ASHINGTON, June 21—In an open letter to Vice President Cheney, the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform today revealed that the vice president is seeking to close down a branch of the National Archives charged with oversight of executive branch secrecy, The New York Times reports.

Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Ca.) posted his letter on the committee's website. The eight-page letter, accompanied by supporting documentation, described the vice president's resistance to routine oversight of his office over the last four years. According to the letter, the vice president first refused the Information Security Oversight Office's annual request for data regarding his staff's document-classification procedures in 2003. The following year, Mr. Cheney's office refused to allow regular on-site inspection of its records by the oversight office. Other executive branch agencies routinely submit to such inspections, whose purpose is simply to ensure that classified documents are properly labeled and stored.

The I.S.O.O. took issue with the vice president's secrecy and has appealed the matter to the Justice Department, where it is now pending. The Justice Department has confirmed the authenticity of the letter's allegations, according to The Times.

Executive Order 12958 assigns the National Archives to monitor documents classified by the executive branch. Mr. Cheney's office has attempted to circumvent the oversight process by noting that the Constitution vests the vice president with legislative duties in addition to his executive role. The vice president is president of the Senate.

Rep. Waxman rejected that argument as pretext. "He doesn't have classified information because of his legislative function," which is minimal, Mr. Waxman said. The vice president presides over impeachment trials and casts tiebreaking votes.

The letter added that the vice president's office has been responsible for several leaks of classified documents and "should take the efforts of the National Archives especially seriously." Mr. Waxman was alluding in particular to the now-infamous disclosure of undercover C.I.A. operative Valerie Plame's identity by several of Mr. Cheney's top aides. I. Lewis Libby, Mr. Cheney's former chief of staff, was recently convicted of federal crimes relating to the leak and is scheduled to begin serving a 30-month prison sentence soon.

Administration critics have long held that Plame's identity was revealed as retaliation against her husband, Joseph Wilson IV, a retired diplomat who debunked Bush administration assertions that Iraq had tried to buy enriched uranium from Niger. Strong circumstantial evidence, particularly the timing of the Plame leak, seem to support this interpretation.

That's why when Mr. Cheney—who already has a reputation for vindictive retaliation and a demonstrated aversion to governmental transparency—requested that the I.S.O.O. be stripped of its right to appeal to the attorney general, Rep. Waxman raised the alarm. The vice president's office has also reportedly suggested that the oversight unit be abolished altogether.

Of course, as the recent U.S. attorney scandal highlights, the Justice Department has become more politicized than ever under Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and there is no guarantee that a censure will come of the allegations. "This matter is currently under review in the department," said a Department of Justice spokesman.

The routine nature of the document review refused by the vice president's office has led some observers to speculate that Mr. Cheney "doth protest too much" and may be stonewalling investigators. The vice president's office complied with similar requests in 2001 and 2002 before first refusing to cooperate in 2003, the year the United States invaded Iraq.

Vice President Cheney has a history of extreme secrecy dating back to the earliest days of the administration, when he drew fire for refusing to reveal the names of the energy industry executives with whom he consulted in drafting a federal energy policy. He later refused to testify under oath before the 9/11 Commission.

From here.


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