GAO sues Cheney over energy task force records

The General Accounting Office Friday sued Vice President Dick Cheney in an effort to determine which business executives met with President Bush's energy task force.

GAO wants to require the administration to identify the executives--including some from now-collapsed Enron Corp.--who met last year with the task force while a national energy policy was being developed.

Bush has refused to hand over the documents, saying to do so would obstruct his ability to get outside views. The White House also argues GAO has overstepped its authority by asking the vice president for information on the task force.

The dispute began last April, but gained political traction once Enron entered into bankruptcy last December.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington. Solicitor General Theodore Olson and Associate Attorney General Jay Stephens, head of the Justice Department's civil division, will lead the administration's fight against the lawsuit, while GAO hired Washington law firm of Sidley Austin Brown & Wood to represent it.