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Cheney energy { January 27 2002 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.newsday.com/news/printedition/ny-bagao272566925jan27070553.story?coll=ny%2Dnews%2Dprinthttp://www.newsday.com/news/printedition/ny-bagao272566925jan27070553.story?coll=ny%2Dnews%2Dprint
Suit Planned Over Cheney
Meetings
BLOOMBERG NEWS
January 27, 2002
Washington - The General Accounting Office plans to file a
lawsuit this week if the White House doesn't provide information
about Vice President Dick Cheney's meetings with energy
industry executives.
The suit, which would seek to force Cheney to provide details
about his energy task force, would be the first legal action of its
kind between the legislative and executive branches of
government.
The ultimatum comes as lawmakers seek information about the
influence Enron Corp. and other companies had on the White
House's energy plan last year.
"We are on a short fuse and will make a decision [this] week on
whether to file suit in federal court," said U.S. Comptroller
General David Walker, who heads the GAO, Congress'
investigative arm.
The White House for months has refused to provide the GAO
with the details it wants on grounds that it would hurt presidents'
ability to seek confidential policy advice.
"There are important principles at stake in ensuring that the
president and vice president can continue to receive unvarnished
advice necessary for good decision-making," White House
spokeswoman Claire Buchan said. "We always understood this
may end up in the courts, and we're prepared to stand on the
constitutional principles."
The GAO has requested information about whom Cheney met
with during the creation of the White House energy policy, when
he met them, what they discussed and how much the task force
cost. Congress has stepped up its demands for such details as it
investigates how Enron collapsed late last year in the largest
bankruptcy in history.
Cheney met with former Enron chairman Kenneth Lay while he
was forming the White House energy policy, and the task force
staff met with Enron officials four times.
Enron and its former auditor, the accounting firm Arthur
Andersen, also are being investigated by the Justice Department
for possible criminal violations. Andrew Weissman, head of the
criminal division in the Brooklyn U.S. attorney's office, reportedly
has been selected to lead the Enron probe along with Leslie
Caldwell. Weissman's notable cases include the prosecution of
convicted mobster Vincent Gigante.
The Sierra Club last week sued Cheney's energy task force in
U.S. District Court in San Francisco, seeking disclosure of the
same information that the GAO and Congress want. That suit,
which alleges a violation of the law that requires the White House
to disclose information about committee meetings, asks the court
to order the administration to give a "full accounting" of which
corporate officials participated in drafting the national energy
policy announced in May.
Democrats and environmentalists claim the administration's
proposed policy heavily favors fossil fuels. The White House last
week denied the plan contained special favors for Enron or any
energy company.
Copyright © 2002, Newsday, Inc.
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