- (WASHINGTON, DC) Judicial Watch, the public
interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption,
announced today that it asked a federal court to issue an order to show
cause to Vice President Cheney as to why he should not be held in contempt
for refusing to produce documents pursuant to a federal court order in
the ongoing Judicial Watch lawsuit concerning his Energy Task Force. The
Honorable Emmet G. Sullivan had ruled that the Vice President was required
to produce information concerning into the identities of Task Force participants,
how the Task Force operated, and the role of the Vice President in the
Task Force.
- Rather than respond to the court-ordered discovery request,
the Vice President asked the court to reconsider its ruling based on "constitutional"
arguments that had already been specifically rejected three times by the
court as "mischief" and a "problematic and unprecedented
assertion...of Executive Power."
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- Judicial Watch was forced to file a lawsuit last year
under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (open meetings law) after it was
rebuffed in its requests for information on the Task Force by Vice President
Cheney. Several months later, the Energy Task Force was also sued by the
Sierra Club, which is now a co-plaintiff in Judicial Watch's lawsuit.
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- A copy of the legal brief, filed Monday, laying out Judicial
Watch's argument that the Vice President is in contempt of the court's
orders is available by clicking <http://www.judicialwatch.org/cases/67/showcau.htm>here.
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- "The Vice President is not 'yet' Emperor. He is
not above the law and should obey court orders like every other American
citizen. We are requesting sanctions and other relief for his flouting
of a federal judge's direct orders," stated Judicial Watch Chairman
and General Counsel Larry Klayman.
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- A hearing in the matter will take place on November 13,
2002.
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- © Copyright 1997-2002, Judicial Watch, Inc.
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