Former Dick Cheney aide David Addington is headed to the conservative Heritage foundation. Addington will serve, according to the Daily Caller as vice president for domestic and economic policy studies — but he’s most famous for advocating vast Presidential powers. Under Cheney, he allegedly helped to shape an infamous Justice Department memo sanctioning torture in some cases, and was a key architect of the previous administration’s warrantless surveillance program
Addington served as Cheney’s counsel, and as his chief or staff. Like his old boss, he kept a notoriously low profile, though wielded a great deal of power, and was contemptuous of those in the media and on the Hill who sought to check that power.
In 2008, he declined to answer questions from Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-MA), arguing that “al Qaeda may watch C-SPAN.”
Brian Beutler
Brian Beutler is TPM's senior congressional reporter. Since 2009, he's led coverage of health care reform, Wall Street reform, taxes, the GOP budget, the government shutdown fight, and the debt limit fight. He can be reached at brian@talkingpointsmemo.com.
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