STATEMENT OF PETER KEISLER, ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL REGARDING CIRCUIT COURT’S RULING ON THE ENERGY TASK FORCE

The following press release was published by the US Department of Justice on July 8, 2003. It is reproduced in full below.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TUESDAY, JULY 8, 2003 WWW.USDOJ.GOV CIV (202) 514-2007 TDD (202) 514-1888 “Today's three-judge Appeals Court ruling concluded 2-to-1 that the plaintiffs sought from the Vice President and White House officials material that "goes well beyond what they need" and expressed confidence that the lower court would narrow the scope of discovery requests. Judge Randolph, in dissent, noted that among other things "the intrusion into the inner workings of the presidency" presented "formidable constitutional difficulties" and would have dismissed the entire lawsuit. We will carefully study the three opinions by the judges and decide how best to proceed in the courts to protect the effective functioning of the executive branch.” 03-402

Source: US Department of Justice