US judge orders release of Cheney energy papers
Date: 21-Oct-02
Country: USA
Justice Department lawyers said they would seek a suspension of the order from U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan, and failing that, would consider appealing the order to a higher court.
Sullivan's ruling came in a lawsuit brought over a year ago by government ethics watchdog group, Judicial Watch, that was later joined by the environmental group Sierra Club. They seek records of the Cheney task force in an effort to find out what influence energy companies, including the now-bankrupt Enron Corp., had on policy.
The Bush administration has released thousands of pages of papers under a pre-trial fact-finding plan, but is refusing to hand over documents that relate specifically to Cheney and several senior White House advisers.
The advisers are Andrew Lundquist, the former White House energy policy director; White House economic adviser Larry Lindsey and White House deputy chief of staff Josh Bolten.
The government argued last month that the documents involve communications between President George W. Bush and his closest advisers, and that to turn them over would raise concerns about the separation of powers.
Sullivan rejected this argument. But he did say government lawyers could submit a "privilege log," giving them another chance to claim some of the papers are not subject to public disclosure, so long as a reason is given for each document that is withheld.
The judge brushed aside a statement by Justice Department attorney Shannen Coffin that government lawyers were not ready to produce the disputed documents, calling that a "startling revelation" after so many months of lawsuits seeking the papers by various groups.
Cheney's energy task force produced a policy paper in May 2001 that called for more oil and gas drilling and a revived nuclear power program. Environmentalists say they were largely shut out of the policy-making.
The General Accounting Office also filed suit in February demanding that Cheney hand over a list of energy industry executives who were consulted as the energy policy was drafted last year. Arguments were heard in that case last month before U.S. District Court Judge John Bates, but he has not ruled.
