press Secretary") Ari Fleicher?

Page 7 ("Counsel to the VP') David Addington?

Page 7 ("Ass't to the VP for Public Affairs") Catherine Martin (she was his press secretary)?

Page 7 ("MSNBC Reporter") Chris Matthews

Page 8 ("Official A") Karl Rove?

Page 8 (Other Officials) Plane trip from Norfolk

http://thinkprogress.org/2005/10/28/addington-involved-in-leak-scandal/

Scooter Libby’s replacement as chief of staff to the Vice President is reportedly a man named David Addington. He was formerly Cheney’s counsel, a position he held since 2001. According to the indictment, it appears that Addington was involved in the leak:

18. Also on or about July 8, 2003, LIBBY met with the Counsel to the Vice President in an anteroom outside the Vice President’s Office. During their brief conversation, LIBBY asked the Counsel to the Vice President, in sum and substance, what paperwork there would be at the CIA if an employee’s spouse undertook an overseas trip.

Was Addington aware that he was facilitating alleged criminal conduct?

Unitary Executive theory

http://alternet.org/blogs/themix/#27514

Scooter Libby's insta-replacement, David Addington, believes in the Unitary Executive theory. If you guessed that this meant the power of one CEO who decides liberty and justice for all, you wouldn't be far off. It's not too far from King of Everything, really.

Here's a description of how it works by a legal theorist from Michigan Law School:

Several scholars have recently rearticulated the "unitary executive theory" of Article II , arguing that Article II vests the power to execute federal law solely in the President of the United States. Unitarians do not maintain that the President must personally execute all laws; Congress may establish an administrative bureaucracy and identify particular officials to assist the President in carrying out legislatively prescribed tasks. But, unitarians argue, such officials must always remain subject to the President's direction.

According to Raw Story, Bush has made at least 95 decisions since 2001 using this unitary logic, including many of his ill-fated choices relating to torture and the Geneva Conventions. And who was the author of the infamous "torture memo?"

David Addington.

http://sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=David_S._Addington

Primary Role in Bush Admin's POW Policies

....

Former attorney general William P. Barr suggested to Gonzales's staff early on that those captured on the battlefield go before military tribunals instead of civil courts. But Ashcroft and Michael Chertoff, his deputy for the criminal division, both adamantly opposed the plan, along with military lawyers at the Pentagon. The result was that the process moved slowly."

"Addington was the first to suggest that the issue be taken away from the Prosper group and that a presidential order be drafted authorizing the tribunals that he, Gonzales and Timothy E. Flanigan, then a principal deputy to Gonzales, supported. It was intended for circulation among a much smaller group of like-minded officials. Berenson, Flanigan and Addington helped write the draft, and on Nov. 6, 2001, Gonzales's office secured an opinion from the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel that the contemplated military tribunals would be legal."


"The task of summarizing the competing points of view in a draft letter to the president was seized initially by Addington. A memo he wrote and signed with Gonzales's name -- and knowledge -- was circulated to various departments, several sources said. A version of this draft, dated Jan. 25, 2002, was subsequently leaked. It included the eye-catching assertion that a 'new paradigm' of a war on terrorism 'renders obsolete Geneva's strict limitations on questioning of enemy prisoners." More...

http://whateveralready.blogspot.com/2005/10/i-have-brand-new-national-journal.html

by Murray Wass
Thursday, October 27, 2005

....

Cheney has tried to increase executive power with a series of bold actions -- some so audacious that even conservatives on the Supreme Court sympathetic to Cheney's view have rejected them as overreaching. The vice president's point man in this is longtime aide David Addington, who serves as Cheney's top lawyer.

Where there has been controversy over the past four years, there has often been Addington. He was a principal author of the White House memo justifying torture of terrorism suspects. He was a prime advocate of arguments supporting the holding of terrorism suspects without access to courts.

Addington also led the fight with Congress and environmentalists over access to information about corporations that advised the White House on energy policy. He was instrumental in the series of fights with the Sept. 11 commission and its requests for information...

....

Even in a White House known for its dedication to conservative philosophy, Addington is known as an ideologue, an adherent of an obscure philosophy called the unitary executive theory that favors an extraordinarily powerful president.

....

http://www.democrats.org/a/2005/10/libby_resigns_b.php

Libby Resigns, But Was His Replacement Involved in the Leak?

Posted by Joe Rospars on October 28, 2005 at 04:34 PM


The crack team over at Think Progress has the scoop on Libby's replacement in the White House:

Scooter Libby’s replacement as chief of staff to the Vice President is reportedly a man named David Addington. He was formerly Cheney’s counsel, a position he held since 2001. According to the indictment, it appears that Addington was involved in the leak:

18. Also on or about July 8, 2003, LIBBY met with the Counsel to the Vice President in an anteroom outside the Vice President’s Office. During their brief conversation, LIBBY asked the Counsel to the Vice President, in sum and substance, what paperwork there would be at the CIA if an employee’s spouse undertook an overseas trip.

Was Addington aware that he was facilitating alleged criminal conduct?

You'll remember that Republican leader Tom DeLay handed his leadership post to another ethically-challenged Republican, Roy Blunt.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22665-2004Oct10.html

In Cheney's Shadow, Counsel Pushes the Conservative Cause
By Dana Milbank
Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, October 11, 2004; Page A21

The vice president's point man in this is longtime aide David Addington, who serves as Cheney's top lawyer....

Where there has been controversy over the past four years, there has often been Addington. He was a principal author of the White House memo justifying torture of terrorism suspects. He was a prime advocate of arguments supporting the holding of terrorism suspects without access to courts.

Addington also led the fight with Congress and environmentalists over access to information about corporations that advised the White House on energy policy. He was instrumental in the series of fights with the Sept. 11 commission and its requests for information. And he was a main backer of the nomination of Pentagon lawyer William J. Haynes II for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. Haynes's confirmation has been a source of huge friction on Capitol Hill.

Colleagues say Addington stands out for his devotion to secrecy in an administration noted for its confidentiality. He declined to be interviewed or photographed for this article, and he did not respond to a list of specific points made in the article.





"They could be made to accept the most flagrant violations of reality.... and were not sufficiently interested in public events to notice what was happening." George Orwell

[liberal N proud]

49. They have done what ever it takes to achieve all their goals

How long before they complete this one?

[Gman]

52. Goldsmith comes from the University of Chicago, home of...

John Yoo and Thomas Sewell among other right wing nuts.

This is significant.

[bdamomma]

53. one question is this what Cheney wants for his own grandchildren

or maybe he doesn't give a fuck about them either?

[bdamomma]

54. Keith just called Addington the worst person in the world

and why are we paying his salary????

[mahatmakanejeeves]

55. It shows you how inept they've gotten that

they weren't able to arrange to have that bomb set off.

[AntiFascist]

56. K&R, one bomb away?!

Yet more evidence, this time from the highest levels of the Whitehouse, that Republicans want more TERRORISM, and will gladly sacrifice innocent American lives to achieve their goals.

[muntrv]

57. Ah KO's worst person in the world. Addington, like his bosses, want the U.S.

to be Nazi Germany.

[eridani]

59. Since so many conservative whackjobs are looking forward to a second attack--

--one can't help but ask whether they looked forward to the first one.

[NastyDiaper]

60. OMG Calling HR333 Please. Lieke, Yesterfuckingdey.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_ernest_s_070821_impeach_2c_prosecute_a.htm

[snot]

64. Hold it -- pls fill me in --

"return the country to the days when our government could spy on us in total secrecy, with no oversight"???

I mean, I'm sure our gov't has done it, but this makes it sound like it used to be legal, or at least commonly accepted -- when were those days???

I thought it was always unConstitutional -- unreasonable search.

[Megahurtz]

67. Never Have I Dreamed That

our Country would come to this. :(