1.29.2005
Court Doubts Access to Cheney Energy Papers (CNN.com)
Friday, January 28, 2005 Posted: 12:19 PM EST (1719 GMT)
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Judges on a federal appeals court have expressed doubts that the Bush administration could be required to reveal secret details about Vice President Dick Cheney's 2001 energy policy task force and the contacts it had with industry lobbyists.
Many of the eight judges hearing the case at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said they were skeptical, in light of a Supreme Court ruling last June, that two public interest groups had any legal basis to review the task force records.
Among the doubters were Judges Harry Edwards and David Tatel, who favored disclosure when the same case was before the court two years ago.
The lawsuit, filed by the Sierra Club and Judicial Watch, alleges that participants from industry effectively became members of the task force formulating the White House's industry-friendly recommendations, while environmental groups and others were shut out of the meetings.
(More ... CNN.com - Court doubts access to Cheney energy papers - Jan 28, 2005) ¶ 11:53
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Judges on a federal appeals court have expressed doubts that the Bush administration could be required to reveal secret details about Vice President Dick Cheney's 2001 energy policy task force and the contacts it had with industry lobbyists.
Many of the eight judges hearing the case at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said they were skeptical, in light of a Supreme Court ruling last June, that two public interest groups had any legal basis to review the task force records.
Among the doubters were Judges Harry Edwards and David Tatel, who favored disclosure when the same case was before the court two years ago.
The lawsuit, filed by the Sierra Club and Judicial Watch, alleges that participants from industry effectively became members of the task force formulating the White House's industry-friendly recommendations, while environmental groups and others were shut out of the meetings.
(More ... CNN.com - Court doubts access to Cheney energy papers - Jan 28, 2005) ¶ 11:53
