Halliburton Responds to Larry Klayman's Supersillyous Suit(My Title)

CBS Market Watch "Big Charts" Web Site ^ | 7/10/2002 | MarketWatch.com

[SierraWasp]

12:57PM Halliburton responds to Judicial Watch lawsuit (HAL) by Michael Baron Halliburton (HAL) is off 30 cents, or 2.1 percent, to $13.82, in midday action. The company is out with a press release responding to a lawsuit filed by Judicial Watch, a Washington, D.C.-based legal watchdog group. The suit alleges fraudulent accounting practices at Halliburton took place during the period when current vice president Dick Cheney served as its chairman and CEO. Halliburton called the claims in the suit, "untrue, unsupported, and unfounded." The company continued: "We are working diligently with the SEC to resolve its questions regarding the company's accounting procedures. Halliburton has always followed and will continue to follow guidelines established by the SEC and GAAP, General Accepted Accounting Principles."

[terilyn]

Well, when you had to go trolling on the internet for clients and even at that, could only come up with two, and those are pretty lame claims, it would hardly be prudent to then tell them that they have no legitimate claim.

BTW...I am sure there are hoards of others just beating down his door in order to hire his services.

[Torie]

You need to get up to the 1930's cases. If you are a public company, you are mere putty in the SEC's hands. Congress does seem to think a statute is necessary to regulate how auditors do their thing, but the SEC already has plenty of power to regulate how the companies operate, at least for so long as they want their stock to be publically traded.

[Lady In Blue]

For heavens sake, whatever you do, DO NOT put the disclosure in the footnotes. That might allow Newsweek to claim that: few people outside the company seem to have picked up on the wording change.

From an article in the Washington Times a few days ago:

The suit says Halliburton and Andersen violated securities laws when they did not disclose and justify the accounting change in a letter to investors. Halliburton's financial statements starting in 1998 do note, however, that it was booking uncollected revenue from cost overruns.

[terilyn]

LOL! OMG, so is mine!

She was over a couple of weeks ago and announced to everybody in attendance at my daughter's graduation open house that "Bush scares her", when I asked her why she could only claim that his speeches are making the rest of the world mad at us.

[Amelia]

So if government should regulate businesses, why shouldn't Judicial Watch be audited?

[terilyn]

Well thank you for so clearly making the point in your post #2200 that we have been trying to get through to you.

If the corporate execs are crooked, hang 'em from the highest tree.

It is not Larry's job to determine that. Nor is it the job of congress to posture for face time on Cspan or any other news network.

It is the job of the DOJ & the SEC. Last I checked Larry was employed by neither.

And that's the real rub isn't it. Larry didn't get to be AG.

[Inkie]

Getting into the broader debate (not contained to Halliburton), I have some observations. Everyone hates big companies when they are doing well, employing lots of people, paying lots of dividends and making shareholders rich ("big greedy investors")-- when the companies are providing jobs and spreading the wealth (though the top dogs spread disproportionate globs of it their own way, still, since employees often are also shareholders, everybody ends up better off).

Now that people are being laid off and shareholders hold worthless certificates, everyone is oh so sympathetic to these unfortunate folks. Why is it that there is so much sympathy for the very same people, and the sympathy just depends on how much their shares are worth?

Why is the public so easy to whip up and no logic is applied? We are supposed to love the worker but hate the person who employs him.

[FreedominJesusChrist]

Actually, it is Gibbons v. Ogden. That is certainly a good starting point.

Next, read U.S. v. EC Knight.

Then read Hammer v. Dagenhart, which is particularily interesting.

Next, if you wish, you should read, Carter v. Carter Coal.

Then, read U.S. v. Curtis Wright, which was a particularily controversial case.

Another silly Supreme Court case you should read is, Wickard v. Filburn.

Would you like any suggestions of concerning the Commerce Clause and Civil Rights? Because Heart of Atlanta Motel. v. U.S. is quite fascinating too.

Constitutional Law can be a real turn-on, you know.

[terilyn]

And, that fact was published in the annual report, which by law, is required to be mailed to each and every shareholder.

[Luis Gonzalez]

Are you suggesting that Larry (and you) believe that we need the Feds actively involved in the day-to-day operations of American businesses?

Do you think that more government involvement is the answer?

Would you care to define your particular brand of conservatism in relation with this idea of yours that government needs to exercize sufficient control over industry to PREVENT illegal practices?

Then show me one instance where more government control has meant a marked improvement, and not a major fiasco?

[deport]

why shouldn't Judicial Watch be audited?

They will be.... time is on the IRS side and not the 'eww' and her buds at the watch...... 'eww' may not realize it but he'd have been better off to have gotten it completed back in 1998 or whenever they first started the audit procedure.

[deport]

Constitutional Law can be a real turn-on, you know.

Uh oh... the girl drug out her text books again...... bless it's little heart.

[terilyn]

I have long wondered the same thing.

Great post BTW.

I have come to the conclusion that we are supposed to love the worker but hate the person who employs him because the liberal media has has spent millions of dollars and many, many years, trying to convince us of this.

It is the only weapon left in the dems arsenol. They are clinging desperately to it.

[Deb]

Oh, geez...I'm gonna regret this.

So, tell us how Halliburton and Dick Cheney wronged the wronged shareholders?

Since Halliburton, with its incredible drilling services, is one of the truest American corporate heroes I can think of, Klayman has positioned himself as an opportunist of historically evil proportions.

Yes, Punkin, you are laboring on the side of Satan, which I'm afraid will require another name change, Ms. FreedominJesusChrist.

And now that we've established who Larry is, please answer the old question: How did his Florida recount go?

So, that's

1. How did Halliburton and Cheney wrong the wronged shareholders and

2. What was the outcome of Larry's Florida recount?

Extra Credit: How much money did Larry get for Linda Tripp and the fired workers of the Travel Office? Okay, that's really 2 extra credit questions.

[FreedominJesusChrist]

And if it is the SEC's job to protect investors from against fraud and other investment malpractice, then where have they been?

They are supposed to closely monitor any securities being offered for sale. Stock exchanges, must follow numerous SEC regulations. The SEC monitors everything, whether it is stock bought on margin or the sale of futures. Plus, the SEC also is supposed to closely moniter holding companies and mutual funds.

[Mo1]

LOL .. did you explain to her .. they have always hated us

My sister told me she felt sorry for me that I had such a hard time trusting people

I said ... no but when a person has a history of repeating one lie after another .. then I tend to put my guard up

Then I asked her why she fall for every line people gave her .. which of course she denied

I said does "I did not have sex with that women" ring a bell

[Luis Gonzalez]

You couldn't wait, could you?

So, FIJC...when you have a law firm that takes in $26+ million dollars a year in contributions to "fight corruption in government", and less than $2 million of that money is spent in actually doing what they asked you to give them money to do, they should be investigated.

Agreed?

[FreedominJesusChrist]

I didn't have to dig out my huge Con. Law book. You think I would want to page through that when I still keep my class notes neatly filed away?

[Mo1]

Well, I don't really have anything to contribute, but I just thought I would help get this thread to 2000. :-)

LOL .. what team work

[Lady In Blue]

And, that fact was published in the annual report, which by law, is required to be mailed to each and every shareholder.

To be truthful,I didn't know that! Thanks very much for the information.I wonder would that piece of info be on a separate page or as a footnote? Either way,from what I see,Halliburton has done nothing wrong,and neither has VP Cheney!