Word: cheney
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...Special Relationship A former White House chief of staff, Congressman and Pentagon boss, Cheney had an uncanny ability to guide Bush's decisions. Even as he claimed expansive Executive powers for the President, Cheney salted the bureaucracy with allies who could alert him in advance about policy disagreements, help him influence internal debates at key moments and give him a leg up in framing issues for the President. He was always deferential to Bush, often waiting with head down and hands clasped behind his back to address the President. Both by habit and by design, he cultivated a relationship that...
...John Dean in Richard Nixon's counsel's office and served as Ronald Reagan's top lawyer as well. He had unrivaled experience managing allegations of White House misconduct. He also was one of the few people in Washington who had served in as many Republican Administrations as Cheney had, which meant he had uncommon stature in the West Wing. And he was everything Bush's two previous counsels, Alberto Gonzales and Harriet Miers, hadn't been: strong-willed, independent and fearless. Says an old friend: "Freddy isn't afraid of anyone. He will slit your throat with a razor...
...Fielding's arrival in early 2007 was one of several signs that the balance of power in the Administration had shifted against the Vice President. Fielding reviewed the Libby case before the appellate verdict came down and recommended against a presidential pardon. Cheney's longtime aide hadn't met the criteria: accepting responsibility for the crime, doing time and demonstrating remorse. "Pardons tend to be for the repentant," says a senior Administration official familiar with the 2007 pardon review, "not for those who think the system was politicized or they were unfairly targeted...
...excessive," commuting Libby's prison term while leaving in place the fine and, most important, the guilty verdict - which meant Libby would probably never practice law again. Fielding's recommendation was widely circulated in the White House before it was announced, and there is no evidence of disagreement. If Cheney and his allies were disappointed with Bush's decision, they did not show it, several former officials say, in part because they were, as one put it, "so happy that [Scooter] wasn't going to jail...
...reference to Clinton's troubles with truth-telling under oath in the Monica Lewinsky scandal. In the Plame investigation, a prosecutor with broad authority jarred Bush's White House by issuing deposition orders and demands for documents. Bush himself was interviewed by Fitzgerald on June 24, 2004, as was Cheney some four months later...