WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Dick Cheney lashed out at President Barack Obama on Sunday, saying the Justice Department’s decision to investigate whether CIA operatives broke the law while interrogating terrorism suspects was politically motivated and dangerous to national security.
“I just think it’s an outrageous political act that will do great damage long term to our capacity to be able to have people take on difficult jobs, make difficult decisions, without having to worry about what the next administration is going to say,” Cheney said in an interview that aired on “Fox News Sunday.”
He also refused to say whether he would cooperate with the Justice Department’s inquiry.
“It will depend on the circumstances and what I think their activities are really involved in,” Cheney said.
Fox’s formal interview, conducted last week at Cheney’s Wyoming ranch, was his first since Attorney General Eric Holder announced Aug. 24 that he was conducting a preliminary review into the actions of certain CIA interrogators who might have exceeded the techniques approved by the Bush administration’s Justice Department.
Obama administration officials said they would have no comment. But one official called Cheney’s remarks inaccurate and misleading.
Cheney also said on Fox — as he has before — that the Bush administration’s “enhanced interrogation techniques” saved American lives and prevented terrorist attacks. The techniques included waterboarding, which simulates drowning.
