Legal Commentary

Justice Hiding CIA/NSA Memos From The President-Elect?

By Big Tent Democrat

Can you imagine the chutzpah?:

A senior Justice Department official said Tuesday that "99.8 percent" of the department's work with President-elect Barack Obama's transition team has gone smoothly. The 0.2 percent snag: The department has reservations about granting the team's request to review classified legal opinions related to secret CIA and National Security Agency programs.

(Emphasis supplied.) Check the shredders. Here's the excuse:

[AG Mukasey]said OLC opinions are issued at the request of other agencies with their "own equity or interest in the information. And so what we try to do is determine whether, and to what extent, we can clear that information and try to do it as quickly as we can so as to get it to the transition team so that they're aware of all the things that they need when they take over on the 21st," Mukasey said, according to a transcript provided by the department.

(Emphasis supplied.) Excuse me, what in the hell happened to the "Unitary Executive" (the relatively respectable one, not the crazy one (more here)) Theory? Can not the POTUS just say to Executive Branch officials 'give them everything they want?' Something stinks here, and I bet the "in the tank for Brennann, Hayden and McConnell" people have something to do with this. They are hiding what they did from Obama before he makes his intelligence choices. Just watch.

Speaking for me only

Full post as published by TalkLeft on December 11, 2008 (boomark / email).