Suit Against Cheney Task Force Dismissed
story.news.yahoo.com
By PETE YOST, Associated Press Writer
The following are excerpts from Mr. Yost's article:
WASHINGTON (AP) -" A federal judge Monday dismissed a lawsuit filed
by the investigative arm of Congress against Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task force. "
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story.news.yahoo.com
" Democratic Reps. Henry Waxman of California and John Dingell of Michigan
requested information in the spring of 2001 about which industry executives
and lobbyists the Cheney task force was meeting with in formulating the
Bush administration's energy plan.
As the dispute grew, Democratic Sens. Carl Levin of Michigan, Joseph
Lieberman of Connecticut, Ernest Hollings of South Carolina and Byron
Dorgan of North Dakota joined the fight, urging that Cheney disclose data
about his industry meetings.
The Cheney energy plan called for expanded oil and gas drilling on public
land and easing regulatory barriers to building nuclear power plants. Among
the proposals: Drilling in the Arctic wildlife refuge and possibly reviving
nuclear fuel reprocessing, which was abandoned in the 1970s as a nuclear
proliferation threat.
The congressional arm of Congress argued that its statutory responsibilities
give it broad powers to investigate government programs and demand almost
all government documents required to help Congress.
In courtroom arguments in September, Deputy Solicitor General Paul
Clement of the Justice Department (news - web sites) said Congress has
other ways to seek the information other than relying on the GAO. Congress
could subpoena them or seek information through the appropriations
process, said Clement.
Carter Phillips, an attorney representing the comptroller general, argued that
dismissing the case, as Cheney's attorney asked, would impede the GAO's
ability to do its work as the investigative agency of Congress.
Phillips argued that the president and vice president are not immune from
the oversight responsibilities of Congress and noted that the White House
had refrained from invoking formal executive privilege to protect the energy
task force documents.
The suit asked the court to require Cheney to reveal who attended the
energy tax force meetings, with whom the task force met to develop its
energy recommendations, how it determined whom to invite and how much
it cost to develop the policy.
A small part of the Cheney task force's contacts have been revealed - the
meetings with the executives of Enron Corp. Cheney's office released the
information last January amid political pressure that was building over the
collapse of the nation's seventh-largest corporation. Enron and its
executives have been George W. Bush's biggest political campaign
contributor over the years.
Cheney said that Enron representatives met six times with the vice
president or his aides about energy policy, including a discussion in
mid-October, 1 1/2 months before the company's collapse. Cheney's office
also said that former Enron chairman Kenneth Lay met once with Cheney.
Details of the discussions were not released.
While the Cheney task force's operations have remained largely a secret,
various federal agencies in lawsuits have been forced to release a wide
range of information about their industry contacts in assisting the Cheney
panel's efforts.
Separately, two private groups are suing the Cheney task force, seeking
release of documents about the industry contacts of the now-defunct
Cheney panel. It prepared the plan in the early months of Bush's presidency
and released it publicly in May 2001."
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