Appeals Court to Revisit Lawsuit Over Cheney Energy Meetings [View All]

By Sam Hananel Associated Press Writer
Published: Jan 27, 2005



WASHINGTON (AP) - The legal fight over access to the records of Vice President Dick Cheney's 2001 energy task force is back before a federal appeals court, seven months after the Supreme Court sidestepped the issue.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit was hearing arguments Thursday in the nearly 4-year-old fight over whether a federal open government law can be used to compel the Bush administration to publicly release records from meetings of the task force.

The Sierra Club and Judicial Watch are suing to get access to the records, claiming the public has a right to know what role energy company executives who met with task force officials played in crafting industry-friendly recommendations.

The Bush administration opposes producing any records, saying that privacy is important to ensure members of such panels can speak candidly. The administration also maintains that the formal makeup of the task force was limited to government officials. Federal law requires government panels to conduct their business in public, unless all members are government officials.

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