Democrats squeeze information from White House on Enron-Cheney meetings

AP ^ | 1-9-02 | PETE YOST, Associated Press Writer

[Oldeconomybuyer]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Because of Enron Corp.'s sudden bankruptcy, congressional Democrats have won their first victory in a nine-month effort to squeeze information from the Bush White House on its ties to the energy industry.

For the first time, the White House is acknowledging that Enron representatives met six times with Vice President Dick Cheney or his aides on energy issues last year, most recently in mid-October just before the investing public realized the company was heading for disaster.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

Waxman's nose is out of joint.

[NativeNewYorker]

This could not have been written in a more prejudicial manner.

I have not seen a single scrap of info anywhere (and I include the technical financial press) indicating Enron wheedled anything out of the Bushies.

This is just a bloody shirt for the sheeple.

[Terry Mross]

I'm sure Lay told Cheney, "Hey, Dick, we're about to go bankrupt so you'd better sell all of your stock. And while your're at it, tell Fienstien and Boxer to sell all of theirs, too." He then said, "And we don't drill for oil but we'd like to know when you're going to start drilling in ANWR."

[steve50]

Either Waxman didn't get a campaign "donation" or they didn't tell him to clear out of Enron in time.

They started spinning this as a problem in "accounting regulations" a couple weeks ago. Nothing to look at here.

[Tacis]

I sure hope the Republicans are smart enough to make sure that every question asked of the Bush White House/staff is also asked of Willie and the Sewer Dwellers. A company as crooked as Enron was made for the DNC, Willie's Chinese masters, and all the lying sleazes on Willie's payroll. Enron got all sorts of help from Notsobright on the power plant in India. Bush and his people might be friends but they are smart enough to know to keep Enron folks at arms length. Willie and his friends are crooked enough to sell whatever Enron was buying. Bush knows the media would work to uncover stuff while Willie would have known that the media would conceal anything that made him look bad.

[Jambe]

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.

Source: www.publicintegrity.org/rbrown2.html#enron

[Jambe]

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.

Source: www.publicintegrity.org/rbrown2.html#enron

[1L]

Hmmm. Let's see. If they met and Enron got political favors from Cheney, it obviously was not enough to keep them from collapsing. If they got no favors, but simply told Cheney they were about to crash, what specific benefit or harm occurred and to whom? Is there an allegation that someone sold stock before the crash? What specifically is the problem here? Someone needs to ask Waxman what he is looking for.

[dead]

Geez, AP doesn't even pretend to be non-partisan anymore. James Carville could have written this. Maybe he did.

That said, get all the info out. I don't particularly care which party gets more damaged.

[MinuteGal]

Hey! I agree with every poster above. This is more slash-and-burn politics.

However, Bush and Cheney knew this was coming. They should have taken a page from the Clinton/Carville playbook and come out with a pre-emptive strike.

As usual, Republican PR strategy stinks!

Leni