Energy Task
Force. Without my having any knowledge of what specific
papers the Department of Energy has, I can't -- that would
be an impossible question for me to answer.
Q The court, by criticizing Energy for this
glacial pace at which -- you don't think that strengthens in
any way the GAO case for the information on contacts with industry that
the GAO is trying to get from the --
MR. FLEISCHER: Ann, both those matters are in court, so
that's for courts to judge, not for me.
Q Would this, though, make the GAO suit
moot? If there is substantial overlap between what the GAO
is seeking through its suit of Vice President Office, and what NRDC is
seeking through its FOIA request of Energy, and the NRDC request is
complied with, would this make the GAO --
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, again, legally there is no
connection between the two. But that's a question you'd have
to put to GAO.
Q What's your take on that? Does
it moot the GAO --
MR. FLEISCHER: I'm not a lawyer. I think if
you want to know if it's moot, that's something you should ask
GAO. But the statute is wholly unrelated. All
agencies of the government must always at all times comply with FOIA
requests. As I indicated this morning, I don't think it
comes as a surprise to anybody in Washington that people want their
FOIA requests answered faster.
In this case, the court held that the Department of Energy needed
to speed up its compliance with the FOIA request. That's
wholly unrelated to a legal case involving GAO seeking documents from
the Cheney task force.
Q One more follow. Would the
White House possibly argue that the GAO suit is now moot because the
material is covered under this separate matter?
MR. FLEISCHER: I have heard no such claim by the White
House.
Q Is it not a setback to the White House
that the very documents it's trying to protect in the Energy Task Force
and the Vice President's Office could now be released en masse by the
Energy Department per a judge's order?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, again, as I answered to Ann's
question about the documents, themselves, without having knowledge of
what documents specifically the Department of Energy required under its
FOIA to give up, it's impossible to say what overlap, if any, there is
with documents sought by GAO.
Q But it's represented that they are many of
the same documents that are coming from the Energy Task
Force --
MR. FLEISCHER: And whose representations were those?
Q The judge's and the Energy Department,
it's coming from Spencer Abraham, who is on the task force.
MR. FLEISCHER: At the time the documents are released,
you'll be able to evaluate that.
Q You just don't know?
MR. FLEISCHER: That's what I
answered -- is correct.
Q Ari, but in answering FOIA requests,
agencies often redact a great deal of the material even that they
release to the press. You will get a document that says,
Department of Energy, with black lines through everything on the page
of paper, thank you very much. Are there White House lawyers
or Cheney task force lawyers reviewing what the Energy Department is
about to release, and raising any objections, saying, we want this
redacted on grounds of executive privilege, or on grounds of pending
legal matter? Are the documents
being -- is this an Energy Department decision
alone, or are White House lawyers involved in the decision over how to
handle the release of those documents?
MR. FLEISCHER: I don't know if any White House lawyers
are or are not involved. I know that the Department of
Energy lawyers are taking a look at the judge's findings and they will
comply with it, just as Energy indicated.
Q Ari, back on the Middle
East. You said former President Clinton tried valiantly, but
President Bush has a different approach in his dealing with the
Mitchell Accords.
MR. FLEISCHER: Correct.
Q Is that approach working, in the midst of
all of this escalated violence?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, to reiterate, the situation in the
Middle East has been very difficult for many a United States
President. And President Bush is not the first to wrestle
with this. The President is encouraged in the fact that this
week the security talks have taken place. There had been a
long period of time in which the security talks were not even taking
place. That is the first step of the Mitchell
Accords. There have been meetings between the Israelis and
the Palestinians to discuss security arrangements in the Middle East.
The President would like to see that accelerated so that the
Mitchell Accord can be entered into in a more meaningful and
longer-lasting way. The President will continue to press all the
parties to comply with the Mitchell Accords, so it's a question of
time.
Q And a follow-up to that: Is
Yasser Arafat really not invited to the table as of yet?
MR. FLEISCHER: As always, as I announced this morning,
the visit by two leaders; if there's anything to announce, we'll
announce it. There's nothing to announce on that topic.
Q Ari, both The Washington Post and Fox News
reported this week that an Islamic school just outside Washington is
using a textbook with the statement -- and this
is a quote -- The day of judgment can't come
until Jesus Christ returns to Earth, breaks the cross and converts
everyone to Islam, and until Muslims start attacking
Jews -- end of quote. How does this
fit in with your claim that Islam is a religion of peace?
MR. FLEISCHER: Lester, nothing that you will be able to
cite as any individual case is going to change the President's view
that Islam is a religion that represents peace.
Q Does this sound peaceful?
MR. FLEISCHER: I think when you look broadly at any
society, you're going to find individual statements, no matter where
they are, that reasonable people disagree with, and disagree strongly.
Q The Raleigh News and Observer reports
another notable speech in North Carolina where Tipper Gore called for
what she termed "ripping up of our Armed Forces' policy of don't ask
don't tell," and "we cannot rest until Congress adopts federal hate
crime legislation that includes sexual orientation." And my
question, is the President giving any consideration to such a ripping
up of the don't ask don't tell, or for hate crime legislation including
all sexual orientations, like S&M; and necrophilia and that sort of
thing?
MR. FLEISCHER: No, Lester, there's no change in the
President's positions. Thank you.
END 1:10
P.M. EST
#142-02/28