March 1, 2002
Criticism in Cheney Energy Case
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 4:42 a.m. ET
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The White House is getting a cool
reception in court as it fights to avoid identifying business executives who
met with Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task force.
``I assume the government is stalling,'' U.S. District Judge
Emmet Sullivan said Thursday at a hearing on a lawsuit pushing for the release
of task force documents. Meanwhile, U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman scoffed
at the administration's argument that another case should be thrown out of
court. Both suits were filed by Judicial Watch, a conservative group.
The Bush administration is trying to avoid having to
identify business executives and lobbyists the Cheney task force met with as
the administration formulated its energy plan a year ago.
The New York Times, citing interviews and election records,
reported in its Friday edition that 18 of the energy industry's top 25
financial contributors to the Republican Party advised Cheney's task force. The
newspaper quoted Cheney counselor Mary Matalin as saying the task force also
consulted with trade groups and other organizations, including labor unions,
that did not give money to the Republican Party.
The judges' comments Thursday came a day after criticism of
the Bush administration by a third judge, U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler.
Ruling on a lawsuit filed by an environmental group, Kessler
ordered the department to release documents starting March 25. Documents the
department withholds must be identified individually in a list to be made
public by April 25, which would set the stage for a next round in the court
battle.
At a court hearing Thursday, Justice Department lawyer Dan
Bensing said Friedman should dismiss the Judicial Watch lawsuit seeking
documents from all federal agencies that were members of Cheney's task force.
Bensing said Judicial Watch should have waited 12 more days before suing.
``So what! ... This is just gamesmanship,'' Friedman
replied. Nine months later, he said, the Bush administration's Cabinet agencies
have turned over almost no documents and are withholding tens of thousands of pages
from public scrutiny.
In another court session, Sullivan reluctantly gave the
government seven additional days to file written arguments on why the Cheney
task force should be allowed to withhold all documents. The government had
asked for 17 extra days. Sullivan's brief extension means that he could rule as
early as the second week of April on releasing material.
A fourth lawsuit also is pending for the task force records,
the case filed last week by the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm
of Congress.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Cheney-Energy.html
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On the Net:
Democrats' Cheney documents site: http://www.DiscloseTheDocuments.org