DU Lawyers! Front and Center! Executive Order 12958: Help!

Please refer to http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/03/20030325-11.html

or to the cornell links here: http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode42/usc_sec_42_00002162----000-notes.html

I think the standing executive order that applies is 12958 and I think that declassification requires a 'Declassification Guide' (except in emergencies) and that Mr. Bush has violated the law, plain and simple, unless he can come up with the Declassification Guide or the directive requesting the agency (NSA?) to create one for the sections of the NIE he spontaneously declassified.

Please help!

because Bush lied.

He lied to the prosecutors in a Grand Jury Investigation. He lied to the American people repeatedly.

The only thing he hasn't lied about is not getting a blow job because no one will give him one.

If the assertion is being made that nothing illegal occurred when in fact Mr. Bush violated his own executive order, then the spin is yet another lie. I understand that "He lied to the prosecutors in a Grand Jury Investigation. He lied to the American people repeatedly". He also may have admitted to violating the law by admitting that he released the contents of the NIE without a Declassification Guide.

I heard it's not so bad if you pretend you're sucking something else.

He looks like he has cooties for brains.

could find some volunteers to do it for the good of the country.

:patriot:

God Bless America!
:patriot:

Let the Eagle soooooooooooooaar!

:loveya:

That's the kind of gal I am. :hi:

Clintons little indescretion is starting to look pretty harmless, isn't it.

That tickled me! :D

you might want to pop over to my earlier post, for a bit of info, courtesy of Henry Waxman:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2557032

IMHO, he didn't declassify it via normal channels, i.e. Tenet at the least, he just authorized Scooter to leak selectively to ONE PERSON (Judith Miller), with the suggestion by Cheney (I think) that it be on deep background and as a former hill staffer.

That approach is too complicated for me. If declassification requires a Declassification Guide, and if neither Cheney nor Bush directed the agency that owns the NIE to produce one, then the law was violated. All they have to do is produce the guide, which I don't think they can.

a doc. can be declassified by the Dept. superior, and as President, Shrub did have the authority to declassify it, BUT there is a precedure that must be followed, and unless Shrub CHANGED the requirements of the original executive order, it appears that he did break the law by not following the procedure.

I don't know if there's any proof of that, or should I say "if they manufactured any proof of that", but appparently they are aware of the issue!

about this said that the procedures were followed AFTER the leak occurred.

Scotty said that the document was declassified through proper procedure "around the same time" in July of 2003, but this leak is believed to have occured in JUNE. Sounds like an after-the-fact declassification to me.

Especially with that scumbag, Gonzales!!

Besides, if things get too heated Bush will just pardon Libby!!

We should really think about getting rid of Gonzales, it's obvious he does not work for the people, but as Bush's private attorney.

Let's see....got around the torture laws, everytime Bush breaks a law Gonzales finds loophole and deems it LEGAL.....illegal wiretaps become legal.....search your home no warrant....legal......read your e-mails.....legal......declare you an enemy combatant with no legal representation.......legal......

According to Gonzales, this maniacal president can do anything he damn well pleases!!!

TIME TO TURN UP THE HEAT ON GONZALES NOW!!!

This either documents a leak as it does not predate the selective release of the NIE, clears the VP and the President of wrong doing, or will be another felony on the road to ruin or overt dictatorship.

I say bring it on!

1. In order to declassify the NIE report, Bush was required to consult with the head of the CIA, Tenet, which he did not.

2. The entire report was not declassified, only the information that could be used to validate the WH's argument for war. Negative information was not disclosed.

These two points, IMHO, make the declassification of the information illegal. The information was not released in its entirety and it was not done for the public good but for political purposes meant to mislead the public.

I'm not a lawyer, but

Sec. 6.2. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall supersede any requirement made by or under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, or the National Security Act of 1947, as amended. "Restricted Data" and "Formerly Restricted Data" shall be handled, protected, classified, downgraded, and declassified in conformity with the provisions of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and regulations issued under that Act.

(b) The Attorney General, upon request by the head of an agency or the Director of the Information Security Oversight Office, shall render an interpretation of this order with respect to any question arising in the course of its administration.

(c) Nothing in this order limits the protection afforded any information by other provisions of law, including the Constitution, Freedom of Information Act exemptions, the Privacy Act of 1974, and the National Security Act of 1947, as amended. This order is not intended to and does not create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law by a party against the United States, its departments, agencies, officers, employees, or agents. The foregoing is in addition to the specific provisos set forth in sections 3.1(b) and 5.3(e) of this order."

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/03/20030325-11.html

when America thought it was protected by vast oceans un-crossable by British and German troops. Isolated from any sort of "native" people who could do us harm.

Executive Orders written by ex-Presidents are just suggestions. They are ex-Presidents. Why should we follow orders of someone who isn't President anymore? When you buy a house, the previous owner might leave a note that says, "Keep thermostat at 65 degrees. But you're the new owner. It's your house. You don't have to follow that order. If past Presidents were so good at writing executive orders, why aren't they still President? Bush's executive orders will be around a long time, because he's going to write one that says he doesn't have to stop being pResident because we are at war.


:sarcasm:

Executive Order
Further Amendment to Executive Order 12958,
As Amended, Classified National Security Information

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/03/20030325-11.html

On edit: OOPS! just noticed the sarcasm dripping thingy. Oh well, it's not as much fun if we're actually in agreement, but I'll leave my post anyway. :D

And an EO written by the current President is law and must be followed by everyone, including the President, until it is amended or revoked by the President. In other words, he can revoke an EO by issuing another EO but, barring that, is bound by it.

(IANAL so someone correct me if I'm wrong).

Look at a few EOs written by JFK. Some of them revoke EOs written in the 50s. Some of them are amended or revoked decades later.

Being ex-CIA and condemning this kind of stuff?

He's on it...

There's been a whole lot of "everyone knows" and "of course, the President can declassify, spy, start wars," etc. But can he "spontaneously declassify?" Can he just shoot from the hip and reveal an undercover agent? That doesn't seem very governmental to me as nobody burns paper better than our federal government.

Also, why did Tenet get em bunched enough to order an DoJ investigation? Wasn't he informed that the UE had spontaneously declassified his agent?

would like to know -- where's all these liberal lawyers we keep hearing so much about??