All of the information in the documents Berger inadvertently recieved, and subsequently returned, was widley distributed and widely known. Bush, however, has in his possession scores of documents detailing backroom dealmaking, in and out of office, that has seriously undermined our governmental process and conceals the business interests of both Bush and Cheney as they used their public offices and connections for the feathering of theirs and their friend's private fortunes at the expense of taxpayers and the environment.
This is certainly more relevant than widely circulated notes of Richard Clark, accidently taken by Sandy Berger, which detail the Clinton administration's efforts in fighting terror.
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Bush Admin. Continues to Deny Public's Right to Knowhttp://www.nrdc.org/air/energy/taskforce/tfinx.aspIn the spring of 2002, under order from a federal judge, the U.S. Department of Energy released to NRDC roughly 13,500 pages relating to previously secret proceedings of the Bush administration's energy task force. (President Bush formed the task force in early 2001 to develop a national energy policy, with Vice President Cheney at the helm.) Even though the government heavily censored the documents before supplying them to NRDC, they reveal that Bush administration officials sought extensive advice from utility companies and the oil, gas, coal and nuclear energy industries, and incorporated their recommendations, often word for word, into the energy plan.
In April 2001 NRDC filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act for access to the task force's records; the Bush administration refused to comply. NRDC filed suit, and a federal judge ordered the administration to turn over the documents. On March 25, 2002, nearly a year after first requesting them, NRDC received roughly 10,000 pages relating to the task force from the Department of Energy. Subsequently the department provided another 3,500 pages, but withheld more than 16,000 others.
May 21, 2002 - Energy Dept. Documents Verify Industry Influence
http://www.nrdc.org//media/pressreleases/020521b.asp May 21, 2002 - Industry had Extensive Access to Energy Task Force
http://www.nrdc.org//media/pressreleases/020521.asp May 10, 2002 - Bush Admin. Continues to Deny Public's Right to Know
http://www.nrdc.org//media/pressreleases/020510.aspApril 26, 2002 - Energy Dept. Releases Index of Missing Documents
http://www.nrdc.org//media/pressreleases/020426.aspApril 11, 2002 - Energy Dept. Still Stonewalling
http://www.nrdc.org/media/pressreleases/020411.asp March 27, 2002 - Heavily Censored Papers Show Industry Writes Energy Report
http://www.nrdc.org/media/pressreleases/020327.asp Feb 27, 2002 - NRDC To Obtain Task Force Records
http://www.nrdc.org/media/pressreleases/020227a.aspJanuary 30, 2002 - NRDC Asks Court To Force Immediate Release
http://www.nrdc.org/media/pressreleases/020124.aspJanuary 24, 2002 - Administration Snubs Lawsuit Seeking Facts On Task Force
http://www.nrdc.org/media/pressreleases/020124.aspDecember 11, 2001 - NRDC Sues Department of Energy
http://www.nrdc.org/media/pressreleases/011211a.asp__________________________________________________________
Bush, Harken, and the Public’s Right to KnowEarlier this summer, national media outlets reported on President George W. Bush’s activities as a director with Texas oil company Harken Energy in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The stories referenced documents obtained by the Center during the course of research for the The Buying of the President 2000, as well as two Center investigative reports.
RELATED REPORTS
A Brief History of Bush, Harken and the SEC
http://www.public-i.org/dtaweb/report.asp?ReportID=464&L1=10&L2=10&L3=0&L4=0&L5=0 Harken’s Ivy League Underwriter
http://www.public-i.org/dtaweb/report.asp?ReportID=465&L1=10&L2=10&L3=0&L4=0&L5=0 Harken-related documents posted by the Center
http://www.public-i.org/dtaweb/report.asp?ReportID=466&L1=10&L2=10&L3=0&L4=0&L5=0 As a public service, the Center posted a number of documents related to a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation of Bush for insider trading. In an attempt to allow for easier navigating, we are re-posting all the information in the order it was posted.
We are also making available some new documents from our files that shed additional light on what transpired at Harken while Bush was a director
Among the new postings:
A partnership agreement between Aeneas Venture Corp., a subsidiary of Harvard Management, and Harken. The Wall Street Journal and Boston Globe recently wrote that Bush proposed the creation of an Enron-style, off-the-books partnership involving Harken and Harvard Management, based on Harken’s public disclosures. The Center now provides the internal document, and an Oct. 31, 1990, letter from Harken to Harvard discussing how the partners would account for some transactions.. http://www.public-i.org/dtaweb/downloads/harken_101702_doc4.pdfhttp://www.public-i.org/dtaweb/downloads/harken_101702_doc1.pdfLosses at a Harken subsidiary, Harken Marketing, put the company in a difficult position in 1990. Harken Marketing traded futures contracts – which were much in the news when Enron, Bush’s top career patron, collapsed in Oct. 2001. An internal company memo sheds some light on Harken’s activity and reveals one of Harken’s partners in commodities trading was Enron.http://www.public-i.org/dtaweb/downloads/harken_101702_doc2.pdf Bush was paid $80,000 in 1987-1988 to consult for Harken, according to a company proxy statement, though he was working full time for his father’s presidential campaign. The George Herbert Walker Bush campaign paid for his son’s trips to attend Harken board meetings, and was later reimbursed by Harken. Those documents are being provided by the Center.http://www.public-i.org/dtaweb/downloads/harken_101702_doc3.pdf Company proxy statements from 1990 and 1991.http://www.public-i.org/dtaweb/downloads/harken_proxy90.pdfhttp://www.public-i.org/dtaweb/downloads/harken_proxy91.pdf In addition, we are publishing new reports chronicling Bush’s Harken tenure and the close relationship between Harvard and Harken.http://www.public-i.org/dtaweb/report.asp?ReportID=465&L1=10&L2=10&L3=0&L4=0&L5=0Full report>>http://www.public-i.org/dtaweb/report.asp?ReportID=464&L1=10&L2=10&L3=0&L4=0&L5=0______________________________________________________
Court Says Cheney Can Hide Documents- Jun 25, 2004 http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_4741.shtmlThe Supreme Court protected the Bush administration Thursday from having to reveal potentially embarrassing details about Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task force until after the election, sending the case back to a lower court and noting a "paramount necessity of protecting the executive branch from vexatious litigation."
The justices voted 7-2 to have an appeals court decide whether a federal open government law could be used to compel the administration to publicly release task force documents, dragging out an already 3-year-old fight over the records.
The opinion is available at:http://wid.ap.org/documents/scotus/040624cheney.pdf Judicial Watch:
http://www.judicialwatch.org/ Sierra Club:
http://www.sierraclub.org/