Newsweek: Cheney tried to abolish the gov't unit that monitors the handling of government secrets

sabra

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Wed Dec-26-07 09:50 AM
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Newsweek: Cheney tried to abolish the gov't unit that monitors the handling of government secrets

Edited on Wed Dec-26-07 10:07 AM by sabra

http://www.newsweek.com/id/81883/page/1

Challenging Cheney

A National Archives official reveals what the veep wanted to keep classified--and how he tried to challenge the rules
By Michael Isikoff | Newsweek Web Exclusive
Dec 24, 2007

J. William Leonard learned the hard way the perils of questioning Vice President Dick Cheney. The veteran National Archives official challenged claims by the Office of Vice President (OVP) to be exempt from federal rules governing classified information. His efforts touched off a firestorm—and a counter-strike by Cheney's chief of staff, David Addington, who tried to wipe out Leonard's job. (Addington did not respond to requests for comment on the subject.)

Now, Leonard is quitting as director of the Archives' Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO)—the unit that monitors the handling of government secrets. He tells NEWSWEEK that his fight with Cheney's office was a "contributing" factor in his decision to retire after 34 years of government service.

<snip>

So how did matters escalate?
The challenge arose last year when the Chicago Tribune was looking at (ISOO's annual report) and saw the asterisk )reporting that it contained no information from OVP) and decided to follow up. And that's when the spokesperson from the OVP made public this idea that because they have both legislative and executive functions, that requirement doesn't apply to them.…They were saying the basic rules didn't apply to them. I thought that was a rather remarkable position. So I wrote my letter to the Attorney General (asking for a ruling that Cheney's office had to comply.) Then it was shortly after that there were (email) recommendations (from OVP to a National Security Council task force) to change the executive order that would effectively abolish (my) office.

Who wrote the emails?
It was David Addington.

...

A number of people have noted that the vice president's office stopped reporting to you and complying with ISOO in the fall of 2003 when the whole Valerie Plame case blew up. Do you think there was a connection?

I don't have any insight. I was held at arms length (from that.) But some of the things based on what I've read (have) given me cause for concern. A number of prosecution exhibits (in the Plame-related perjury trial of I. Scooter Libby, Cheney's former chief of staff) were annotated, 'handle as SCI.' SCI is Sensitive Compartmentalized Information, the most sensitive classified information there is. As I recall, (one of them) was (the vice president and his staff) were coming back from Norfolk where they had attended a ship commissioning and they were conferring on the plane about coming up with a (media) response plan (to the allegations of Plame's husband, Iraq war critic Joseph Wilson.) That was one of the exhibits marked, 'handle as SCI.'

These were internal communications about what to say to the press?
Let me give you some the irony of that. Part of the National Archives is the presidential libraries….So we're going to have documents (at the libraries) with the most sensitive markings on it that isn't even classified. If I were going to do a review (of OVP), that would be one of the questions I would want to ask: What is this practice? And how widespread is it? And what is the rationale? How do we assure that people don't get this mixed up with real secrets?