The GAO, the investigative arm of Congress, said it will file the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Washington, DC within the next few weeks, challenging the decision of Bush and Cheney to withhold the documents on the grounds that it would encroach on the authority of the executive branch. This marks the first time the GAO will bring legal action against the executive branch to compel production of information and records.

“…[A]ll of our attempts to reach a reasoned and reasonable accommodation, including reducing the scope of our request, have been rebuffed, and we have now exhausted the statutory process for resolving our access requests,” Comptroller General David M. Walker said in a letter to Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) announcing the GAO’s planned action, copies of which were sent to both Bush and Cheney. “Our only remaining recourse is either to file suit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, or to forego further assertion of our access rights.”

In a related development, a federal judge in Washington, DC has ordered the energy task force, which was chaired by Cheney, to explain why permitting a watchdog group to conduct “limited discovery’ of its meetings would amount to a violation of the Constitution, according to Judicial Watch, a public interest law firm that also is suing to gain access to the task force records. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan has directed the energy task force to file a brief in court by Tuesday. A hearing in the case is scheduled for Feb. 12.

The agency began its pursuit of the task force records nearly nine months ago at the request of Reps. Waxman and John Dingell (D-MI). The two suspected that large campaign contributors, such as former Enron Corp. Chairman Kenneth Lay, wielded significant influence over the drafting of the energy policy. The collapse and bankruptcy of the energy trader, as well as Lay’s ties to the Bush administration, have piqued the interest of other Capitol Hill lawmakers in the subject of Lay’s imprint on the energy policy.

The “recent bankruptcy of Enron has served to increase congressional interest in energy policy, in general, and [task force] activities, in particular. This, plus the Senate’s expected consideration of comprehensive energy legislation this session, reinforces the need for the information we requested,” Walker said.

Cheney, who chaired the energy task force, last week argued that while the GAO’s authority extended to federal agencies, it did not apply to the Office of the President and Vice President. Walker countered, however, that the sought-after documents were “clearly within our statutory audit and access authority.”

In response to the GAO’s announcement last Wednesday, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said President Bush was ready to fight “for his right and the right of all future presidents to receive advice [when developing policy] without it being turned into a virtual news release.”

The GAO has no other choice but to go to court over the access issue, Walker noted, adding that to not do so would set a dangerous precedent. “Failure to pursue this matter could lead to a pattern of records access denials that would significantly undercut GAO’s ability to assist Congress in exercising its legislative and oversight authorities.”

Waxman and Dingell sought out the GAO’s help to obtain the energy task force records from Cheney back in April 2001, long before the Enron scandal hit the newspapers. Specifically, the lawmakers want information on Cheney’s meetings during which the energy policy was discussed, as well as details on the meetings of the staff of the energy task force (whom they met with, and what was discussed).

Until now, Cheney and the White House have been able to dismiss the GAO inquiry as the product of partisan politics by Waxman and Dingell. But with daily disclosures about Enron’s influence in Washington, a mounting number of Democrats and even Republicans in Congress have called for the White House to accede to the GAO’s request.

Republican lawmakers doubt that the White House engaged in questionable behavior while developing the national energy policy, but they believe the Bush administration’s persistent refusal to make the records available gives the appearance of impropriety.

The Bush administration already has turned over an “awful lot” of information on the task force’s dealings to the GAO, Cheney said last week. “We’ve given [them] all the financial records, [and] the work that was done by the agencies. All of that’s gone to the GAO.” But, he noted he and the White House have drawn the line at divulging the details of personal consultations involved in drafting the energy policy.

When asked if parts of the energy policy were developed with Enron in mind, Cheney said, “I can’t say,” but he added “I’m sure they supported many parts of it.”

The energy policy, which was released to the public last May, called for increased oil and natural gas drilling on public lands, particularly in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), improvements to energy infrastructure, financial and tax incentives for renewable and alternative energy fuel sources, and a rejuvenated nuclear power system, among other things.

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