Vice President Dick Cheney has long been a target of Democrats for his role in developing and implementing the Bush White House's anti-terror policies, and Democratic legislators soon may get a chance to hold his feet to the fire over a secret proposal for a CIA hit squad.
The proposal never got off the ground, and President Obama's CIA director, Leon Panetta, canceled the plan last month after learning of its existence.
But Democrats in Congress have raised objections to the news that Cheney years ago reportedly directed the agency not to inform Congress about the proposal to train teams to kill Al Qaeda leaders abroad. The House Intelligence Committee announced Friday that it will launch an investigation to determine whether laws were broken.
Some congressional analysts, however, warn that if Democrats try to put Cheney on the hot seat, they risk blowback because of Americans' apparent ambivalence about Cheney's take-no-prisoners approach to fighting terrorism.
"I can't think of a situation better than to cross swords with congressional Democrats," Ross Baker, a political scientist at Rutgers University and a congressional scholar, told FOXNews.com. "As far as Cheney is concerned, his natural constituency is conservative Republicans, and they would rally to his side. This increases his stature."
And Cheney still would hold leverage if he defied an invitation or subpoena to appear, Baker said.
"It would put Cheney in the position of standing up to the bullies on Capitol Hill," he said. - FOX News Story
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