Reuters -- Judge Rejects GAO Suit Over Cheney Task Force

A federal judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit by the investigative arm of Congress that sought the identities of those consulted by an energy policy task force headed by Vice President Dick Cheney.

U.S. District Judge John Bates said the head of Congress' General Accounting Office, Comptroller General David Walker, lacked standing to ask the courts to resolve such a weighty constitutional dispute between Congress and the executive branch.

Other such disputes over documents have been settled out of court. Even former President Richard Nixon, who fought other court battles over executive privilege, handed over papers requested by the GAO.

The GAO had asserted it had the right to the documents as part of congressional oversight of the executive branch. But the Bush White House had argued the GAO was overreaching its authority.

Cheney-Bush wins, GAO and access to information loses.