A federal judge on Tuesday ordered six government agencies to release records from Vice President Dick Cheney’s energy task force, a ruling that dealt the White House another setback in its effort to keep details regarding the administration’s energy policy under wraps.
U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman said the Bush administration must, in the next two months, turn over documents that may shed light on the formulation of the national energy plan. The order is in response to a lawsuit filed by the conservative group Judicial Watch, one of several organizations challenging the secrecy of the Cheney energy papers.
The court ruling is the latest volley in the legal and political tussle over the administration’s formulation of its energy policy last year. The White House has declined to release the names of energy company officials who met with Cheney and others, saying the executive branch must be able to hold secret meetings with industry experts.
But environmental groups, government watchdog organizations and congressional investigators maintain the information is in the public’s interest. In a similar case last week, U.S. District Court Judge Gladys Kessler agreed and ordered the Energy Department to disclose thousands of pages of documents to an environmental group.
The lawsuits are unrelated to the legal case mounted against the White House by the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress. But many of the documents are believed to be the same.
In the ruling issued Tuesday, Friedman gently scolded the Energy, Transportation and Commerce Departments for failing to respond to the Freedom of Information Act request filed by Judicial Watch. Other government agencies responded to requests, the judge noted, but not in a timely or thorough fashion.
The agencies should swiftly release the requested documents, the judge said, or present an itemized list of the materials they believe should be kept confidential.
The Environmental Protection Agency has 19,500 pages that could fall under the court order. The Department of Commerce is withholding 9,000 pages from the energy task force.
The Justice Department defended the administration Tuesday, saying that poring over the requested documents “is often laborious and time-consuming.”
“The administration will comply with the court’s schedule to move forward on these requests as quickly as possible,” said Barbara Comstock, a spokeswoman for the Justice Department.
The debate over the release of energy task force documents has played out even as Congress debates sweeping energy legislation. Since the collapse of Enron Corp., the energy task force’s papers have become more sought-after.
Judicial Watch, which has often sided with the Bush administration, said Tuesday that the ruling was a victory for those opposed to government secrecy.
“The stone wall is beginning to crumble,” said Larry Klayman, chairman and general counsel of the group. “The court’s ruling is a victory for openness in government and [a] defeat to the Bush administration’s efforts to delay release of these energy task force documents.”
