Judge scolds Bush administration: He says he is appalled by its expectation of presidential power.

WASHINGTON -- A federal judge chastised the Bush administration for seeking a "stunning" expansion of executive power in a ruling that allows a lawsuit seeking information about the administration's energy policy to proceed.
U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan also accused the Bush administration of making purposefully misleading arguments in defending Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task force against two lawsuits.

The Sierra Club environmental organization and Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group, are seeking records about how the Cheney task force was influenced by industry executives and lobbyists in formulating national energy policy.

Sullivan criticized the Bush administration's position that applying the Federal Advisory Committee Act to the Cheney task force encroaches on the president's right to receive confidential advice necessary to carry out his duties.

"The implications of the bright-line rule advocated by the government are stunning," Sullivan said.

The judge said the government's position signifies that "any action by Congress or the judiciary that intrudes on the president's ability to recommend legislation to Congress or get advice from Cabinet members in any way would necessarily violate the Constitution.

"Such a ruling would eviscerate the understanding of checks and balances between the three branches of government on which our constitutional order depends," said the judge, who was appointed to the bench by former President Bill Clinton. The administration's arguments "fly in the face of precedent."

The judge said the proper approach is to examine whether disclosure would prevent the executive branch from carrying out any constitutionally assigned function.

The judge's opinion details his legal reasoning for an oral decision he made in May that rejected the Bush administration's motion to dismiss the cases.

Sullivan said Justice Department lawyers defending the Cheney task force had mischaracterized a minority opinion in a U.S. Supreme Court case as if it were controlling legal authority that should result in dismissal of the lawsuits.

Sierra Club and Judicial Watch must present on July 19 their request for documents and depositions of administration officials before a ruling on Aug. 2.