White House Could be Sued Over Cheney Advisers
"Mr. Cheney met with Kenneth L.
Lay, who resigned this week as
Enron's chairman, while he was
devising energy policy last spring
and Enron executives met with
Mr. Cheney's staff four times.
Enron and its executives also
contributed millions of dollars to
the Republican Party to support
the Bush-Cheney ticket in 2000."
January 26, 2002
The New York Times
By DON VAN NATTA Jr.
W ASHINGTON, Jan. 25 -
The head of the General
Accounting Office sent a strong
signal today that he was prepared
to go to court to force the White
House to turn over the names of
industry executives who advised
Vice President Dick Cheney on
national energy policy last spring.
In an interview today, David M.
Walker, the comptroller general
of the United States, suggested
that a lawsuit against the Bush
administration was almost certain
if the White House failed to
provide the information by the
end of next week.
It would be the first time in its
history that the accounting office,
the Congressional auditing
agency that the comptroller
general heads, sued a federal
entity or federal official for
information.
"I am hopeful that we are not
going to have to go to court, but I
will do what I have to do to serve
my client and protect the G.A.O.'s
rights," Mr. Walker said.
Mr. Walker and Mr. Cheney
spoke by telephone on Thursday
about the disagreement, but no
compromise was reached, officials
said today. No further discussions
are scheduled, the officials said.
A lawsuit would intensify
pressure on Mr. Cheney at a time
when the Bush administration is
under scrutiny and criticism from
Democrats for its dealings with
the Enron Corporation
, the energy trading
giant whose collapse led to the
largest Chapter 11 bankruptcy
filing in history.
Mr. Cheney met with Kenneth L.
Lay, who resigned this week as
Enron's chairman, while he was
devising energy policy last spring
and Enron executives met with
Mr. Cheney's staff four times.
Enron and its executives also
contributed millions of dollars to
the Republican Party to support
the Bush-Cheney ticket in 2000.
The accounting office has begun
interviewing law firms to
represent the agency in a lawsuit
against the administration.
"We've never had any situation
where we were absolutely
stonewalled by a task force of this
type," Mr. Walker said. "The law
and past precedent says the
Congress has a right to this
information and can use the
G.A.O. to conduct a nonpartisan
review."
Polls show that voters think the Bush administration is
not telling all it knows about Enron. Some Republican
strategists worry that Mr. Cheney's unyielding stance on
keeping secret the names of the executives with whom he
met is contributing to public perceptions on the issue.
But there was no sign today that the vice president is
about to give in on the issue. David S. Addington, a
counselor to Mr. Cheney, said in an interview that the
administration had no intention of providing the agency a
list of those executives who met with task force officials.
"G.A.O. must respect the confidentiality needed for an
effective presidency," Mr. Addington said, reiterating the
administration's position. "G.A.O. must also follow the
statutes that limit its power. These are important
principles that the courts will enforce."
Mary Matalin, another counselor to Mr. Cheney, said he
and President Bush felt strongly that the identities of
those who met with the task force should be withheld "on
principle" to protect their privacy.
She said the White House believed that the release of the
names would have a "chilling effect" on the ability of
future task forces to persuade people to cooperate.
Almost from the first day of the Bush administration,
many Democrats and environmentalists have been
suspicious of the motives of Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney
because of their backgrounds in the oil industry.
Mr. Cheney's energy task force heard advice from a wide
array of groups and corporate executives last spring.
Some, like labor unions and environmental groups, chose
to publicize their involvement. Most executives of energy
and oil and gas companies did not.
In a meeting previously disclosed by Enron officials, Mr.
Cheney met for 30 minutes on April 17 to discuss energy
policy with Enron executives, including Mr. Lay.
In San Francisco today, the Sierra Club filed a lawsuit to
compel the administration to release the identities of
people the energy task force consulted last year.
"It's extremely unfortunate that it takes a lawsuit to learn
out how much influence polluting companies had over a
policy affecting all Americans," said Carl Pope, the
executive director of the Sierra Club. "If the White House
had conducted their meetings in the light of day, we
wouldn't need this lawsuit. The American people were
shut out of this process while energy companies and oil
industry were given the red- carpet treatment."
The group is the third to seek the information; lawsuits
have been filed by Judicial Watch and the Natural
Resources Defense Council.
Representative Henry A. Waxman, the California
Democrat who has sought the information since last
summer, said today that he believed the administration
was trying to use the case as a precedent to operate in
secrecy.
"I can't recall a situation when the executive branch has
been so unwilling to give out information in a routine
request like the one the G.A.O. put to them," Mr. Waxman
said.
Democrats say that it is hypocritical for Republicans to
refuse to release the identities of the people who advised
the energy task force. During President Bill Clinton's first
term, Republicans complained when the White House
initially refused to divulge the identities of the
participants in meetings Hillary Rodham Clinton, then
the first lady, held on national health care policy. At the
urging of Congressional Republicans, the accounting
office requested a list of participants, and the Clinton
administration complied.
Mr. Waxman said the Bush administration is trying to
carve out a legal precedent. "I think the administration is
trying to use this issue as a way to establish a new
precedent that they can operate in secrecy and not be
accountable to the public or the Congress," Mr. Waxman
said. "I think in light of the Enron situation, there's an
even greater reason for the administration to want to come
clean and talk about Enron, among other special
interests, that influenced the decisions of the energy task
force."
In an interview last year, Mr. Cheney said his task force
would "make decisions based on what we think makes
sound public policy," not on what "Enron thinks."
In May, the task force infuriated environmentalists by
proposing to open part of the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge in Alaska to energy exploration.
The task force's recommendations on electricity
deregulation resembled much of what Enron executives
said they had advocated in their meeting with Mr.
Cheney.
After reports that contributors to the Bush-Cheney
campaign had been given access to the energy task force,
Mr. Waxman and Representative John D. Dingell,
Democrat of Michigan, asked the accounting office to
obtain a complete list of everyone that the task force had
heard from. They also sought the subjects that were
discussed.
But in early August, Mr. Cheney refused to provide such
information. The matter was postponed after Sept. 11.
Then, after the collapse of Enron, lawmakers again
pushed for the information.
Earlier this week, a group of several Democratic senators
also urged the White House to turn over the information.
Some leading Republicans lawmakers said that they
believed the administration would eventually supply the
information.
Mr. Waxman, in a letter to Mr. Cheney today, asked for
additional information from the task force deliberations
about an Enron power plant project in India.
The final report of the task force recommended that the
administration work with India to "maximize its domestic
oil and gas production." It did not specifically mention the
$2.9 billion Enron project.
But Mr. Waxman said the recommendation on India
"benefited Enron by formally enlisting two cabinet
secretaries in Enron's conflict with the Indian
government."
"The energy plan does not discuss this recommendation
or explain why maximizing oil and gas production in India
should be a U.S. national energy priority," Mr. Waxman
wrote. |
