Dick: Obama, not Holder is Chief Law Enforcement Officer

Main Justice website:

Yet Cheney said the Constitution confers ultimate law enforcement authority on the president, not the Attorney General.

Well, I think if you look at the Constitution, the president of the United States is the chief law enforcement officer in the land. The attorney general’s a statutory officer. He’s a member of the cabinet.

Cheney appears to be taking an expansive view of Article II of the Constitution, which says:

“The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States.” Yet in practice and common understanding, the chief law enforcement officer of the United States is the Attorney General. The Judiciary Act of 1789 established the AG’s office, “which evolved over the years into …. chief law enforcement officer of the Federal Government,” the Department of Justice’s Web site says.

The Attorney General’s office is unique in that it is expected to enforce the nation’s laws fairly, uphold the Constitution and represent the broader interests of the American people, not the political interests of the White House. While President Obama has said he opposes a new review of the CIA interrogation methods, he’s also repeatedly said the decision ultimately lies with Holder.

While no Attorney General is deaf and dumb to politics, there are lines that can’t be crossed without an uproar.

President Nixon’s attorney general, Elliot Richardson, resigned in protest when Nixon fired the Watergate special counsel, Archibald Cox. FBI Director Robert Mueller and then-Deputy Attorney General James Comey almost resigned after the White House tried to pressure then-Attorney General John Ashcroft, who was in the hospital, to reauthorize surveillance techniques believed to be illegal. And Attorney General Alberto Gonzales resigned after it was revealed the White House had directed the firings of nine U.S. Attorneys for political reasons.

Nice try, Dick. Obviously, you didn't read the entire Article II of the Constitution correctly since you were not the President of the United States. The Constitution itself confers no law enforcement powers on the Presidency, or even the Executive Branch, except for those powers expressly mandated by the Congress. As far as the scope and position of the AG’s powers, all the law enforcement powers of the Presidency, are limited to only those that Congress obligates upon it. They are, in fact, not ‘powers’ so much as ‘duties’, and the authorization to fulfill those such duties. Yes, AG Holder is the cabinet head for the Justice Department. But, as the Attorney General, Holder is considered to be the chief lawyer of the U.S. government.

Finally, Dick Cheney still believes that he is above the law. And the media will ignore this comment from Cheney on Fox News. When asked if he would cooperate with the Special Prosecutor's torture investigation, Cheney said that he may not cooperate with the investigation. From The Public Record:

“It will depend on the circumstances and what I think their activities are really involved in,” Cheney said about the prospects of cooperating with an investigation. “I’ve been very outspoken in my views on this matter. I’ve been very forthright publicly in talking about my involvement in these policies."