Attorney General Ashcroft and Chief of Staff Recused Themselves In All Enron Matters

Department of Justice ^

[RCW2001]

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE THURSDAY, JANUARY 10, 2002 WWW.USDOJ.GOV

AG (202) 514-2008 TDD (202) 514-1888

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE STATEMENT

After review of the relevant facts and law, the Attorney General and his Chief of Staff, Mr. David Ayres, have recused themselves in all matters arising out of allegations of misconduct by Enron Corporation due to the totality of the circumstances of the relationship between Enron and the Attorney General. The Attorney General has not been involved in any aspect of initiating or conducting any investigation involving Enron. Any and all responsibilities that would be exercised by the Attorney General with regard to any such matters will be handled by the Deputy Attorney General.

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02-009

[Texaggie79]

Good move. Had Ashcroft found nothing, they would label him a cover up artist.

[July 4th]

Does anyone know the specifics of the connection?

[blackbag]

Sounds like the right thing to do....

But can you say ouch.....

[rface]

Deputy Attorney General, Larry D. Thompson

[Peach]

Aside from the fact that Enron contributed $25,000 to Ashcroft during a previous campaign, I haven't heard about any connection between the two.

[LenS]

I doubt that nothing will be found, though. I doubt that any politician would be in on this from either party - they're too risk adverse. But the Enron top executives played real games with their off-the-book partnerships. They gambled that a continuing rise in stock prices would cover the gamble and they lost. The whole set-up reeks of fraud and I hope they get nailed so that other company executives and directors take note and avoid this temptation in the future. Fraudulent books at this level undermine our whole sytem of investor confidence.

[rdavis84]

Right on Top of It!

[July 4th]

Aside from the fact that Enron contributed $25,000 to Ashcroft during a previous campaign,

I haven't been following the case, and didn't know that. Thanks--

[codeword]

Does anyone know the specifics of the connection?

Ashcroft received $50,000 in campaign contributions from Enron CEO Kenneth Lay and Enron just over a year ago for his unsuccessful U.S. Senate race in Missouri. Rest of article: http://www.rftstl.com/issues/2002-01-09/ray.html/1/index.html

[Dane]

Lay also gave $25,000 to a leadership committee headed by then-senator and now Attorney General John Ashcroft (news - web sites), according to the Center for Public Integrity.

LINK

Ashcroft has something Janet Reno never had, class. Janet Reno was the stonewaller in chief.

[ambrose]

I am sure Janet Reno would have also immediately recused herself. </ sarcasm>

[The Old Hoosier]

They donated money to one of his political campaigns.

[Strider]

Fraudulent books at this level undermine our whole sytem of investor confidence.

That is why publicly held companies are required to have "independently" audited financial statements. I wonder how independent the auditors were, since they were paid by Enron.

Both Enron's management and the auditors are to blame.

[StriperSniper]

From your link:

and served on the Attorney General's Economic Crime Council. After returning to King & Spalding in 1986 as a partner, he resumed his practice in civil and criminal litigation. Mr. Thompson is an experienced litigator who has tried and argued numerous civil fraud and criminal matters. In private practice, he represented corporations and individuals throughout the United States.

Looks like he is qualified and knows both sides, but the question is does he know the third, the political side.

[Brian Allen]

Ashcroft ..... just over a year ago for his unsuccessful U.S. Senate race .....

Ashcroft's senate reelection campaign wasn't unsuccessful.

There was one dead guy in the race and Ashcroft and the Law says the candidates must both live in the state being contested.

"Democratic" potty criminality notwithstanding, Ashcroft quite clearly won.

[Dianna]

I wonder how independent the auditors were, since they were paid by Enron.

I'm curious. Who would be the watchdog group supposed to make sure that businesses are complying with financial law?

[solidcon]

So when does the investigation hit California, and the moron governor who decided to manipulate the power market of the most populous state in the nation?! If you start playing insider games with power prices, ... stands to reason it might drive a company like Enron, playing the margin on power prices, straight to bankruptcy.

So fine, recuse, but don't drop the ball. Gray Davis deserves one serious investigation!

[ravingnutter]

From a liberal perspective, but does state the facts in the matter...

After all, Ashcroft did receive $50,000 in campaign contributions from Enron CEO Kenneth Lay and Enron just over a year ago for his unsuccessful U.S. Senate race here in Missouri. That's no mean feat, seeing as how our state doesn't exactly abound in oil wells.

To put this sum in perspective, consider that at $50,000 the Lay/Enron combo was among the top five contributors to the Ashcroft Victory Committee and among the top two from out of state, according to campaign-finance numbers reported by the Center for Responsive Politics. Conversely, Ashcroft's committee was by far the top recipient (other than the Republican National Committee) of a single donation from Lay.

What's more, in 1998, when he was running for the Republican presidential nomination, Ashcroft went right into the heart of hostile Bush country and had a major fundraiser, hosted by none other than Lay himself. At the time, Bush wasn't officially in the race.

Throw in the fact that Lay gave Ashcroft the maximum $1,000 gift for his first U.S. Senate run all the way back in 1994, and it's fair to say that Ashcroft has a decent personal history with the fellow Bush knows affectionately as "Kenny boy."

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