WASHINGTON, Feb. 14 (Xinhuanet) -- A Texas sheriff's office has cleared U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney of any wrongdoing in a shooting accident at a ranch in the state Saturday, the USA Today newspaper reported Tuesday.

    Cheney accidentally shot fellow hunter Harry Whittington while they were hunting quail at the Armstrong Ranch, in southern Texas. The Kenedy County Sheriff's Office near the ranch interviewed bothmen after the Secret Service called to notify them shortly after the shooting, the report said.

    The sheriff's office said investigation revealed that there wasno alcohol or misconduct involved in the incident, which "was no more than a hunting accident."

    Cheney did violate one small legal requirement, the report said.

    Cheney's office said Monday that while Cheney had a 125-U.S. dollar non-resident Texas hunting license, he lacked a required 7-dollar stamp to hunt upland game birds such as quail. In a statement, his office said Cheney has mailed a 7-dollar check for the stamp.

    The White House worked on Monday to explain why it took almost 20 hours for the public to first learn of the accident.

    "The first priority was making sure that Harry Whittington, Mr.Whittington, was getting the medical care that he needed," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.

    President George W. Bush and White House deputy chief of staff Karl Rove were told of the shooting Saturday night but deferred toCheney on providing information to the public, a report in Tuesday's The Washington Post said.

    The Post report said even some White House officials thought Cheney mishandled the responses and opened the administration to criticism that it was withholding important public information.

    Whittington, 78, an Austin lawyer and longtime Republican activist, was in stable condition at Christus Spohn Hospital-Memorial in Corpus Christi, Texas, news reports said. Enditem