'What Did They Know and When Did They Know It?' (re: Enron)

CNSNews.com ^ | January 11, 2002 | Susan Jones

[Stand Watch Listen]

(CNSNews.com) - The Justice Department has launched a criminal probe into the fall of Enron, but Attorney General John Ashcroft has recused himself from the case because he received contributions ($57,000 for his last U.S Senate campaign) from the now-bankrupt company. And he's not alone.

Media reports were full of news that Enron Chairman Kenneth Lay also contributed heavily to the Bush campaign and had close ties to the White House.

On Friday, NBC's Today show opened with Katie Couric paraphrasing the famous question asked of President Nixon during the Watergate scandal: "What did they know and when did they know it," Couric asked of the Bush White House.

In fact, Enron and its chairman Kenneth Lay also contributed to Democrats.

NBC's Tim Russert reported that Enron contributed $5 million over the last ten years to various political parties - about 70 percent to Republicans, 30 percent to Democrats.

According to Russert, "Seventy percent of the U.S. Senate and 40 percent of the House of Representatives received money from Enron." That includes members of the congressional committees who now plan to question Lay about the collapse of his company.

The White House on Thursday confirmed that Enron officials contacted Bush Cabinet members - the treasury and commerce secretaries, but not the president - just before the company crashed, but the White House insists Enron received no favors and no offers of a bailout.

Making the mess even messier, the accounting firm Arthur Anderson admits it destroyed "a significant but undetermined number of electronic and paper documents" related to the audit it conducted on Enron.

The collapse of the company; reports of financial trickery; and sad stories of the "little guys" who lost their jobs and retirement funds while the rich guys emerged unscathed - it all adds up to a public relations nightmare - or as Russert said Friday, "a public perception problem" for the White House.

Press reports have made much of the fact that Enron Chairman Kenneth Lay met repeatedly with Vice President Dick Cheney as part of Cheney's effort to formulate the administration's energy policy.

On Thursday, President Bush said his administration did nothing to help Enron, even though the company and its chairman were major Bush contributors. "Anybody's going to find that this administration will fully investigate issues such as the Enron bankruptcy to make sure that we can learn from the past and make sure that workers are protected.

The Justice Department says the focus of its criminal probe will be Enron's business practices. But the various congressional committees probing the company are expected to dig up whatever political dirt they can find as well.

[Stand Watch Listen]

indexing

[Right_in_Virginia]

Media reports were full of news that Enron Chairman Kenneth Lay also contributed heavily to the Bush campaign and had close ties to the White House.

Oh...okay, NOW I get it. Enron went bankrupt because it contributed "heavily" to the Bush campaign. And the scandal is that the Bush administration didn't return the favor by providing the expected quid pro quo.

Yep. That's it. For democrats it's a scandal not to provide your contributors with a quid pro quo.

The headlines should read: "President Bush Returns Ethics to Government---Democrats Caught Unprepared".

[Stand Watch Listen]

I like your headline better....worth repeating

The "President Bush Returns Ethics to Government---Democrats Caught Unprepared"

[Right_in_Virginia]

Thanks! Let's spread it around!