Cheney's moves on secrecy stir storm over office's dual role
The vice president argues his office is exempt from executive branch classified-data protocol.
from the June 26, 2007 edition
Page 3 of 3
Still, the information at issue is just a raw number, nothing more.
"It's not very revealing stuff," says Steven Aftergood, director of the Federation of American Scientists' project on government secrecy.
More interesting is the fact that Cheney has declined to reveal the number of documents, adds Mr. Aftergood, who claims it is like other vice presidential actions.
In 2001, Cheney attempted to block disclosure of the names of energy industry officials who met with his task force. He has withheld information about who works for him and who visits the vice presidential office.
As to where this issue goes next, one possibility is an attempt in Congress to eliminate funds for any executive branch activity by Cheney. He would be left with the approprations for his Senate activities, which is a relatively small amount.
Earlier this year, the Information Security Oversight Office sent a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales requesting a legal interpretation as to whether the vice president's office is an agency and thus subject to classification disclosure rules.
The Justice Department has not yet ruled on this legal issue.
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