Hotline After Dark -- Fun With Dick And Jane

"World News" led with Pres. Obama's CIA visit. "Evening News" led with Wall Street's worst drop in two months. "Nightly News" led with Obama's CIA visit.

In an interview on "Hannity," ex-VP Cheney said that he would like a few more CIA memos disclosed.

Cheney: "One of the things that I find a little bit disturbing about this recent disclosure is they ... didn't put out the memos that showed the success of the effort. And there are reports that show specifically what we gained as a result of this activity. They have not
been declassified. I formally asked that they be declassified now."

More Cheney: "I haven't announced this up until now, I haven't talked about it, but I know specifically of reports that I read, that I saw that lay out what we learned through the interrogation process and what the consequences were for the country. And I've now formally asked the CIA to take steps to declassify those memos so we can lay them out there and the American people have a chance to see what we obtained and what we learned and how good the intelligence was, as well as to see this debate over the legal opinions" (FNC, 4/20).

More after the jump, including a new twist on an old scandal involving Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA).

(KATHERINE LEHR)

Weekly Standard's Hayes: "I think Dick Cheney is exactly right. What we're doing is having this discussion about harsh interrogation techniques without talking about the other side of it. And I think Mike Hayden ... made the strong case that these tactics were successful. ... Whatever you think of the process, whatever you think of the techniques, they worked. And the honest discussion would be to include the results that we got from those, as the former vice president suggests" ("Situation Room," CNN, 4/20).

MSNBC's Maddow: "Leave it to Vice President Cheney to become a convert to open government only upon the threat of his own arrest" ("Rachel Maddow Show," 4/20).

Among the other reaction to the release of the CIA memos:

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ): "The Detainee Treatment Act prohibited cruel and inhumane treatment in violation of the Geneva Conventions for the treatment of prisoners, and they violated that. There's no doubt about that. But I don't know what good it does to release these memos at this particular point" ("On the Record," FNC, 4/20).

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL): "I actually understand that we have so many issues to face. ... This is a somewhat divisive issue. So I get the politics, but I am concerned that we allowed this kind of hideous behavior to stand to some degree. ... The torture was a great recruiting tool for al-Qaeda and made it more dangerous. But I still think that, even if ... the administration doesn't want to focus on that, that the Congress needs to take another look" ("Countdown," MSNBC, 4/20).

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT): "I thought release of the memos was a bad idea. ... It wasn't necessary. It just helps our enemies. It doesn't really help us. Again, the president can decide what tactics he wants the CIA or the military to use on people we capture, suspects of terrorism. But to let our enemies know what we are going to do or not do, that's not a good idea" ("On the Record," FNC, 4/20).

Center for Constitutional Rights' Michael Ratner: "Those memos should have been released. And even more, all of the memos, all of the information that is really covering up the torture program of the United States, I think, must see public light. I think the president should no longer be taking state secrets and lawsuits that my office and others have brought when we try and get to the bottom in civil cases around the torture issue. They're still taking that position. But, certainly, these memos were a first step. But I would hope that all of the documents regarding torture are revealed" ("NewsHour," PBS, 4/20).

Ex-CIA officer/author Gary Berntsen: "I can say this. Having been inside of al-Qaeda safe houses myself and gone through the documents, frequently, they like official American documents. They download them. They study them. They train off of them. ... I don't think we should have released these documents in the first place" ("AC 360," CNN, 4/20).

CIRCLE OF FRIENDS

In '05, Time reported the FBI began investigating Harman over suspicion she had agreed to use her influence to get the DoJ to "back off" two ex-Israeli lobbyists facing espionage-related charges. "In return, alleged, the powerful Israeli lobbying group, AIPAC, would put pressure on Nancy Pelosi to give Harman" intel cmte chair if Dems won in '06.

CQ's Stein recently reported that Harman was caught on an NSA wiretap agreeing to the deal. He appeared on "Countdown" to talk about the story. Some highlights:

MSNBC's Shuster: "Congresswoman Harman denies that the original phone call happened, denies there was a transcript of it. Anything can you tell us to substantiate your reporting?"

Stein: "Well, I have three sources that talked to me about that transcript and what's on it, to one degree or another. Each ... former official I talked to had different parts of the story. But they're all aligned. And there are many officials, I should say, that know about this, at the Justice Department, the CIA, the FBI, the director of national intelligence. ... I'm told that Nancy Pelosi became very aware of this as well. ... There's a wide circle of people who have known this for some time."

Stein, asked if ex-AG Alberto Gonzales faces legal jeopardy if he "killed the investigation for political reasons: "Gonzales, as I'm told, asked the intelligence agencies to ... halt their impending investigation for the reasons that he told at least one top intelligence official, which is to say we need a clean Jane to help us on defending the administration on the wiretaps. Then that's not necessarily illegal, you
know? He wasn't saying, stop the investigation, drop the investigation, as far as my sources are concerned. But he halted it.

Stein, on Harman: "Whether she committed a crime or not -- first of all, there's no absolutely evidence of it. There was an interpretation by the Justice Department that there was a 'completed crime,' quote-unquote, and they wanted to take it further and question her. And they were not allowed to do so" (MSNBC, 4/20).

THE TEMPTATIONS

And during his FNC appearance, Cheney also critiqued Obama's performance on the int'l stage and was asked about some of his recent comments.

Cheney: "I've been concerned the way that we've been presented overseas. There is a great temptation for new administrations to come in and when you find the problem, obviously, to blame them on your predecessor. We did it. I'm sure the Obama administration is not the first one ever to do that. But what I find disturbing is the extent to which he has gone to Europe, for example, and seemed to apologize profusely in Europe, and then to Mexico, and apologize there, and so forth."

More Cheney: "You have to be very careful. The world outside there, both our friends and our foes, will be quick to take advantage of a situation if they think they're dealing with a weak president or one who is not going to stand up and aggressively defend America's interests. ... I don't think we've got much to apologize for."

Cheney, on Obama shaking hands with Venezuelan Pres. Hugo Chavez: "I didn't think much of it. ... The position we took in the Bush administration was to ignore him. I think that was the right thing to do."

FNC's Hannity: "We often hear from former President Carter, former President Clinton. We often hear from Vice President Gore, but it seemed that every time since you've left office that you speak out, people are critical that you still have opinions. Does that surprise you?"

Cheney: "No. ... After all this time, I'm not surprised by much of anything in this business. ... I've done a couple of interviews. This is the third one, I guess. I'm often asked my views on administration policy, and I'm happy to give them."

More Cheney: "It's important not to personally attack the new president -- I've never done that -- but I do think they are addressing big issues, and those positions they take should not go unanswered. I think it's important that we respond to them."

Cheney, on VP Biden calling him the most dangerous VP in American history: "It doesn't concern me. I mean, Joe Biden has been saying a lot. He has been a senator for, what, 30-some years. He's never been one who couldn't come up with a comment. ... Joe has got the job. And I wish him well" ("Hannity," 4/20).