Another win in CREW's case against Cheney: Judge tells VP's office to discuss discovery with CREW
More good news in our lawsuit against Vice President Dick Cheney.
Today in CREW v. Cheney, District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly issued an order directing the parties to confer on the need for discovery before briefing on the merits. This order follows her ruling on Saturday ordering the vice president and the Office of the Vice President (OVP) to preserve all records, widely defined, as the law requires.
Anne Weismann, CREW’s chief counsel said today:
By this order, the court appears to recognize the need for additional fact-finding beyond what the OVP has attested in sworn declarations it is preserving and we anticipate that it will lead to depositions of White House officials in the very near future.
In the lawsuit, which was filed on September 9, 2008, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington was joined by historians and archivists against Vice President Cheney, the OVP and the National Archives and Records Administration because of their unlawfully narrow interpretation of their obligations under the President Records Act.
Cover All The Bases!
With Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly order for VP Cheney to preserve OVP documentation and records, I hope CREW's Legal Eagles are taking into consideration the fact that Cheney has conducted much business out of both the official VP residence at the Naval Observatory as well as at his nearby Maryland home.
In reading Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly's order, I suspect that VP Cheney's Legal Beagles could convince themselves that the order does not apply to "work" that VP Cheney has conducted at "home".
The fact that VP Cheney has fought so hard to keep secret the visitor logs to these "homes" should give CREW pause to consider how much off-the-books secret "work" VP Cheney has conducted out of these "homes" and the likelihood that VP Cheney will indeed treat the documentation and records produced at these "homes" as "personal" material not subject to PRA.
CREW may even want to consider the likelihood that VP Cheney and his Legal Beagles consider the documentation and records produced at these "homes" as "not discoverable" in your current lawsuit.
Just saying!
You will receive nothing.
You will receive nothing. Bet on it. What exactly will anyone do to Cheney but gnash teeth and tear hair if he doesn't comply? I have yet to see a single instance of punishment for the myriad trespasses of the Bush administration. Sad, but true.
I concur. Cheney won't give
I concur. Cheney won't give anything. What is any other branch of government going to do about it? Write a stern letter? Contact the Department of (snicker) Justice?
Sad but true
Absolutely right - you will receive nothing. The executive branch in power in Washington believes that it is above the law of the land. Court orders are meaningless to them no matter what the judge rules. You are wasting your time.
Hit him where it hurts
Invoice Dick a million a day in costs until he complies.
One problem . . .
If you charge him a million a day he'll just take it out of the tax payers anyway.
Right. Better make it a
Right. Better make it a billion and it has to be in cash. And no fair dropping by the US ATM before visiting the judge.
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It is unlikely there is
It is unlikely there is anyone who supports, as vigorously, the belief of the Imperial Presidency. The man is obsessed with it. With Mukasey and Justice, firmly in his pocket, and a republican SCOTUS, he has little to fear from a federal district court ruling. Who is really going to enforce it? Bush and Cheney have undermined and subverted every branch of government. Even though they do not control Congress, the republicans have learned to act in unison to block legislation from ever coming to a vote. At least we still have the fourth estate as a last line of defense, right? Well, actually no. They also have the MSM under their control.
Today, the only thing we really have is each other and our refusal to throw in the towel. And, we have this marvelous internet, which allows us to link to the many great sources, for news, opinion and the sharing of ideas. My hat is off the the thousand of citizens who founded and maintain this invaluable resource. It is the only thing which really keeps me going. Someday, it will provide us the means to go after guys like Cheney. As it is, it will be difficult. If Obama is elected, I hope Cheney will be prosecuted in criminal court. If ever a public official deserved it, he does.