Cheney's Illegal Actions Raise Warning Flags at White House

[Dirty Hippie]

Vice President Dick Cheney illegally intervened to secure a $7 billion no-bid contract for his former employer, energy giant Halliburton, an analysis by the White House counsel’s office concludes.

Although the analysis is not available to the public because of the secrecy of “attorney-client privilege,” it has generated speculation among senior White House aides who suggest the Vice President should step down as President George W. Bush’s running mate for the November Presidential elections.


Those who have read the analysis say it presents a “devastating” case against the Vice President and concludes Cheney has violated both the “spirit and intent” of federal laws on conflict of interest.

...


http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_4799.shtml

[LeighAnn]

1. My prediction

Cheney - heart attack. Guiliani steps in at the last minute, right in time for the 9-11 capitalizing convention, after the terrorist attack which follows the "Osama Surprise" (to make sure we know that in spite of Bush's heroic efforts in capturing Osama, we're still in danger from the evildoers...)

[AndyTiedye]

8. No Need

His NEW physician can advise him to step down for health reasons
(while claiming the old physician was too busy sampling the
merchandise to notice the state of Cheney's ticker).

[iconoclastic cat]

21. Cheney is more machine than human, at this point.

He's being kept alive by a pacemaker and a battery to jumpstart his blackened heart. His soul departed long ago.

[tedzbear]

36. He has a permanent sneer embedded in his face.

I noticed that in "F-911."

[shadu]

48. Yes, he does. What the hell is with that?

I can't stand looking at him.

[shadu]

49. Yes, he does. What the hell is with that?

I can't stand looking at him.

[TrogL]

57. Could that be a medical condition

Former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretian had Bell's Palsy that gave him a strange facial expression.

[neverforget]

53. You mean Cheney has a heart?

[Terran]

44. It can't be Giulani

He's pro-choice. Never happen.

[The empressof all]

51. Agreed---It will be Zell Miller

It will not be Rudy. I also think it will not be McCain. My prediction is Condy, Colin or Tom Ridge.

My best prediction today is that if Cheney goes they will choose Zell for a unification ticket. How is that for being out of touch.

(edit)

[cosmicone]

59. Either way it will hurt Bush

If Cheney had to step down, he should have done so before the cloud of suspicion gathered.

Now, short of Cheney dying, his leaving will only hurt Bush and take away any chances to stop the Kerry-Edwards momentum.

[tlcandie]

2. Georgie boy shows his true self yet again ...

<snip>
Cheney, however, is standing firm and recently told Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont to “fuck off” when the Senator questioned him on the Halliburton matters.

According to White House sources, President George W. Bush laughed the matter off at a recent cabinet meeting.

“Fuck ‘em all,” Bush said.
<snip>

I think this will be his motto for the November election as well!!! Beware!

[aquart]

9. Well, at least he's sincere about it.

[0007]

12. .... a proven point - “Fuck ‘em all”

and your right junior is very sincere under god.

[radfringe]

14. yeah, he's a 'regular' guy alright

right down to the use of language...

if the FCC wouldn't come crashing in with guns ablazing -- this would be good in an ad

or how about a 'toon -- with bush sitting on cheney's lap

cheney saying "go fuck yourself", bush* laughing "yeah, unca dick, fuck 'em all"

Potty-mouth and mini-potty-mouth

[The Zanti Regent]

20. I guess Bush really said CHENEY YOU!

After all, Falwell, Robertson, Paul and Jan Crouch and those other lying crooked TV Preachers keep telling us what a Man of GAWD President Asshole is!

[Ilsa]

50. In 1999, in a Talk Magazine interview with Tucker Carlson,

not-yet-pretzeldent Potty Mouth used alot of foul language in his interview. (Sorry, I don't have a link.)

[Generator]

60. Well I can honestly say at last we've found something

this adminstration does exceedingly well.

[Pachamama]

3. I think that after Kerry/Edwards win & the Congress & Senate go Dem again

...that a law should be passed that is as follows:

- Any company with whom a sitting President, VP, or Secretary of a Dept. has had an employment relationship within 20 years is eligible for participating in no-bid contracts for services or products.

- No Senator or Congressional Representative may go work for a lobbying group within 2 years after leaving congress.

- Any member of SCOTUS that goes on Duck hunting trips or other "social activities" with members of the Executive Branch and who have to consider a case involving those members, need to recuse themselves for that case

Then, if laws like this passed, maybe people like myself could start having faith in this country again and know its not for sale to the Corporate Thieves....

[aquart]

10. You mean "ineligible," right?

[Pachamama]

13. INELIGIBLE....Sorry its late....n/t

[luaneryder]

23. There is already a non compete clause

for federal employees who work in acquisitions. I'm not sure of the wording, but I know it applied to the supply type folks within the VA system. Of course, a surly, snarly VP would be immune.

[Pachamama]

31. Interesting - And why shouldn't this clause apply to the Exec Branch?

...I'd love to see this clause....I remember when I worked in the Hi-tech industry and our company's Federal division had to meet a whole bunch of requirements and submit competitive bids for Gov't contracts.

How any of the contracts awarded in Iraq were allowed to circumvent this process and be awarded to our VP's former (sorta former) company is amazing to me....and should be highly illegal....

[theHandpuppet]

42. Good suggestions -- but let's also...

... clean up our own house. I've posted this info here several times before, but it still pisses me off that Sen Daschles' own wife is a lobbyist for a mercenary contractor, one which is makng a tidy profit while young American men and women are dying in PNAC's oil war. If this isn't a conflict of interest I don't know what is:

http://www.indyweek.com/durham/2003-07-23/cover.html

The firms also maintain platoons of Washington lobbyists to help keep government contracts headed their way. In 2001, according to the most recent federal disclosure forms, 10 private military companies spent more than $32 million on lobbying. DynCorp retained two lobbying firms that year to successfully block a bill that would have forced federal agencies to justify private contracts on cost-saving grounds. MPRI's parent company, L-3 Communications, had more than a dozen lobbyists working on its behalf, including Linda Daschle, wife of Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle. Last year L-3 won $1.7 billion in Defense Department contracts.

[DeepModem Mom]

4. Why Cheney has been so Cheneying testy lately??? n/t

[truthisfreedom]

5. looks like he cHENEYED HIMSELF! read the end of the article too!

wow, if true, i'm both pleased and dismayed at the prospect of McCain taking his place. say it's not so, John!

this is the BEST PART of the article:

Cheney, however, is standing firm and recently told Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont to “fuck off” when the Senator questioned him on the Halliburton matters.

According to White House sources, President George W. Bush laughed the matter off at a recent cabinet meeting.

“Fuck ‘em all,” Bush said.

The President’s bravado, however, is not shared by worried White House aides. Some point to the last vice president to step down because of fraud and corruption – Spiro T. Agnew, who served under President Richard M. Nixon, another Republican forced to leave office because of scandal.

[lostnfound]

6. McCain as replacement? We would have a tough battle, I think.

That would explain McCain's willingness to go campaigning for George.

[rooboy]

7. Do you mean the John McCain....

who is Bush's "second choice for vp"??

or the John McCain who was considered "so liberal that even the Democrats considered tapping him"??

The right wing's own poisoned rhetoric will make it very hard for him to be a viable running mate.

[Judi Lynn]

11. Seems it would only be right to emphasize everything the pResident

has done to McCain, absolutely, starting with all those rumors they floated about McCain during the primary in 2000:

Six years later, it's South Carolina, and Bush is running for the Republican presidential nomination against Arizona Sen. John McCain. The rumors start again, and this time McCain is the target. Maybe he's mentally unstable; maybe he has "sired" an illegitimate black child; maybe his wife has a drug problem. "A day in the McCain campaign looked like a day at NORAD watching missiles coming across the screen," says Trey Walker, who served as McCain's national field director. "We had a thousand missiles coming in every day."

After McCain meets with a group of gay Republicans, somebody sends anonymous letters about the meeting to South Carolina legislators who had endorsed him. Somebody distributes a flier calling McCain the "fag candidate."

Bush wins South Carolina, then the Republican nomination, then the presidency.

Neither Bush nor Rove nor the Republican Party will talk about what happened in Texas or South Carolina, or how they plan to use the gay marriage issue as a political tool in 2004. The White House did not respond to requests for interviews for this story, nor did the Republican National Committee or a top official in Bush-Cheney '04. But if the Republicans are silent, Democrats say their past speaks volumes.
(snip/...)

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:aoI1lYTtcDwJ:www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/02/26/gay_marriage/+Bush+rumors+%22John+McCain%22+wife&hl=en

[lostnfound]

17. Oh good, you are cheering me up! :)

[calimary]

43. Or the John McCain who's supposed to have fathered that

black child out of wedlock - according to the kkkarl rove rumor-mongers? And wouldn't that be the same John McCain who swallowed it all and got back down on his knees before bush, and didn't voice outrage over the slams against his wife, their marriage, and their innocent adopted daughter - unlike Joseph Wilson who fights for his wife's good name?

[2Design]

28. McCain has said he would not be any ones VP,...he wants pres

[hansolsen]

34. How would Kerry / Edwards stack up against McCain / Guliani?

I've been saying for a long time that it is not a given that Shrub will be on the ticket in November.

A couple of bad days in Iraq, a Plame indictment, a torture expose, and he could be outta here. It is not beyond the realm of possiblity. I used to think it was only about a 2% chance, then I upgraded to a 5% chance. Now I'm really starting to wonder.

[midnight armadillo]

40. Did you see the Daily Show last night?

They theorized on this very matchup, that Bush/Cheney couldn't stand up to Kerry/Edwards so would be replaced by McCain/Guiliani. In turn,the Democrats would run a kitten/ice cream cone ticket - cute and sweet things.

[ashling]

15. The important point to this lbn is not the fact that there was a contract,

we all know that, and we all know what Cheney said. The story maintains that "an analysis by the White House counsel’s office concludes"

Unless I am ignorant of something else, this is new... and is the important part of the story.

[FreakinDJ]

16. Cheney is still on the Haliburton pay roll.........board of directors

I read he donates his salery to charity.

Donates the money to charity

Doesn't say what he does with the stock options

[dusty64]

18. It sure as hell isn't raising

"warning flags" anywhere else. The corporate media is WAY too busy shredding the "inexperienced trial lawyer" to give two shits about our war criminal in the WH. So what else is new.

[MaineDem]

19. I thought there was no attorney-client privilege with WH counsel

I'm pretty sure I read that somewhere.

[Athame]

26. I thought so, too

Isn't that the reason both shrub* and snarl had to "lawyer up"? And what is the White House Counsel doing advising on personal criminal actions? I thought that the WHC is only supposed to provide opinions on administration actions, not actions of individuals within the administration. :shrug:

[truth2power]

30. I seem to remember that Clinton

couldn't even talk to the WH counsel because there could be no atty/client privilege.

Of course, Clinton, being a Democrat, had no rights. Only Repugs don't
have to worry about the law.

sorry...my bad! x(

[Spazito]

22. I find it interesting that it is only after Kerry has chosen his...

running mate that there are calls for Cheney to "step down" or "be replaced". I think the repubs were just waiting to see who Kerry chose before putting up a new "front man" VP for the election while Cheney still controls the reins behind the scenes.

[cthrumatrix]

24. good point......

[missile_bender]

25. Dick needs a trial lawyer.

I wonder if John Edwards is available?

[IndianaGreen]

29. Mark Geragos is tied up with the Scott Peterson case

Johnny Cochran is no longer in criminal law practice.

Cheney is toast!

How come I don't feel sorry for the guy?

[Jackpine Radical]

33. I think Dershowitz is available.

As a side benefit, he's already up to speed on the torture issue, in case that stuff raises its head too.

[NashVegas]

27. I Put About as Much Stock in Cap Hill Blue as the National Review

That said, I'm wondering if the White House would use this story to ditch Cheney as a way to avoid having the Energy Task Force shit brought out.

[hansolsen]

35. Ya, but

I can't vouch for CHB but the story does make intuitive sense, doesn't it? -- rings true -- right as rain.

[Zolok]

32. I hope the rat bastards panic like

vermin in a firestorm!
Wait til they figure out that the puppet cannot hire or fire it's puppeteer!
:)
See the "warning flags" then!

www.chimesatmidnight.blogspot.com

[TankLV]

37. Only about 3 1/2 years too l ate!

nt

[Mithras61]

38. Since the actions of the dick are illegal, how...

does the attorney/client privilege protect this? Are they trying to say that OUR attorney is no longer working for US? Remember, the White House Counsel's advice is not protected by attorney/client privilege. Further, since this is OUR attorney, not the dick's, it can't be protected under executive privilege! It isn't advice on a matter before the White House, it is a legal opinion from OUR attorney about the actions of the dick on OUR behalf!

[Auntie Bush]

55. But the Dick was doing official business! He was determining

how to best spend our precious tax dollars. Isn't that official White House business? Not to worry...he'll get executive privilege!

[DrBB]

39. Well, okay. But Capitol Hill Blue has a warning flag too

This is a somewhat--I stress the qualifier--dubious source. Someone else may be better able to fill in the details than I, but he got played very badly by the GOP spinners a while back. Got suckered by a fraudulent "intel" source as part of a Reichpublican water-muddying operation.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

41. Heven't we shown that Capitolhill blue isn't trustworthy

seem to remember that

[Media_Lies_Daily]

56. No.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

58. No it isn't or no we haven't?

Now I'm more confused
:shrug:

[Manix]

45. ..these evil bastards will find some way to screw the public before Nov

[Mountainman]

46. So how much more does it tae for the media to start reporting this?

Just how corrupt will this administration have to get before the media feels the need to care more about the people of this country than they do about Bush?

[Az_lefty]

47. Whether Cheney resigns or their beaten in Nov

Bush will pardon Cheney before he leaves office. But bush can't pardon himself, and I'm sure he has some very close financial ties to cheney
and his business that haven't come to light yet.

[Francine Frensky]

52. Croney-ism vs. capitalism.... that's what to write to papers about

I'm a fan of capitalism -- bid things out and let the best win. What we have here is a secret government whose first goal is enriching their friends.

[Triana]

54. comment from a screeching wingnut

..."wtf is Capitol Hill Blue!?"

Welp.

It ain't Faux Newz or CNN (and we KNOW who OWNS them, don't we?)

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

From CHB's FAQ:

.."an outlet for the stories their outfits don't have the guts to publish.

Nobody here draws a salary. We couldn't afford to pay salaries anyway..."



That being so, I'd trust CHB more than Faux or Conservative Nazi Network.

[Th1onein]

61. "Fuck 'em all," huh? I guess we got some "moral clarity" there, right?

eom