Politics

Who Lobbied Bush On Energy?

July 19, 2001 / 11:36 AM EDT / AP

The investigative arm of Congress demanded Wednesday that Vice President Dick Cheney identify all the industry leaders who helped formulate the Bush administration's energy policy. Refusal could lead to a court fight.

The White House, which is reviewing the request, said it would work with the General Accounting Office to resolve the issue.

The GAO letter follows repeated refusals by the vice president's office to provide names and titles of participants who met with the energy task force chaired by Cheney.

Under the law, the GAO could sue if the Bush administration fails to supply the data within 20 days.

This is the first demand letter ever issued by the GAO to the vice president of the United States, said Democratic Reps. John Dingell and Henry Waxman, who directed the agency to review the task force's work nearly three months ago.

The vice president's lawyer has told the GAO there were nine meetings of the task force and that staffers also met with many people to gather information.

The result was an energy policy, announced May 17, that is aimed at increasing the nation's supply of energy. It includes expanded oil and gas drilling on public land and a rejuvenated nuclear power system.

White House spokeswoman Anne Womack said the letter is under review, and "we will continue to work with the GAO to resolve this issue."

The vice president's office "has continued on its course of secrecy and obstinance," Dingell said in a statement.

"The White House should simply try telling the truth ... and stop hiding information that Congress and the public have a right to see," said Waxman.

A top Cheney aide, Mary Matalin, said Waxman and Dingell should "stop wasting taxpayers' money" with their confrontation with the vice president. "If they want to know what happened in the energy task force meetings, they need look no further than the policy we sent to the Hill," she said.

The White House's position is that the GAO is entitled to information on the task force's costs, but that the congressional watchdog agency doesn't have authority to ask for lists of those with whom the task force met.

Waxman is also pressing for a Justice Department investigation of Karl Rove over the Bush political strategist's energy-related meetings.

The White House has acknowledged that Rove participated in meetings on the administration's energy policy while he owned stock in energy companies such as Texas-based Enron Corp. The White House has supplied no details on Rove's meetings.