http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/29/dickcheney.usa

The lawyer for US vice-president Dick Cheney claimed today that the
Congress lacks any authority to examine his behaviour on the job.

The
exception claimed by Cheney's counsel came in response to requests from
congressional Democrats that David Addington, the vice-president's
chief of staff, testify about his involvement in the approval of
interrogation tactics used at Guantanamo Bay.

Ruling out
voluntary cooperation by Addington, Cheney lawyer Kathryn Wheelbarger
said Cheney's conduct is "not within the [congressional] committee's
power of inquiry".

"Congress lacks the constitutional power to
regulate by law what a vice-president communicates in the performance
of the vice president's official duties, or what a vice president
recommends that a president communicate," Wheelbarger wrote to senior
aides on Capitol Hill.

The exception claimed by Cheney's office
recalls his attempt last year to evade rules for classified documents
by deeming the vice-president's office a hybrid branch of government -
both executive and legislative.

The Democratic congressman who is
investigating the legal framework for the violent interrogation of
terrorist suspects, John Conyers, has asked Addington and several other
top Bush administration lawyers to testify. Thus far all have claimed
their deliberations are privileged.

However, Philippe Sands QC,
law professor at University College, London, has agreed to appear in
Washington and discuss the revelations in Torture Team, his new book on
the consequences of the brutal tactics used at Guantanamo.

Excerpts from Torture Team were previewed exclusively by the Guardian earlier this month.

Two
witnesses sought by Conyers, former US attorney general John Ashcroft
and former US justice department lawyer John Yoo, claimed that their
involvement in civil lawsuits related to harsh interrogations allows
them to avoid appearing before Congress.

In letters to attorneys
representing Ashcroft and Yoo, Conyers shot down their arguments and
indicated he would pursue subpoenas if their clients did not testify at
his May 6 hearing.

"I am aware of no basis for the remarkable
claim that pending civil litigation somehow immunises an individual
from testifying before Congress," Conyers wrote.

Conyers, who
chairs the House of Representatives judiciary committee, also
questioned the reasoning of Cheney's lawyer in a letter to Addington.

"It
is hard to know what aspect of the invitation [to you] has given rise
to concern that the committee might seek to regulate the vice
president's recommendations to the president," Conyers wrote.

"Especially
since far more obvious potential subjects of legislation are
plentiful," he added, mentioning several: US laws on the use of torture
on terrorist suspects, the 15-year-old War Crimes Act, and the rules
that allowed the Bush White House to receive legal advice from a
specialised office within the justice department.