Think Progress
Sunday, November 5, 2006

This morning on ABC, George Stephanopoulos asked Vice President Cheney if he would testify before Congress if he was subpoenaed. Cheney said “probably not in the sense at that vice president and president and constitutional officers don’t appear before the Congress.”

Stephanopoulos noted that President Gerald Ford testified before Congress. Watch it.

Transcript:

STEPHANOPOULOS: You’ve talked a lot about the consequences of the Democrats taking over congress in the last week. Nancy Pelosi said this: “we win, speaking of the democrat, we get subpoena power.” If you’re subpoenaed by the Democrats, would you go?

CHENEY: I have no idea that i’m going to be subpoenaed. Obviously, we’d sit down and look at it at the time. But probably not in the sense at that Vice President and President and constitutional officers don’t appear before the Congress.

STEPHANOPOULOS: That’s your view of executive power? You’re not going to go up and testify.

CHENEY: I think that’s been the tradition. I can’t remember the last time a President did appear before the Congress. Or a Vice President.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Gerald Ford, I think.

CHENEY: That’s right. But not on a subpoena, he did it on his own.