Now, I know that most of our readers have probably read the Constitution, well read, so on and so forth. So it should come to no surprise to any of us that Vice President Cheney, has within his constitutional rights, declared himself to be outside the Executive Branch. As such he is exempt from the order Bush signed to safeguard confidential material within the government in 2003.

So, one wonders, where exactly then does Cheney believe the Vice President’s office fit into the scheme of checks and balances, perhaps as President of the Senate, he’s really a legislative officer, but then he’d still have to share his records. No, clearly Cheney is advocating something beyond just the unitary executive theory that Bush’s legal supporters love to tout, no this is the I’m Dick Fucking Cheney Theory of Vice Presidential Power, and I will do whatever I want.

Thankfully, Representative Waxman and House Oversight, is, as always, on the case. The Money Quote:

As described in a letter from Chairman Waxman to the Vice President, the National Archives protested the Vice President’s position in letters written in June 2006 and August 2006. When these letters were ignored, the National Archives wrote to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in January 2007 to seek a resolution of the impasse. The Vice President’s staff responded by seeking to abolish the agency within the Archives that is responsible for implementing the President’s executive order.

In his letter to the Vice President, Chairman Waxman writes: “I question both the legality and wisdom of your actions. … [I]t would appear particularly irresponsible to give an office with your history of security breaches an exemption from the safeguards that apply to all other executive branch officials.”

Addendum: A longer treatment of this story can be found in the morning’s NYT. -Z