Law suit filed against Enron Washington: Congressional investigators have filed their first-ever lawsuit for public records against the government, seeking documents from a White House energy task force as part of a probe in the Enron affair.

The US General Accounting Office (GAO), the investigative arm of Congress, said in a statement on February 22 that it had filed suit in US District Court in Washington "to obtain certain records in connection with the National Energy Policy Development Group," the task force headed by Vice President Dick Cheney.

The White House vowed to fight for its right to privileged communications.

"The President will fight for this right", spokesman Scott Stanzel said. "He is standing strong on principle, fighting for his right and the right of all future Presidents to receive advice without it being turned into a virtual news release."

"We expect to prevail", Stanzel said, "because the policy is sound and principle is on our side, and the General Accounting Office is acting beyond their authority."

The GAO statement said, "This is the first time that GAO has filed suit against a federal official in connection with a records access issue. We take this step reluctantly.

Nevertheless, given GAO's responsibility to Congress and the American people, we have no other choice. Our repeated attempts to reach a reasonable accommodation on this matter have not been successful," it added.

The White House has repeatedly refused to turn over documents related to Cheney's energy task force, insisting it would hamper the administration's ability to formulate policy.

The papers include documentation of meetings with officials from Enron Corp., the energy-trading giant that collapsed amid accusations of improper reporting and accounting practices. In January, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said the administration was confident it would prevail in court on the right to privileged communications.

Cheney, himself the former head of oil giant Halliburton, has said he would rather go to court than divulge information from private interviews held in the White House with executives of the now-disgraced energy company while he was formulating the administration's national energy plan.

Opponents of the energy plan have accused the administration of being too close to corporate special interests.

Cheney reportedly held six meetings with Enron executives, including former chairman and chief executive Kenneth Lay.