The Cheney Fallout

"President Bush said on Thursday that Vice President Dick Cheney had handled the disclosure of an accidental shooting of a hunting partner 'just fine' and that the incident had been a 'traumatic moment' for Mr. Cheney as well as a tragic one for the victim," reports the New York Times .

"The remarks came on the same day that the local sheriff's department investigating the shooting said its inquiry was closed and no charges would be filed.

"The president's words appeared to be an effort to tamp down widespread talk about tensions between him and Mr. Cheney. Mr. Bush's aides had made little secret all week that they wished Mr. Cheney had handled the matter differently -- in particular by disclosing it more quickly and via a more established channel than the Web site of a local newspaper in Texas -- and on Wednesday the White House signaled that Mr. Bush was sympathetic to that view."

The Boston Globe spies a pattern: "Criticism rained down on Vice President Dick Cheney this week for failing to disclose his hunting accident to the public for a day, but advocates of open government said the episode was nothing new. For five years, they said, Cheney has led the Bush administration's efforts to curtail the flow of government information.

"From fighting all the way to the Supreme Court to keep the public from seeing records of his energy task force, to withholding briefings on the domestic spying program from most members of the congressional intelligence committees, Cheney has made his penchant for secrecy a hallmark of how he and the administration do business, specialists say."

National Review's Byron York says one part of the Brit sitdown could be "enormously consequential expansion of vice presidential authority":

"Near the end of the interview, Fox anchor Brit Hume brought up a controversy arising from the CIA-leak case, in which prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald said in court papers that former top Cheney aide Lewis Libby testified he had been authorized 'by his superiors' to disclose information about the classified National Intelligence Estimate to members of the press. 'Is it your view that a Vice President has the authority to declassify information?' Hume asked.

" 'There is an executive order to that effect,' Cheney said.

" 'There is?'

" 'Yes.'

" 'Have you done it?'

" 'Well, I've certainly advocated declassification and participated in declassification decisions. The executive order -- '