Cheney's Claims Could Expose Him to Suit
Vice President Richard Cheney reversed his position last week when he asserted that he is not a member of our Executive Branch of Government. The Vice President, however, clearly took the position that he was a member of the Executive Branch in Cheney v. United States District Court for the District of Columbia, 542 U.S. 367 (2004) (involving disclosure of documents related to the Chaney led energy task force), and he benefited from that position when the Supreme Court decided to "give recognition to the paramount necessity of protecting the Executive Branch from vexatious litigation." Id. at 382. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)(3) offers a unique opportunity to test the Vice President's conflicting (and possibly fraudulent) contentions in a court room. Rule 60(b)(3) states that "[o]n motion and upon such terms as are just, the court may relieve a party or a party's legal representative from a final judgment, order, or proceeding for . . . fraud (whether heretofore denominated intrinsic or extrinsic)*, misrepresentation, or other misconduct of an adverse party . . . ."
Vice President Cheney, at worst, if he continued to maintain his position may have committed a fraud (as defined in Rule 60(b)(3)) on the United States Supreme Court (as well as other Federal Courts) when he asserted that he was a member of the Executive Branch.
