Enron Probe Crosses Many Political Borders

Who's who in the Commerce scandal
"Li Ka-Shing is not the only one to take advantage of the Clinton sponsored changes in the Maritime finance program. For example, two power barges for export to Indonesia made by Enron Corp., a large contributor to Bill Clinton, were also built through the DOT Maritime-funding program, and backed by $50 million in taxpayer financing. Another questionable ship deal included over $60 million to build a paddlewheel steam boat/casino. Still another deal landed millions in taxpayer supported loans for two floating combination hotel/casino barges."

Houston Stadium Named ‘Enron Field’

Global News

Enron and the Houston Astros had last year announced an integrated naming rights agreement that includes the exclusive right for Enron Energy Services to provide competitive electricity and facilities management services at the new baseball stadium, which will be named ‘Enron Field’.

Under the 30-year agreement with the Astros, Enron Energy Services will manage the energy contracts at Enron Field, as well as provide services for heating, ventilation and airconditioning, and also will administer various subcontracts for maintenance of all mechanical and electrical equipment. In addition, Enron has agreed to develop a parking structure adjacent to the ballpark, pending Harris County-Houston Sports Authority approval.

Enron Field, which was opened in April 2000, is leading the revitalization of downtown Houston. The 42,000-seat stadium has been designed as an open-air ballpark with a natural grass playing field and the ability to close a retractable roof and aircondition the seating bowl on hot summer days or in bad weather. Fans will enjoy a view of the Houston skyline from Enron Field, whether the roof is open or closed, as the stadium’s moving west roof wall will feature 50,000 square feet of glass.

Enron And Starwood Hotels Sign Energy Management Agreement Enron Energy Services, a subsidiary of Enron Corp., and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., one of the largest hospitality companies in the world, recently announced a ten-year energy management agreement. The agreement covers Westin, Sheraton, St. Regis, Luxury Collection and Four Points hotels in North America, and is valued in excess of $1 billion over the ten-year period.

Through this agreement, Enron will: Supply or procure electricity and natural gas;manage energy infrastructure through the implementation of energy-related projects; and provide energy price stability at Starwood’s hotels.

“Energy is a significant expense, and we have chosen Enron to help us properly invest in equipment and programs that will ultimately reduce our energy costs,” said Robert F. Cotter, Starwood’s chief operating officer.

"Starwood recently spent $1.8 billion to improve the front of our house with extensive renovations, new guestroom designs and stunning public areas. Today, as part of our agreement with Enron, we’re investing $50 million to reduce energy consumption in our hotels, resulting in a huge cost savings and more environmentally friendly operations."

According to Cotter, Starwood anticipates that with Enron’s guidance, the company will reduce energy costs by approximately $200 million over ten years. “While conventional wisdom in the hotel industry has always been that you don’t invest dollars where the public won’t see it, in this case our capital investment is transparent to our guests, but clearly has a compelling financial return and significant environmental benefits.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with more than 725 properties in 80 countries and 120,000 employees at its owned and managed properties.

Enron is one of the world’s leading electricity, natural gas and communications companies. The company, with revenues of $40 billion in 1999 and $30 billion for the first six months of 2000, produces electricity and natural gas, develops, constructs and operates energy facilities worldwide.

Jakarta Bourse Probes 29 Firms Over Price Manipulation

Enron: Now the IRS Joins the Hunt

Enron: Now the IRS Joins the Hunt

Business Week | JANUARY 11, 2002 | By Mike McNamee in
Washington, with Wendy Zellner in Dallas

The latest question: Did the humbled energy giant take deductions for $1.2 billion in debt carried on its books as shareholders' equity?

The Internal Revenue Service has opened its own investigation of Enron, the beleagured and bankrupt energy trader, according to senior government investigators.

The IRS probe pushes to an even dozen the number of government inquiries into the accounting, securities, and pension practices of the failed Houston-based outfit. The Securities & Exchange Commission is investigating whether errors on Enron's financial statements constituted securities fraud -- a question that is also the subject of an investigation by a nationwide Justice Dept. task force.

LABORING OVER PENSIONS. Meanwhile, the Labor Dept. is investigating Enron's pension plans, which barred employees from selling their Enron stock as the company melted down last fall. And President George W. Bush has ordered two Cabinet-level task forces to look into issues surrounding Enron's pensions and energy trading, while at least six committees in Congress have announced probes or hearings.

Contacted by BusinessWeek Online, the IRS would neither confirm nor deny any investigation, citing Enron's privacy rights as a taxpayer. Enron had no immediate comment. And Enron's outside counsel, Washington attorney Robert Bennett, could not be reached for comment for this story.

The tax service could bring civil or criminal charges if it found that Enron's accounting snafus were reflected in its tax returns. The company declared bankruptcy in December following a rapid collapse triggered by a $586 million writedown of its earnings. The company had to restate its financials after it determined that some of the partnerships it had established in a complicated web of asset swaps weren't independent, and thus should have been consolidated on Enron's books.

INTERESING DEDUCTIONS? Details of the IRS probe were not available. But according to attorneys familiar with tax law, the agency could be looking into whether the original accounting treatment, which separated the partnerships' profits and losses from Enron's, misstated the giant company's tax liability. In particular, the probe could look at whether Enron claimed interest deductions for $1.2 billion in debt that it carried on its books as shareholders' equity.

The IRS also has jurisdiction over 401(k) pension plans. And the tax agency might be interested in the role of 800-plus offshore Enron subsidiaries and affiliates, many based in such traditional tax havens as the Cayman Islands, according to attorneys.

7 Years of Hell at the Hands of the IRS

Thanks for hot linking my bad link !!!!!

Fixing the FBI? Why, Mr. Ashcroft thinks Arthur Anderson LLP is just the thing the FBI needs. LOL!

MEMO DIRECTED ENRON AUDIT DOCS DESTROYED
"Mark Cheffers, CEO of accounting Malpractice.com, says of Arthur Andersen: "Even if they're innocent, it looks like a massive cover-up." Andersen reported its destruction of Enron documents to the SEC and Justice Department early last week—just before four congressional investigators arrived at the company's Houston office on Wednesday. Committee officials immediately demanded the personal records of the partner and five top executives working on the Enron account.

The incident further tars the name of venerable Arthur Andersen, which in June settled allegations of fraud stemming from its audit of Houston-based Waste Management and paid a $7 million fine without admitting any wrongdoing. Last year, again without admitting wrongdoing, Andersen agreed to pay $110 million to settle a class action brought on behalf of shareholders of another client, Sunbeam, which had misstated its financial results during the 1990s. These days, an Andersen competitor observes sardonically, settling a fraud case appears to be good for attracting business from other firms that want a soft touch for an auditor.

Andersen picked for FBI review

Andersen picked for FBI review
By Christopher J. Dorobek
July 23, 2001

The Justice Department has selected Andersen to conduct a comprehensive review of the FBI, including its antiquated computer systems.

The study is being undertaken on behalf of Justice's Strategic Management Council, a new organization that Attorney General John Ashcroft created to provide long-range planning. Ashcroft said that the council's review will include a management study of the FBI's policies and practices focusing on information technology, personnel, crisis management and other issues.

The FBI has been reeling from problems in recent years, including the discovery this year of its failure to turn over thousands of documents in connection with the trial of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh. The delay in handing over those documents has been blamed in part on the FBI's inadequate computers.

Ashcroft, in a June 20 memo to deputy attorney general Larry Thompson, ordered the comprehensive review to "identify and recommend actions dedicated to improving and upgrading the performance of the FBI."

The contract specifies that "Andersen will evaluate the organizational structure and mission of the FBI, including the agency's own perception of its mission and core values and how well its organizational structure is suited to identify and act on institutional and operational problems," Justice said.

Andersen will review the FBI's policies, practices and procedures in several other areas:

* The way the agency approaches the procurement and maintenance of IT systems.

* Its records and data management.

* Its approach to human resources management, including the recruitment, selection, hiring and retention of employees, as well as its approach to human capital planning and resource deployment.

* The manner in which the bureau reacts to crises, emphasizing the effectiveness of its communication structure, its decision-making and command authority, and the relation of headquarters officials to those in field offices.

Justice awarded the contract from a competition using the General Services Administration's Management, Organizational, and Business Improvement Services contract, department officials said.

Andersen, formerly known as Arthur Andersen LLP, was selected on the strength of its ability to assemble an experienced consulting team that could deliver recommendations based on its research in a short time frame, Ashcroft said.

The FBI already has two targeted reviews ongoing. The Justice inspector general is investigating the issues in the McVeigh snafu, and William Webster, former director of the FBI and CIA, is leading a group that will make recommendations for improving the bureau's national security measures. The Webster review was launched following the arrest of Robert Hanssen, a longtime FBI counterintelligence agent who is accused of spying for the Russians for 15 years.

Ashcroft asked that those investigations be completed by Nov. 1 so the findings can inform the Strategic Management Council's report, which will be completed by January."

See Uncle Bill's terrific reply #85:

Given Aschoft's involvement with Enron and Anderson's corruption in the Enron case, will the Anderson review of the FBI be reliable? I doubt it.

I wonder if Ashroft and Mueller knew all along that the Anderson review of the FBI would probably be rigged like the Anderson audits of Enron?

I wonder if Ashcroft and Mueller knew all along that the Anderson review of the FBI would probably be rigged like the Anderson audits of Enron?

Of course they did !!!!!

Ashcroft & Mueller together couldn't lead their way out of a wet paper bag.

How difficult could it be to figure out that holding people accountable for their actions would clean up the FBI & DOJ over night.

Cleaning up corruption at the FBI is a simply matter, first you make every U.S.Attorney and Assistant U.S. Attorney in this country submit to a polygraph test, if they fail they are fired.

Then you do all the career top FBI agents, if they fail they are fired.

An estimated 5% of the top FBI in the U.S. have already failed the FBI administered polygraph test.

Making an example of these corrupt top federal prosecutors and FBI agents will send a message to everyone at the DOJ that this country will no longer tolerate corruption at the FBI or DOJ.

Rule of thumb: if the FBI are corrupt so are the U.S. Attorneys,usually the U.S. Attorneys being more politically powerful are more corrupt than the FBI and are a primary cause of corruption at the FBI.

You wrote in reply #87:

"Rule of thumb: if the FBI are corrupt so are the U.S. Attorneys,usually the U.S. Attorneys being more politically powerful are more corrupt than the FBI and are a primary cause of corruption at the FBI"

I agree and I would add that for the FBI to remain corrupt means AG Ashcroft and FBI Diretor Mueller have to be corrupt.

Last summer COngress was looking into changing the law which requires the approval of the AG or the Deputy AG before any top level FBI agent can be investigated for corruption or illegal ativities. After 9/11 this appears to have been shelved by Congress.

To me the FBI have always been political hachet men for the executive branch , the DOJ and the AG. The FBI also has deliberately facilitated the transfers of classified nuke technology to China and Russia and coverup of sensitive terrorism issues (like protecting Hamas in OKC) for the executive branch.

Here is my opinion based on what I found during the investigation of the OKC bombing:

The FBI does not enforce the law, the FBI helps the DOJ and AG and executive break the law. The FBI routinely perjures themselves in court cases and falsifies evidence for presentation in court. The FBI routinely threatens and intimidates witnesses that are law abiding citizens. The FBI also falsifies its own files on political dissents that the current admistration feels are a political threat as directed by the AG (makes no difference which political party is in power).

BTTT!

Mueller ran Justice's criminal division under the last Bush administration and drew fire for being too lax in probing the BCCI banking scandal. It was under Mueller that Radek, then deputy chief of the unit, became a section chief for the first time.

Bush To Name Mueller As FBI Head

FBI should be polygraph-tested

Webster pulled plug on polygraph tests? Ex-agent: Former FBI chief heading up post-spy review killed security program
Obstruction in terror investigations? - FBI agent alleges feds stopped probes that may have prevented 9-11
Congressman: FBI Ignored Repeated Warnings
FBI FOREKNOWLEDGE: Laden Suspect (Moussauoi) in OKC Bombings and WTC Attacks Identified &Jailed
FBI COVER-UP OF CHINESE INFILTRATION OF WHITE HOUSE
The Government Mafia
Criminal Laws Implicated by the Clinton Scandals
OVER 2,000 PEOPLE, ORGANIZATIONS, AND CRIMES CONNECTED TO THE CLINTONS
Bush Justice Department Seeks to Halt Wen Ho Lee Testimony
Bush vows to review Clinton's actions, But Can't Find A Thing
BUSH JUSTICE DEPARTMENT BLOCKS RENO DEPOSITION
Bush Limits Access to Reagan Papers, Draws Criticism
Does Ashcroft Know About Miquel Rodriguez and Vincent Foster?
Ashcroft Orders Full FBI Review And Then The FBI Terrorists Can Proceed As Normal
Ashcroft Winding Down Justice Department Chinagate Probe
Breaking: US Congress Subpoena Orders Ashcroft To Release Clinton Evidence on Sept. 11, 2001
Bush action gives safe harbor to FBI 'terrorists'
DOJ Under Janet Ashcroft - Has Anything Changed?

D.C. BANK SWEPT UP IN INTRIGUE ... [CIA, MAFIA, S&L FRAUD, PROSTITUTION & MURDER]
INTRODUCTION: The Mafia, CIA and George Bush
SIGNS POINT TO MOB INVOLVEMENT IN SAVINGS-AND-LOAN MESS

CREDIT SUISSE FIRST "BOSTON" CORPORATION - Social Network Diagram
HENNESSY JOHN (CREDIT SUISSE FIRST BOSTON) - Social Network Diagram
BUSH GEORGE W - Social Network Diagram
BUSH GEORGE H.W. - Social Network Diagram

The BCCI Affair
"As much as BCCI, the "First National Bank of Boston", the Credit Suisse and the National Bank of Greece -- all are equally lawbreakers.

...You know, all flight capital is questionable money: Tax evasion, drugs money, arms transactions, pure political corruption. But we were small, only able to take in $100 million yearly. Other banks were taking in a billion each. So we were losing out on that business. Credit Suisse was repatriating $1 billion per year in flight capital from Colombia. Union Bank of Switzerland, another $1 billion. We only handled $100 million. But that amount did go from BCCI Colombia into the United States.(56)

...Colombia was a unique situation. We never paid any illegal money to purchase the bank. But when we inherited the bank, we learned that it was a tradition to pay the treasurer of the bank commissions on the largest accounts. I asked Mr. Naqvi for clarification, you know, should we pay it? And he said to pay it in dollars so that it couldn't be traced to us. So we paid it, around $20,000 to $30,000 monthly.(57)

...Everyone who did business in the drug trade knew about BCCI. We all used it. It was very conveniently located at the airport when you came into Panama. Its officers were very attentive. And even if something went wrong, and your money was frozen at the request of the United States, BCCI would make sure you could get your money back.(98)"

"If there is going to be a Big Brother, it is us, the FBI." - Paul George, a senior FBI official
"Ultimately, he said, the U.S. Department of Justice wants to link up as many databases as possible -- including existing private-sector databases -- to amass an enormous amount of information and make it available to law enforcement agents at the click of a mouse.

..."there are lots of efforts going on around the world to integrate the justice systems,"

George H.W. Bush
Q. Mr. President, on the Christmas Eve pardons, does it give the appearance that Government officials are above the law?

The President. No, it should not give any such appearance. Nobody is above the law. I believe when people break the law, that's a bad thing. I've read some stupid comment to the contrary. And of course, I feel that way. But the Constitution is quite clear on the powers of the President. And sometimes a President has to make a very difficult call, and that's what I've done.

But I'm glad you asked it, because I've read some rather frivolous reporting that I don't care about the law. I pride myself on 25 or more years of public service, of serving honorably, decently, and with my integrity intact. And certainly I wouldn't feel that way if I had a lack of respect for the law. And I don't think there is one single thing in my career that could lead anybody to look at my record and make a statement of that nature. So thank you for giving me the opportunity to clear it up.

Thank you all.

Link to article below:

February 25, 1998
In a letter dated July 9, 1992, twenty Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee petitioned the attorney general to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate "serious allegations of possible violations of federal criminal statutes by high-ranking officials of the Executive Branch."

Among the potential criminal violations cited in the petition were making false statements, obstruction of justice, concealment or falsification of records, perjury, mail and wire fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States or to commit an offense against the United States, and financial conflict of interest by high executive branch officials.

The 1992 letter further cited the Bush administration's "willful and repeated failure" to comply with requests by the House Judiciary and other committees for both documents and witnesses.

According to the 27-month Gonzalez Investigation, the Bush administration set up an "interagency" group after the Gulf War to prevent Congress from finding out about U.S. aid to Iraq before the Kuwait invasion. Gonzalez's concerns centered on the handling by the Justice Department of the investigation into Banka Nazionale del Lavoro (BNL) in Atlanta. Most of Iraq's purchases of sensitive technology were handled by BNL. According to Gonzalez, Iraq had set up a secret network to buy equipment for missiles and for nuclear, chemical, and germ weapons. More than $5 billion in soft loans were funneled through the bank to the Iraqis in the five years leading up to the war. According to Gonzalez's compelling investigation, almost half of the $5 billion was funneled directly into Iraq's ambitious weapons program.

The Bush administration's task was to limit the investigation to one low-level bank official in Atlanta, resisting any attempt to connect the Iraqi loans to high administration officials or to BNL's mother bank in Italy and other shady institutions, such as the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI), the CIA's bank of choice.

To this end, at least five federal agencies apparently misled, lied to, and blatantly stonewalled prosecutors in charge of the BNL investigation. According to a strongly worded October 1992 statement by the then chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, David Boren, in support of the appointment of a special prosecutor, the CIA "with strong advice" from the Justice Department "authored a misleading letter to the acting U.S. attorney in Atlanta" regarding the BNL investigation. "In light of this new information," Boren stated, "I call on the attorney general to meet his obligations ... and appoint a special prosecutor."

To make his case, Boren cited the concerns of the federal judge in the stymied BNL case. In a sharp rebuke of the government's behavior, Judge Marvin Shoob accused Bush officials of stonewalling and deception in the BNL case and joined the call for a special prosecutor. "High-level officials in the Justice Department and the State Department met with the Italian ambassador," stated the frustrated federal judge, and "...decisions were made at the top levels of the United States government and within the intelligence community to shape this case." Shoob also noted that "the local prosecutor in this matter received ... highly unusual and inappropriate telephone calls from the White House Office of Legal Counsel."

Despite the strong words from Boren, Gonzalez, and Shoob, a special prosecutor was never appointed, and no administration officials were ever indicted or even forced to testify. Low-level bank officials ultimately took the rap for a multibillion-dollar, illegal, secret government scheme, spearheaded by the president of the United States, to arm Iraq.

And the coverup, thanks to Clinton officials, continues to this day. During the 1992 presidential campaign, Gore called the coverup of the secret Bush policy to arm Iraq "bigger than Watergate ever was," but in a Jan. 16, 1995, report, the Clinton Justice Department absolved the Bush administration and stated that it had found no evidence "that U.S. agencies or officials illegally armed Iraq."

Justice admits falsifying testimony: 'Outrageous' conviction of ex-CIA operative being reviewed

“I don’t care if you have proof that he raped a woman, stood up and shot her dead, you’re still not going to get 67 votes.”

MEMO DIRECTED ENRON AUDIT DOCS DESTROYED
ENRON - Colossal collapse
Enron and the Clintonites
Enron Also Courted Democrats
Deregulating utilities would only increase his power
Enron adds up 4 years of errors - (Bureaucratic snafus)
John Dingel (D) Accepts ENRON Money, Refuses To Recuse Himself!
Enron 'Scandal' Should Prompt Indictments - for the Clintons
Enron mark is deep in political pockets
MEMO DIRECTED ENRON AUDIT DOCS DESTROYED
Bush Aides: Nothing New in Enron Calls
Dingell: I'll Grill Rubin on Enrongate Calls
Bush and Enron's collapse
U.S. Congress Demands Documents, Files From Enron and Andersen Executives
Let the (Enron) Obfuscation Begin!
ACCOUNTABLE: Arthur Andersen sucked into Enron fraud investigation
Power Plant Cuts Storing Up Trouble?
Newsweek Cover: 'Enron. Burned!'
1 Disney and 75% of Enron--What's the Difference?
CAUGHT OFF BALANCE: THREE OTHER COMPANIES WHICH MIGHT BE IN TROUBLE LIKE ENRON

"We’re going to go after all crime, and we’re going to make sure people get punished for the crime."
George W. Bush - Presidential Debate at Wake Forest University - Oct 11, 2000

"It is not possible to 'take care that the laws be faithfully executed' while deliberately violating the law.."
John Ashcroft - Aug. 1, 1998 (Washington Post).

"We are the only ones who know what is good for the country, and we are the only ones who can do anything about it."
FBI Special Agent Joseph G. Deegan in 1977 - Source

"We are potentially the most dangerous agency in the country,"
FBI Director Louis Freeh - testimony before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime on June 5, 1997

..

"Justice is the end of government. It is the end of civil society. It ever has been, and ever will of civil society. It ever has been, and ever will be pursued, until it be obtained, or until liberty be lost in the pursuit."
James Madison, Federalist Paper No.51

ENRON TELEVISION HEARINGS

Details Of Enron's Pleas To Bush Aide Emerge

GOP Enron Plan: Shift the Blame

Clinton Spokesgal: Enron 'A Major Problem' for Bush

Justice Probing Alleged FBI Retaliation

By Terry Frieden
CNN Washington Bureau
August 10, 2001 Posted: 4:40 AM HKT (2040 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The FBI is the subject of yet another outside investigation -- this time for alleged double standards of discipline throughout the agency, and claims of retaliation against whistleblowers in the fallout from the siege at Ruby Ridge, Justice officials said Thursday.

Justice Department officials revealed the probe had been opened in May, but had not been made public. In recent weeks, Senate hearings on a series of FBI failures prompted some lawmakers to complain FBI leaders were not held to the same standard of discipline as rank-and-file field agents.

The review of possible retaliation by executives in the aftermath of the deadly 1992 Idaho siege marks the fourth probe of the FBI undertaken this year by Inspector General Glenn Fine and his investigators. That office is also looking into the Robert Hanssen spy scandal, the failure by the FBI to turn over documents during the trial of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, and the disappearance of hundreds of missing firearms and laptops in the FBI and other agencies.

In addition, Attorney General John Ashcroft has ordered two outside investigations of the FBI. A panel led by former FBI and CIA Director William Webster is examining the counterintelligence problems revealed by the Robert Hanssen spy case, and an independent management review is being conducted for Ashcroft by Arthur Anderson auditors.

Last month Ashcroft handed the Justice Inspector General increased authority to examine the FBI, in a move designed to help rein in the FBI's long-standing independence.

Justice Department officials said the Inspector General's review would not focus on the Justice decision rejecting a proposed censure of former FBI Director Louis Freeh in connection with the Ruby Ridge incident. Officials say they do not know whether the Inspector General will interview either Freeh or former Assistant Attorney General Stephen Colgate who rejected a task force recommendation to censure Freeh.

Freeh disciplined a dozen agents in 1994 following an internal investigation of the deadly Ruby Ridge shootout in which an FBI sharpshooter shot and killed Vicki Weaver, the wife of separatist Randy Weaver, in her mountain cabin. One day earlier, Weaver's 14-year-old son and a federal marshal were killed during a shootout.

Two agents have expressed bitter disappointment that the FBI had unfairly disciplined them, while top managers escaped any punishment. They testified before the Senate of alleged retaliation for their challenge to the FBI hierarchy's conclusions and actions in an internal review of the shootout at Ruby Ridge, Idaho.

FBI Director Robert Mueller recently told a Senate panel that he believes the top executives at the FBI should be held to an even higher standard of conduct than the men and women they lead. Mueller said the FBI had "outgrown" its current management structure, and promised to make changes when he takes over in September.

Government Terrorism

Department of Justice Press Release:

#345: 07-20-01 DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE COUNCIL ANNOUNCES CONTRACT AWARD FOR MANAGEMENT STUDY OF FBI Department of Justice Seal

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - AG

FRIDAY, JULY 20, 2001 (202) 616-2777

WWW.USDOJ.GOV TDD (202) 514-1888

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE COUNCIL ANNOUNCES CONTRACT AWARD

FOR MANAGEMENT STUDY OF FBI

WASHINGTON, D.C. Attorney General John Ashcroft announced that the Department of Justice has awarded a contract to the firm of Arthur Andersen LLP to conduct a management study of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The study is being undertaken on behalf of the Department of Justice's Strategic Management Council, a formal board of top Justice officials chaired by Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson, which was created last May to provide direction and leadership on a wide range of Department matters. On June 20, Ashcroft requested that the Council conduct a comprehensive review of the FBI. As part of that review, Ashcroft requested the Council commission a study by a private firm to review the policies and practices of the Bureau regarding information technology, personnel matters, crisis management, and related issues.

"This study by a firm of Andersen's caliber will provide valuable information to enhance the institutional integrity and performance of the FBI. By addressing the many challenges facing the Bureau and finding the appropriate solutions, we will reinforce the FBI's effectiveness as the premier law enforcement organization in the world," said Ashcroft.

Selection of Andersen resulted from a competition conducted under the General Services Administration's (GSA) Management, Organizational, and Business Improvement Services (MOBIS) Schedule, which has proven invaluable in allowing federal managers to quickly access a broad range of experienced management consulting firms. Andersen was selected on the strength of its ability to assemble an experienced consulting team that could deliver recommendations based on its research in a short time frame.

As outlined in the contract, Andersen will evaluate the organizational structure and mission of the FBI, including the agency's own perception of its mission and core values and how well its organizational structure is suited to identify and act on institutional and operational problems. In addition, Andersen will review the Bureau's policies, practices, and procedures in several other areas, including its records and data management and the way the agency approaches the procurement and maintenance of information technology systems; its approach to human resource management, including the recruitment, selection, hiring, and retention of employees, as well as its approach to human capital planning and resource deployment. Finally, Andersen will review the manner in which the Bureau reacts to crises, emphasizing the effectiveness of its communication structure, its decision making and command authority, and the relation of Headquarters officials to those in field offices.

The results of the study will inform the Strategic Management Council's recommendations, due to the Attorney General at the beginning of next year, for overall improvements to the FBI.

###

01-345

From here:
Earned $7,706,500 in speaking fees in 2000 (about $60,000 each) for 108 speeches to various corporations, including JCPenney, GE Power, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Consolidated Edison, Paine Webber, Miller Brewing, Goldman, Sachs, Wells Fargo Bank, Credit Suisse, Alex Brown & Sons, American Express, Clorox, Coca-Cola, Arthur Anderson, American Chemistry Council, Walt Disney, Twentieth Century Fox, Pillsbury, Auto Zone, Lotus and Fidelity Institutional Retirement Services.

Enron documents 'disposed of'

"This study by a firm of Andersen's caliber will provide valuable information to enhance the institutional integrity and performance of the FBI."

Remember that comment.

I found what I was looking for and I'll flag you when it gets published. Thanks!

Uncle Bill, you have done a magnificent job of proving the case over and over again of the corruption in both Republican and Democratic administrations and how they use the DOJ and FBI to cover their corrupt tracks.

I pray more people on the FreeRepublic will take more seriously the evidence which you post and realize that you are even handed in your presentations of evidence which is equally damning of the elites in both political parties.

All of this makes me sick at heart and I can imagine it must make you feel the same way.

It is a miracle that the Republic still is standing with this level of corruption. Maybe God takes pity and spares the Republic because He knows that there are still men like you left who care and are trying to get others to wake up and do something just about your information.

But when God has had enough and if there is no change for the better in enough corrupt men's hearts, you and others like you may be taken out of the way for protection when God rains fire and brimstone down on those corrupt men who are left in America.

"This study by a firm of Andersen's caliber will provide valuable information to enhance the institutional integrity and performance of the FBI."

Uncle Bill wrote:

"Remember that comment."

Does this comment mean that the integrity and performance of the FBI will be lowered to the caliber of an Arthur Anderson company who dealt corruptly in the Enron case?

Justice Department Probes FBI

By KAREN GULLO, AP Writer
Monday, August 13, 2001 WASHINGTON (AP)

The FBI is under the microscope, facing a barrage of investigations into everything from alleged threats against whistleblowers to lost weapons.

It's quite a switch for an agency that is used to doing the investigating and operates largely in secret. The scrutiny is coming from all directions. Congress, the Justice Department and outside experts are looking into a series of bungles that have dogged the FBI in recent years.

FBI officials say the bureau is cooperating fully with investigators.

"While it's a significant burden, FBI employees understand the need for this oversight and at the same time are fulfilling their law enforcement and national security responsibilities," said spokesman Mike Kortan.

The scrutiny and a steady stream of headlines extolling the latest blunder have taken a toll on morale, observers say.

"It's something very different from what they are accustomed to," said Michael Bromwich, a former Justice Department official who investigated problems with the FBI laboratory. "The spotlight is on the FBI."

FBI officials were bracing for the release Monday of portions of a review highly critical of the bureau's handling of the Wen Ho Lee case.

Lee, who had worked on top-secret nuclear weapons programs since the 1970s, was indicted on 59 felony charges alleging he transferred nuclear weapons information to portable computer tapes. He spent nine months in solitary confinement, but all but one charge against him was eventually dropped.

At least six other investigations into the FBI under way. Officials confirmed last week that the Justice Department's Office of Inspector General, an internal watchdog, is investigating allegations of retaliation against agents assigned to look into the bureau's handling of the 1992 standoff with white separatists in Ruby Ridge, Idaho.

As part of the inquiry, Inspector General Glenn Fine is looking into allegations that senior FBI officials are immune from disciplinary measures and punishments imposed on lower-ranking agents.

The Senate Judiciary Committee also is scrutinizing an alleged double standard that protects top managers from punishment.

Lawmakers are especially interested in whether the FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility, which for years had primary responsibility for investigating wrongdoing at the bureau, helped foster a double standard.

Robert Mueller, the newly installed FBI director, said the bureau would admit its mistakes, correct them and hold agents and senior officials accountable under his leadership.

He'll inherit a dizzying array of inquries when he takes over Sept. 4.

The inspector general is also investigating:

-The FBI's performance in detecting and investigating Robert Hanssen, a veteran agent who has admitted spying for Russia

-Why the FBI failed to turn over documents to lawyers for Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh. That incident forced Attorney General John Ashcroft to postpone McVeigh's execution nearly a month.

-How the FBI keeps track of weapons, laptops and other equipment following the FBI's disclosure that hundreds of guns and computers are missing. One gun was used in a murder.

Not all of the inquiries have gone smoothly. Fine's investigators initially encountered problems obtaining documents from the FBI early in the Hanssen investigation, said sources familiar with the probe, speaking on condition of anonymity. They said the bureau now is cooperating.

Meanwhile, a commission headed by former CIA and FBI director William Webster is investigating the Hanssen matter and the Justice Department has hired consulting firm Arthur Andersen LLP to study the FBI's management structure.

All of these findings will be reviewed by a team of top Justice Department officials who are doing their own assessment of the FBI and will make recommendations to Ashcroft about how to best overhaul the bureau.

John Ashcroft Contribution - Arthur Andersen LLP $4,375

From Here:

FBI TO BE SUBJECT OF MANAGEMENT STUDY
The firm of Arthur Andersen LLP has been hired to conduct an extensive management study of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Under the contract, the Arthur Andersen will evaluate the FBI's organizational structure and mission; review the Bureau's policies, practices, and procedures in a number of different areas, including records and data management, and the way the agency handles procurement and maintenance of information technology systems; and examine its approach to human resource management, including the recruitment, selection, hiring, and retention of employees, as well as its approach to human capital planning and resource deployment. In addition, the firm will review how the FBI reacts to crises, emphasizing the effectiveness of its communication structure, its decision making and command authority, and the relation of Headquarters officials to those in field offices. The study will be used by the Department of Justice's Strategic Management Council to form recommendations due to Attorney General John Ashcroft at the beginning of 2002.

FBI has only itself to blame for woes

Enron's Astonishing Plunge From Success To Debacle

New York Times
Published Jan 13 2002

Not long ago, Enron Corp.'s name was part of the lexicon of corporate and political power. The company's contacts and influence in the White House and Congress bred envy among competitors. Enron was a driving force behind a radical shift in the United States' energy policy, and its fortune seemed guaranteed for years.
(Kenneth Lay chats with George H.W.Bush)

Yet in a matter of weeks, Enron has become synonymous with a corporate scandal, one that has touched politicians and regulators in Washington, accountants and executives on Wall Street and employees and other shareholders who lost tens of billions of dollars as the company tumbled into bankruptcy protection.

The ultimate cause of Enron's shocking collapse, competitors and lawyers say, was a culture of greed and arrogance. As some of the company's secrets began to be revealed last fall -- stunning Wall Street with tales of mysterious partnerships that had been used to pretty up Enron's books -- the stage was set for disaster.

The company's growing financial weakness, exacerbated by whispers in the energy markets, set off a swift loss of confidence among traders and bankers. Sources of financing evaporated, a merger deal collapsed and, finally, Enron hobbled into bankruptcy court.

As creditors quarrel over its remains, investigators in Congress, the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are demanding answers.

Enron executives had hoped to make the company a model for a new American industry. And indeed, the tale of the company's rapid rise and astonishing collapse will be studied for years -- but as an object lesson in the dangers of relying on financial juggling for big profits and the hazards of a business that corporate executives and directors, Wall Street analysts and government regulators barely understood.

Paying the price

It all started in the heady takeover days of the 1980s.

Enron, an asset-heavy company in the business of moving and selling natural gas, decided to transform itself. It would become part of the commodities-trading world, buying and selling electricity and gas as if they were pork belly futures.

To accomplish the transformation, chief executive Kenneth Lay had as his protege Jeffrey Skilling, a consultant with McKinsey & Co. Skilling, who brought a new dynamic to the once-staid business, understood how the markets could be used to liberate Enron from its reliance on the old world of hard assets. He proposed a system whereby Enron would essentially become the investment banker of natural gas.

Business boomed. In 1990, Skilling left McKinsey to run Enron Finance Corp., a company division that was created just for him.

By 1995, Enron had become the biggest player in the natural gas industry, controlling one-fifth of the North American market.

As the money poured in, the apparent success of Skilling's vision brought him the brass ring: In 1997 he was named Enron's president and chief operating officer.

Skilling, dizzy with the profits that accrued as Enron moved first into one new trading market after another, wanted to rid the company of all its hard assets. But other executives pressed forward with plans to give Enron a global reach, building power plants around the globe and becoming a force in the global water business. On the trading side, it splashed its way into the trendy market for high-speed data and Internet capacity.

All told, these efforts represented a collective investment of more than $10 billion, but they were producing next to nothing in returns.

Regardless, few of Enron's problems were evident to the company's supporters on Wall Street. Through the chief financial officer, Andrew Fastow, the company set up a series of limited partnerships, organized in such a way that, by company executives' reckoning, they could be treated as separate entities. It seemed an elixir that provided the answers to many of Enron's growing financial problems: If there were any assets or debts on the books that the company did not want, they could simply be shed to the partnerships.

However, the partnerships proved to be the poison that would finally be the company's undoing.

A changed market

Enron wasn't merely the largest player in the nation's deregulated energy markets. It helped create them.

It moved aggressively, seeking to gain the biggest shares of trading in these new and fast-growing markets -- lining up supply contracts to buy power and gas while at the same time cutting deals to sell the energy to customers, often over the long term.

Analysts estimate that at its peak Enron accounted for about 25 percent of the nation's energy trading -- not producing much energy itself but serving mostly as a middleman.

More significant, Enron dominated the trading of financial contracts, or derivatives, based on the value of gas and electricity traded at physical "hubs" around the nation.

At some hubs, rival energy traders say, Enron accounted for a much higher percentage of trading of some products, giving it enormous influence in the marketplace. The company's dominance only increased after it introduced EnronOnline, an Internet-based trading service, in 1999.

The company's critics observe that while energy prices were rising, Enron was riding high, but that it began to falter last summer -- in the same period when prices for electricity and gas collapsed.

In other words, they say, it may not be a coincidence that Enron's house of cards tumbled down at the same time energy costs sharply retreated, as profits from high prices were no longer able to offset severe problems in the company.

Missed signals

Flying high after being unshackled from regulation, Enron crashed quickly last fall following a series of revelations about its bookkeeping practices -- in particular, concealing huge chunks of debt by transferring them into still-murky partnerships.

By reducing the debt on its books, the company looked healthier and its profits looked more robust, even as the results of its trading operations and energy sales were flagging. Stock analysts and shareholders could breathe easier, as could credit rating agencies such as Standard&Poor's and Moody's Investors Service, which assess a company's health for lenders.

Yet within a matter of weeks, the company found itself in bankruptcy, under investigation and the target of lawsuits from burned investors and former trading partners.

Many questions remain unanswered, but one thing is certain: As a result of Enron's successful lobbying efforts, Washington was largely out of the business of regulating the products the company sold.

If the regulators in Washington were asleep, it was because the company had made their beds and turned out the lights. The company's financial successes were in no small part the byproduct of its campaign to deregulate the marketplace. It created what one executive referred to last year as a "regulatory black hole."

However, there were still traditional corporate mechanisms and institutions in place that should have raised alarms and kept executives in check.

"The fact that things declined so fast strongly suggests a breakdown of basic corporate governance," said David Ruder, a former SEC chairman who teaches at the Northwestern University School of Law.

For all the blame now being assigned, experts say the biggest failure -- at least judging by what has become public so far -- appears to rest with the company's auditor, Arthur Andersen.

With the disclosure last week that Andersen employees had destroyed large numbers of documents related to the firm's audits of Enron, investigators will be aiming many of their toughest questions at the accountants.

The politics

Beginning in the early 1990s, Enron pursued its campaign for energy deregulation by hiring dozens of Washington's most influential lobbyists and showering Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill with large campaign contributions.

By the time President Bush was inaugurated in January 2001, Enron and a number of its executives, including Lay, had contributed more money to Bush during his political career than anyone else, $550,000-plus. Enron then wrote a check for $100,000 for Bush's inaugural committee, and Lay added $100,000.

Last winter, the perennial questions about access given to large campaign contributors were asked about Enron. Lay had weighed in on nominees to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, supplying Bush's chief personnel adviser with a list of preferred candidates.

After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, there was almost no discussion in Washington about Enron's connections to the White House. Even in the weeks before the company filed for bankruptcy in December, Democrats, whose Senate campaign committee received a $100,000 donation from Enron, said little about the company's ties to the Bush administration.

Now, four congressional inquiries have begun to investigate Enron's collapse after it was revealed that many employees lost their life savings when its stock collapsed while some company executives were able to cash out $1 billion worth of stock.

The Enron issue finally hit the White House last week after the officials acknowledged that Enron executives had had six meetings last year with administration figures, including Vice President Dick Cheney.

The Justice Department announced that it was opening a criminal investigation of the company's collapse, including whether it had defrauded investors by deliberately concealing information about its finances. Attorney General John Ashcroft and his chief of staff recused themselves from the inquiry because Lay and Enron had contributed more than $50,000 to Ashcroft's 2000 senatorial campaign.

More disclosures followed. On Thursday, the White House disclosed that Lay had called Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and Commerce Secretary Donald Evans before the company filed for bankruptcy. Evans said Lay had sought government help with its dire financial condition.

On Friday, the administration said Peter R. Fisher, an undersecretary of the Treasury, was contacted repeatedly last fall by Enron's president, Greg Whalley, for help arranging bank loans.

"I'm very worried that we have not gotten to the end of the onion skin here; there's more to peel back," a longtime GOP strategist said. "I'm concerned this will distract the White House from its domestic agenda."

"Does this comment mean that the integrity and performance of the FBI will be lowered to the caliber of an Arthur Anderson company who dealt corruptly in the Enron case?"

Yes, they're a perfect match! Let's see if they decide to have someone else perform the function. Of course, they'll only pick an entity that will perform a meaningless task with a meaningless result. I bet they'll just slip the results in on a late Friday night, in time to make cocktail hour.

Thank you so much for your kind and generous comments above Patrick. They're very much appreciated. God bless you sir.

Look at the commission. Hehehehe. Thomas Foley and security. See my article below about Speaker Foley. William Cohen? Hahahaha. William Webster? What a team!!

FBI Security Review Team To Meet Next Month

Government Executive Magazine
By Kellie Lunney
August 29, 2001

A group of former government leaders tapped to review FBI security policies will meet for the first time next month, according to a notice published in the Federal Register Tuesday.

Earlier this month, Attorney General John Ashcroft authorized the creation of a commission to study security policies for sensitive and classified information at the FBI. The commission, which will be chaired by William H. Webster, former director of the FBI and CIA, includes seven former government leaders and one designated federal officer.

The commission will review the quality of the FBI’s current security policies and programs and recommend how the agency can improve its handling of classified information.

Members of the commission include: William S. Cohen, Secretary of Defense in the Clinton administration; former Speaker of the House Thomas S. Foley, D-Wash.; and Carla Hills, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the Ford administration.

The commission will receive administrative support from the Justice Department and funding from the FBI. According to the Justice Department, the commission will need about $1.2 million to cover its costs.

The commission must complete its work by March 31, but the Justice Department can extend its term, according to the group’s charter.

All of the commission’s meetings will be closed to the public to protect sensitive information and the safety of intelligence personnel, according to a July 16 memo from the Justice Department.

“The potential release of this information could seriously jeopardize the integrity of our internal security programs and of ongoing intelligence and counterintelligence investigations,” wrote Janis Sposate, acting assistant attorney general for administration at Justice, in the memo.

In July, Justice and FBI officials revealed that more than 400 weapons and 180 laptop computers--including some holding sensitive and classified information--were missing from the agency. The FBI has faced harsh criticism over the last few months, most notably for its failure to turn over all documents to lawyers for Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, a controversy that resulted in a temporary postponement of McVeigh’s execution.

The consulting firm Arthur Andersen LLP is currently conducting a review of the FBI’s management practices, including recordkeeping, technology and human resources issues.

FBI management plagued by arrogance, witnesses say

Former Speakers Caught With Booty

Insight Magazine
By Paul M. Rodriguez
September 11, 1998

Nervous House GOP leaders confront retired Democratic speakers concerning disappeared historical treasures. Rostenkowski precedent raises legal and ethical issues. Methodically but quietly during recent months, investigators for the House of Representatives have been tracking down priceless treasures and lesser baubles that have been taken from Capitol Hill by former speakers, including Thomas Foley, the current U.S. ambassador to Japan.

The missing items range from the marble balustrades that once stood sentinel in the well of the House to handmade chandeliers and historically precious antique clocks, rugs, furniture, crystal and silverware.

"It is quite amazing the range of things taken," says one of several sources in the House and a Cabinet-level department who are familiar with the search. "In some cases we're talking about literally stripping the walls of fixtures," says a second source. Members of both parties, the sources spoke to Insight on condition of anonymity.

The second source says the quiet recovery mission was launched early this year after Boston College contacted the House about the historical significance of an antique grandfather clock and other items "donated" by the family of former speaker Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill, the Massachusetts Democrat who retired in 1986.

As a result of that call a highly sensitive probe was launched by the House Republican leadership and the House Oversight Committee, led by GOP Rep. Bill Thomas of California. What the probers found, congressional and other sources say, confirmed the worst rumors about what former speakers had carted away as "spoils of war."

Because of the criminal conviction of former Rep. Dan Rostenkowski of Illinois, the once-powerful chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, House leaders worried about opening up a can of legal worms by probing too deeply for the missing booty lest it lead to widespread prosecutions of former committee chairmen and other panjandrums.

Insight's sources say that after hush-hush debate a decision was made to limit any review to just the former speakers because they were covered by rules adopted in 1994 that sunset speakers' perks, including the use of "borrowed" congressional equipment. A separate rule dating back to 1972 had allowed speakers to take equipment and furniture for their retirement offices, but only until those offices were closed, presumably at death. Under the new rule the date for returning borrowed items was set at five years -- sooner if, like Foley, a former speaker took another government job.

Once the call came in from Boston College, House leaders and investigators quickly realized they had little or no accounting of what former speakers had taken with them. After scouring the country for the missing treasures, what they found was even more astonishing than the scuttlebutt.

In the case of former speaker Sam Rayburn, the investigators discovered the Texas Democrat had taken the hand-carved marble balustrades from the well of the House, assorted marble fireplace mantels, antique mirrors, wall sconces and an ornate chandelier bought by Ulysses S. Grant and hung at the White House for decades before being moved to a ceremonial office in the House. O'Neill had taken an antique grandfather clock, handsome furniture and the chair used by seven consecutive speakers, including himself. After being pressed, former speaker James Wright led investigators to treasures he had taken after resigning in June 1989 following a massive ethics probe that charged him with serious wrongdoing. The missing items, mostly furniture, were secreted in a warehouse at Texas Christian University. What Wright or other former speakers may have stashed at their personal residences has not been determined.

But it is the boodle secreted by Foley that has raised the most eyebrows and, in turn, concerns about potential prosecution, according to sources on Capitol Hill and at the State Department. "The sheer volume of what was found" in a warehouse at Washington State University "was mind-boggling," said a source. "We're not talking just a few pieces of furniture, like a desk and some chairs to furnish an office. We're talking big pieces, like huge antique wall units with historical importance to the House."

A source in the House leadership says it's understandable that older speakers may have taken liberties in removing House property given the plantationlike mentality that once existed on Capitol Hill. But not Foley, on whose watch so many major ethics scandals and reforms occurred prior to his ouster from office in 1994 as part of the Republican sweep.

"It's bothersome, this Foley issue," admitted a senior Democrat. "It's not like he didn't know the rules.... What you're telling me was found in some warehouse just doesn't make sense. How do you justify antiques and multiples of furniture that wouldn't fit into even a suite of offices? It sounds like what Rosty did," the member said, referring to Rostenkowski.

A House legal expert added: "Once [Foley] became ambassador he gave up any perks he had as speaker and should have returned everything to the House." When asked if that occurred, the expert said it hadn't. Asked if Foley had informed the House of either the quantity or quality of goods he had taken with him, another House official said: "We never had a clue he had taken so many valuables until this came up after the O'Neill deal."

Attempts to reach Foley and Wright were unsuccessful by publication time. An aide to Speaker Newt Gingrich said the Georgia Republican was aware of the matter and of the potential legal issues.

Mad yet?

Take a look at #98 above. And then ask yourself: Would I go to prison for that? Thou Shalt Not Steal(unless you're a Speaker)

Who's Accountable? - Inside the growing Enron scandal: how evidence was shredded and top executives fished for a bailout as the company imploded
"The incident further tars the name of venerable Arthur Andersen, which in June settled allegations of fraud stemming from its audit of Houston-based Waste Management and paid a $7 million fine without admitting any wrongdoing. Last year, again without admitting wrongdoing, Andersen agreed to pay $110 million to settle a class action brought on behalf of shareholders of another client, Sunbeam, which had misstated its financial results during the 1990s. These days, an Andersen competitor observes sardonically, settling a fraud case appears to be good for attracting business from other firms that want a soft touch for an auditor."

Andersen Pays $110 Million In Sunbeam Settlement

I can see why John Ashcroft would want this guy to "help" straighten out the FBI. LOL!

GOP scoffs at bid to tie Bush, Enron

Could Enron boomerang?

Inside Politics/ Friends of Enron /Friends of Enron II/ Jackson 'washed up'

Bush and Enron:Is there a fire or just smoke and mirrors?