The investigative arm of Congress said today it would file an legal action against the White House to get the names of people consulted by a task force headed by Vice President Mr Dick Cheney that drafted the Bush administration's energy policy.
Among the details sought by the the General Accounting Office (GAO) in its first-ever suit against the White House were the task force's contacts with energy companies, including Enron, a major political contributor to President Bush, which has since collapsed.
Critics say environmentalists were largely shut out of the closed-door meetings of the White House task force, which produced an energy policy last May that called for more oil and gas drilling and a revived nuclear power programme.
"GAO will take the steps necessary to file suit in US District Court in order to obtain . . . the information," GAO comptroller general Mr David Walker said in a letter to congressional leaders and published on the agency's website.
The White House has refused to hand over the task force records to the GAO, saying disclosure would encroach on its ability to obtain candid advice from outside experts, and it said the administration was ready to fight the case in court.
White House spokesman Mr Ari Fleischer said Mr Bush would fight for the president's right to receive unvarnished advice. "The White House expects to prevail because our case is strong, our policy is sound, and principle is on our side," he said.
Mr Fleischer said there was no need for the White House to assert executive privilege - which past presidents have used to refuse to divulge their deliberations - because the White House believed the GAO had overreached its legal authority.
The GAO did not say when it would file its suit, and a senior administration official suggested the GAO might be bluffing in hopes the White House backed down. "We understand they won't have their case ready for a week or two," he said.