Politicians Return Enron Donations Ahead of Finger Pointing

Bloomberg via WND ^ | 29 Dec. '01 | Holly Rosenkrantz and William Roberts

[wooly_mammoth]

bump

[rdavis84]

"Republicans say they are bracing for what may become Whitewater-style investigations and hearings."

Let the Hearings Begin!

Maybe the Repubs will use up all of their Political Capital, The Dems used up theirs in WW. Then we can get to where they BOTH Cut Each Others throats!

[tarpon_bill]

>>>The sudden collapse of Enron has turned the company into a political liability, especially for President George. W. Bush and congressional Republicans who had close ties to Enron Chairman Kenneth Lay, Bush's friend and biggest political backer.

Do a little rerearch, without Clinton there would have been no Enron.

snooker

[McGavin999]

And yet they were audited each and every one of those years. How on earth did that happen? Has California paid the money it owes to Enron yet?

Sorry, can't figure out what Bush had to do with all of this, especially since the profits have been misstated for the last four years.

They can try to lay this at Bush's feet, but I have this strange feeling that as they dig in, they're going to find something that will tar the democrats black as coal. Something is going to lead right back to Clinton. Mark my words.

[meyer]

Do a little rerearch, without Clinton there would have been no Enron.

IMHO, sabre rattling. They will threaten to make a case and try through the media to get the public to beleive it, but they won't press it long enough for the Clinton/Browner influence to come out. After all, Enron's wacky electricity marketing activities came about with a lot of help from Federal Regulators.

[PhiKapMom]

After eight years of the clintons, anything that smells like Enron always seems to end up right back at their feet. Watch the RATS stop any investigation as soon as it gets close to the clintons. Seems to be their mode of operation -- blame it on Bush/Cheney and when it starts heading for the clintons, stop the investigation!

[FreeLibertarian]

Let the political games begin! The Democrats will view Enron as payback for Whitewater and Monica.

Anybody have any predictions on how many Bush Administration members will have to resign?

How about Bush and Cheney, are they vulnerable?

Should the State of Texas have had any oversite responsibilities for Enron?

[deport]

WASHINGTON -- Just days before Enron Corp. landed in bankruptcy court, the one-time political powerhouse may still have been funneling campaign dollars to Democratic lawmakers, federal election records indicate.

As Enron executives were scrambling to salvage a deal with Houston-based Dynegy in a vain effort to stave off bankruptcy, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee received three checks from the Houston-based energy and trading giant totaling $100,000, Federal Election Commission records show.

The contributions were collected on Nov. 26, according to the committee's report to the FEC, six days before Enron sought protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code {end snip}

[PhiKapMom]

LOL! This investigation is going nowhere fast! DNC cannot afford to have it look at the way this reads!

[Mfkmmof4]

You know having to face bankruptcy is something the company had to see coming for a long long time....I find it hard to believe that it is Bush's problem. My family had to file bankruptcy after dealing with cancer of a child for over a year so you have to wonder.

[Donald Stone]

One thing the bankruptcy court should do is look at all the transfer of Enron assets prior to declaring bankruptcy, sounds to me as if it was scheme to defraud the victims and curry political favor (as in a payoff) to both political parties to quash any type of DOJ investigation.

[Mfkmmof4]

The Court will if a creditor shows up at the meetings and has eveidence that things were not done correctly.

[monkey]

Administration ties to Enron include several relationships, in addition to Lay's friendship with Bush. Lawrence Lindsey, Bush's chief economic adviser, was on the company's advisory board and received $50,000 from them last year. Karl Rove, Bush's political adviser, once owned $60,000 worth of Enron stock. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick was also a member of the company's advisory board, and Secretary of the Army Thomas White, a former Enron executive, valued his company stock at between $25 million and $50 million earlier this year.

The case they will make will be to repeat this over and over, with concerned looks on their faces.

[IRtorqued]

didn't you post something about enron not to long ago?

[deport]

I doubt it goes too far... Enron was an equal opportuinity donor either party even down to the level of mayor.... Lee P. Brown.

Tripping with Ron Brown.....

Enron Corporation

Kenneth Lay, chairman and chief executive officer of the Enron Corporation, accompanied Secretary of Commerce Ronald Brown on the trade mission to India in January, 1995.

In India, Enron signed a contract for a 2,000 megawatt power plant in Dahbol worth an estimated $400 million. Enron also won a contract to build a $920 million power plant on the West coast of India and a $1.1 billion contract for offshore gas and oil production.

Rodney L. Gray, chairman and chief executive officer of Enron International accompanied Brown on the trade mission to Russia in March and April of 1994.

In Russia, Enron signed a deal to develop a market for Russia gas in Europe.

Enron is a natural gas conglomerate based in Houston, Texas.

During the 1991-92 election cycle, Enron gave $28,525 to the Democratic party while Brown served as the chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Enron gave $42,000 to the Democratic party in the 1993-94 cycle.

[deport]

The dems are smart in playing the gift of the $100 grand to charity as opposed to the repubs who just returned it to Enron. I suspect a donation made that close to filing bankruptcy will be required to be returned for use to pay off creditors. I'm not sure of the legal aspects but I think there are some rules regarding special [preferred] payments like this. But the dems get the play of giving to charity prior to having to return it to the bankruptcy court, if in fact it has to be returned to the court.

[PhiKapMom]

Think you are right about having to return it to the Bankruptcy Court. They are certainly playing this as a charitable donation -- probably one that would end up right back in the DNC pockets from another donor. Wasn't there some other money the DNC was supposed to return but kept not having the money to return it. I can't remember exactly what it was!

[Kay Soze]

Bill Clinton a friend of Ken Lay - received $100,000 from Enron 4 years ago

September 01, 1997 THE WHITE HOUSE THAT INVISIBLE MACK SURE CAN LEAVE HIS MARK BY MICHAEL WEISSKOPF/WASHINGTON Time Magazine In Part:

For a man who had supposedly vanished from the corridors of power, MACK MCLARTY was the man to see in 1996. BILL CLINTON's former chief of staff, now a White House counselor tucked away in the basement, provided assistance to businessmen who ponied up $1.5 million for the Democrats in the last election. On Nov. 22, 1995, for example, Clinton scrawled an FYI note to McLarty, enclosing a newspaper article on Enron Corp. and the vicissitudes of its $3 billion power-plant project in India. McLarty then reached out to Enron's chairman, KEN LAY, and over the next nine months closely monitored the project with the U.S. ambassador to New Delhi, keeping Lay informed of the Administration's efforts, according to White House documents reviewed by TIME. In June 1996, four days before India granted final approval to Enron's project, Lay's company gave $100,000 to the President's party. Enron denies that its gift was repayment for Clinton's attention, and White House special counsel LANNY DAVIS says McLarty acted out of concern for a major U.S. investment overseas.

Nevertheless, there does seem to be a McLarty pattern. At Clinton's request, he met with international oil consultant ROGER TAMRAZ and asked the Energy Department if the Administration could not be more supportive of his Caspian Sea pipeline proposal (Tamraz' contribution: $200,000). And last week the Washington Post reported that Davis says McLarty acted "appropriately" in every case.

[machman]

Hey, investigate ME!!! I vote republican, and I owned Enron stock!!! I even sold it last year for a huge profit!!!! I must have ties to Ken Lay, Jeff Skilling, GW Bush, and Dick Cheney. I even DIDN'T invest in Halliburton personally before it fell from 40 to 13, I must be on the inside somehow!!! GW and the veep must personally be giving me investing tips!!!!!