Bush declines to identify the executives he discussed energy policy with
By SONYA ROSS
The Associated Press
1/28/02 9:16 PM
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Setting the stage for a showdown with
congressional Enron investigators, President Bush said Monday he will
not identify the executives who met with him about energy policy.
"It's an encroachment on the executive branch's ability to conduct
business," he said.
The head of the General Accounting Office, Congress' investigative arm,
said he will decide this week whether to sue to force the White House to
turn over documents on the meetings Vice President Dick Cheney held
with energy companies. They included the now-collapsed Enron Corp., a
Houston-based concern with deep ties to Bush.
Bush said that as president he reserves the right to hold private
consultations about policy. Like Cheney, who predicted this matter will be resolved in court,
Bush said he would resist the GAO's efforts.
"In order for me to be able to get good, sound opinions, those who offer me opinions, or
offer the vice president opinions, must know that every word they say is not going to be put
into the public record," Bush said. "We're not going to let the ability for us to discuss matters
between ourselves to become eroded."
The White House has said that representatives of Enron, the troubled
energy trader that was ranked as the seventh-largest U.S. corporation,
met six times last year with Cheney or his aides to discuss energy
issues. The GAO has not announced a decision about its next steps but
its head, Comptroller General David Walker, said Sunday, "The ball is in
the White House's court."
The White House went into a protective stance Monday, as if the GAO
had already decided to sue. When asked whether the White House would
try to avoid a lawsuit, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer noted the
flurry of news stories about the matter and said: "If you read what they
leaked over the weekend, they've already said they're going to."
In an interview with CNN, Cheney said the administration made these
same arguments against disclosure with the GAO last summer, and the
agency backed off at that time.
"I think because they know they've got a weak case," he said.
"What's happened now, since Enron's collapse, is the suggestion that
somehow now the GAO ought to come back and get this information,"
Cheney said. "The collapse of Enron in no way, shape or form affects the
basic principles we're trying to protect here. This is about the ability of
future presidents and vice presidents to do their job."
Congressional Democrats, however, accused the White House of
stonewalling.
Philip Schiliro, chief of staff to Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., senior
Democrat on the House Government Reform Committee, said the GAO is
not seeking the records of internal deliberations within the administration,
as the White House says; investigators want only the names of the
company officials or lobbyists and the subjects they brought up.
"It sounds as if they're (the White House) in denial. And it also sounds like
they're making a concerted effort to not address the issue that's been
raised," Schiliro said.
Bush dismissed the political implications.
"This is not a political issue. This is a business issue that this nation must
deal with," Bush said. "Enron made contributions to a lot of people around
Washington, D.C. If they came to this administration looking for help, they
didn't find any."
As to suggestions that the administration's energy policy was riven with
items from Enron's "wish list," Bush replied: "Well, Enron went bust. ... It
went broke because there was not full disclosure of finances. What we're
talking about here is a corporate governance issue."
Thousands of employees and big and small investors nationwide lost
fortunes in Enron's plunging stock as the company spiraled into the
biggest bankruptcy in U.S. history on Dec. 2.
The Justice Department is pursuing a criminal investigation of Enron and
its longtime auditor, the accounting firm Arthur Andersen. The Securities
and Exchange Commission has been investigating since Oct. 31. Eleven
congressional panels also have opened inquiries.
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