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Commerce, Treasury told to keep Enron papers

From Kelly Wallace
CNN Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- As the Justice Department continues its probe into the collapse of Enron Corp., the Commerce and Treasury departments have been asked to retain any documents related to the failed energy giant, Bush administration officials said Saturday.

Both departments received letters from the Justice Department after the close of business Friday calling on them to preserve all Enron-related documents dating to January 1999. The White House received a similar letter Friday.

Jim Dyke, a spokesman for the Commerce Department, said the agency would "comply completely and quickly."

He said department officials had already been collecting Enron-related materials to respond to Freedom of Information Act requests.

The Commerce Department sent an e-mail to all staffers Saturday afternoon telling them it was "imperative" they comply with the Justice Department request.

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A Treasury Department spokeswoman would say only that a letter was received and it contained the same request as the one sent to the White House.

Bush advisers Saturday called the Justice Department's directive a "prudent" step that would not cause the president any political problems.

"All papers related to this matter will show everyone in the Bush administration acted in complete accordance with the law and their duties," a senior administration official said.

The Justice Department's directive could, however, complicate the court battle between the White House and the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, over the administration's refusal to turn over information about the work of Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task force.

Cheney has disclosed he met with Enron executives to discuss the administration's energy policy.

But he has insisted that turning over more detailed information about his discussions would hamper the ability of future presidents and vice presidents to get candid advice.

Rep. Henry Waxman, D-California, who has been pushing the administration to make the information public, said Saturday the Justice Department's directive on Enron documents "makes it all the more important that the administration release the information."

"There should be no appearance that the White House is hiding information," he said.

Administration lawyers face a deadline Tuesday to tell a federal judge why the White House believes it has a constitutional right not to disclose the information.

The deadline is part of a lawsuit filed against the White House by Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group.

"The American people deserve full disclosure, and that way, they will be able to judge for themselves whether anything untoward was going on between these energy companies and the Bush-Cheney administration," said Larry Klayman of Judicial Watch.