Jul 9, 2002 | Contact: Press Office 202-646-5172 |
Alleged Fraudulent Accounting Practices Occurred At Halliburton PRESS CONFERENCE Date: July 10, 2002 Time: 9:00 A.M. Location: Sheraton Hotel Parlor 1, 495 Brickell Ave Miami, FL (Washington, D.C.) Judicial Watch, the group that investigates and prosecutes corruption by government officials, announced today that it is filing a shareholders suit in Dallas, Texas, against Vice President Dick Cheney and the other involved directors of Halliburton, as well as Halliburton itself, for alleged fraudulent accounting practices which resulted in the overvaluation of the companys shares, thereby deceiving investors and others. The suit comes one day after President George W. Bush, who himself is enmeshed in allegations of insider trading when he was an executive, who sat on the audit committee of Harken Energy Company, announced a plan to crack down on corporate fraud. Ironically, it would appear that the Presidents rush to propose more regulation of private industry is intended to deflect attention away from his and his Vice Presidents own alleged improper business practices. President Bush has maintained that he was cleared by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Others have countered that the head of the agency was then an appointee of his father, President George H.W.Bush. President Clinton and the Democratic Party used a similar gambit when they were caught taking money illegally from foreign donors, including the Communist Chinese. Instead of prosecuting vigorously the Clintons and other guilty politicians, new campaign finance laws were proposed to deflect attention away from alleged crimes. Whether it is the Enron, Arthur Andersen, Global Crossing, or now the Halliburton and Harken scandals, there is a dangerous intersection between politicians of all stripes, Democrat and Republican, attempting to feed at the trough of business greed. As is true of the Clinton scandals, the American people cannot look the other way just because the President and Vice President are allegedly involved. Indeed, Judicial Watch has already sued Democrat and Republican officials in the Enron and Global Crossing scandals. To look the other way for the Vice President would be to set a precedent that the Washington elite are above the law. This cannot be permitted if our democracy is to survive, stated Judicial Watch Chairman and General Counsel Larry Klayman. In 1995 Halliburton was prosecuted and forced to plead guilty to trading with Libya, a terrorist state on the U.S. watch list. |
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Notice how he talks about OTHER THINGS more than he talks about Halliburton. And what IS the "Haren scandal?" |
Who among the intellectually honest here at FR would not agree with the above? I don't like some of the insinuations in his press release but that is how a (self-proclaimed) 'watch dog' operates...snarl and attack. Most of us here didn't mind these tactics when he was yapping at the cuffs of the i42 and his minions. No, he didn't "win" many cases but was instrumental in yapping loud and long enough so that the media (and Congress) could no longer ignore this "conservative activist."
Before I am branded some kind of 'bot', let me say that I am a big Bush supporter who lost some good FReepin' friends in the Bush-Bashing flame wars of 1999. I am, however and will continue to be, a supporter of JW. I have met Klayman several times and have never observed him to be the rabid, partisan egomaniac as he was formerly portrayed by the media and is now viewed here.
I for one welcome the opportunity for VP Cheney to face his accusers in a court of law instead of being subjected to the whispered, smarmy, innuendo that the libs trade in as a matter of practice. I am confident that Cheney did no wrong and can prove it, and if JW is the instrument of his clearing the air, then so be it.
And if the extra wrath heaped upon JW here is caused by his courting a formerly hostile media to air his case, then please savor the delicious irony there.
Will they be there fawning over him when he goes after the next lib? I think not. But then that would only point out their hypocrisy, not ours.