Wes Vernon, NewsMax.com
Wednesday, March 27, 2002

"The very fact that we are so dependent on Middle Eastern energy right now is tying our hands in waging a war against terrorism,” Judicial Watch Chairman and General Counsel Larry Klayman said at a news conference where more than 11,000 documents on the task force were released by court order, with much of the material blacked out.

"Thus far, we haven’t found bin Laden, we haven’t found Mullah Omar,” Klayman noted. "We have Afghanistan, we won’t move against Syria, we won’t move against Egypt, we don’t want to move against Iraq, the Palestinian issue is more important. And you have to wonder whether energy interests have something to play in that, that’s holding us from taking aggressive action against countries that are [known] to support terrorism.

"Yet,” he said, "we’re going against Afghanistan because there’s nothing to lose.”

That, argues the Judicial Watch counsel, is why "the American people need to understand what went into the energy policy to reach conclusions.”

For example, the task force's papers, once released unedited to the public, may reveal "why certain countries in the Middle East are off limits in the war against terrorism. Is it because they produce oil and oil interests get energy from those countries?” he asked.

Klayman added that on the other side of the street, "we need to know whether environmental interests exerted undue influence in this administration.”

The AP ran a story Tuesday pointing out that Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham met at least eight times with leaders in the energy industry, but not with environmental activists (i.e., anti-energy Democrats and Greens).

Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton told NewsMax.com after the news conference that environmentalists did meet with officials of the Environmental Protection Agency. Klayman told the news gathering that so far, there was no evidence of improper influence on the part of the green activists, "though that’s something which we’re looking into, as well.”

'No Surprise'

As for Abraham’s meeting with industry people, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer responded by saying, "News flash: It’s no surprise to anybody that the secretary of energy meets with energy-related groups.”

In response to a question from NewsMax.com, Klayman acknowledged that much of the secrecy surrounding the Cheney Energy Task Force may be driven by a fear of appearances more than wrongdoing. In other words, learning the lessons from Watergate and the Clinton impeachment, the cover-up could be worse than the original deed. NewsMax’s question:

"Do you think there may be a fear of guilt by association here; i.e., Enron is involved in a scandal. Enron favors ANWR [drilling for oil in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska]. This administration favors ANWR for reasons unrelated to what’s good or bad for Enron. Therefore we [the administration higher-ups] don’t reveal anything for fear it’ll look bad and look worse than it is. Do you think there’s a possibility that might be involved?”

The administration indeed is sensitive as to how it is perceived, Klayman said. Recalling that George W. Bush sold himself to the public as "a compassionate conservative,” the Judicial Watch counsel opined that "in many ways this administration is not terribly conservative. And it’s always trying to live down its conservative credentials.”

Whether oil exploration in ANWR is a good policy or not, he added, political advisers in the White House are conscious that in advocating drilling for oil as a means of freeing ourselves from Middle East oil controlled by countries that hate us, "that they may be offending that moderate 30 percent of the electorate that they need to get re-elected in 2004.”

It could be that the energy industry "had better arguments,” he added.

All the more reasons why "the American people need to have all the facts.”

Amnesty for Illegal Aliens

Klayman castigated the administration for trying to slip an amnesty policy for illegal aliens through Congress. The policy would allow thousands of immigrants who had overstayed their visas to remain in this country. That legislation has been stopped for now by the objections of Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va.

But how, Klayman wanted to know, could the administration justify aiding illegal aliens "at a time that we’re trying to keep terrorists out of the country?”

Although meetings between Secretary Abraham and the industry officials were revealed in the 11,000 documents released Tuesday, Judicial Watch seeks to learn what is in the massive amount of material that was "redacted,” or blacked out. That is an issue to be dealt with in a follow-up court hearing scheduled for May 2nd.

The administration has pleaded executive privilege as a reason to refuse on principle to share the minutes and accounts of the task force's meetings.

Fitton told the reporters that the redactions and the legal arguments of the White House amounted to "full-court obstruction” and an "absolute stonewall.” The information comes "10 months late” beyond the time when it should have been released under the Federal Advisory Meeting Act, he alleged.

That principle, he recalled, was established when Judicial Watch successfully sued Hillary Clinton’s Health Care Task Force in the early years of Bill Clinton's administration.

"And it would be hypocritical of us to turn a blind eye” to the same legal remedy in this administration, said Klayman. Also, he added, Judicial Watch started going after the documents "long before” the Enron scandal broke.

Klayman says the stonewalling leaves a strong inference that "the Bush-Cheney administration has something to hide.”

He added there were indications that Enron paid for favors from the Bush and Clinton regimes.

Klayman says both have followed the foot-dragging policy "right out of the [Clinton advisor] Lanny Davis playbook”: Delay, obstruct, and hope that by the time the relevant information finally comes out, the public has lost interest.

The White House insists it heard from all interested parties before deciding on an energy policy.

Unlike many others in Washington who are focused exclusively on the Enron scandal, Judicial Watch is riding herd on and taking legal action involving both Enron and the Global Crossing scandal. The latter twin of the two scandals, involving a giant telecom firm, is ignored by much of the mainstream media for whatever reason.

Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:

Bush Administration

Clinton Scandals

Enron

Middle East

War on Terrorism

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