Posted on 01/14/2002 5:59:57 AM PST by Republican_Strategist
Washington, DC, Friday, December 7, 2001 - Records show Enron paid large sums to enlist the lobbying aid of former Tennessee Valley Authority Director Johnny Hayes and another Tennessee friend of former Vice President Al Gore.
Enron paid $200,000 to Sideview Partners Inc., a company headed by Mr. Hayes, for lobby work involving TVA earlier this year, according to Mr. Hayes' midyear 2001 lobby activities report.
The Texas company, known for its close political ties to Republicans, also paid $500,000 to the Nashville law firm of Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs, where another longtime Gore friend and fund-raiser, Charles Bone, works, according to Mr. Bone's midyear disclosure. Mr. Bone reported he lobbied both TVA and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Enron's behalf.
The $500,000 paid to Mr. Bone's law firm appeared to be the highest among all the lobby contracts Enron reported for the first half of 2001. Last year, Enron spent about $2.1 million on lobbying, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a watchdog group.
Also registered to lobby on behalf of Enron this year was former Vice President Gore's former chief of staff, Jack Quinn. Disclosure reports for the first half of 2001 indicate Mr. Quinn's lobbying firm, Quinn, Gillespie & Associates, was paid less than $10,000.
Mr. Hayes' lobbying work occurred more than a year after he left the board of TVA, a federal utility, and did not violate any TVA policies.
Mr. Hayes declined comment.
"I can't talk to you about that," Mr. Hayes said of his Enron work. "Those people (Enron employees) are hurting. Those people are getting laid off, some of the people I worked with."
Mr. Bone didn't return calls. Efforts to contact Mr. Quinn also were unsuccessful.
Calls to Enron's Houston headquarters as well as its Washington office were not returned.
Earlier this week Enron filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as the powerful energy trading company began disintegrating and its stock plummeted after news surfaced about some of the company's practices.
The power wholesaler was one of the nation's largest; its interests were varied and the company was politically powerful, critics said.
The hiring of the Democrats intrigued watchdogs.
"They're basically Democrats who rounded out Enrons' already substantial Republican bases," said Charles Lewis, executive director of the Center for Public Integrity, a watchdog group. "The reason it's interesting, and I argue important, is there are millions of companies and not everybody can hire Jack Quinn and all these powerful people. Influence costs money."
The Center for Responsive Politics said Enron Chairman Kenneth Lay was one of President Bush's top contributors in his battle against Democratic presidential candidate Gore last year. Mr. Lay, according to the center, raised at least $100,000 for Mr. Bush.
In addition, the center said Mr. Bush raised another $114,000 in PAC and individual contributions from Enron. Mr. Lay and his wife also contributed substantial sums to Mr. Bush's inauguration.
Mr. Lay also advised Mr. Bush on energy strategy during the campaign, and Public Citizen and other critics said they believe Mr. Lay played a key role in development of the Bush energy plan, which promotes several of Mr. Lay's objectives.
Steven Weiss, communications director with the Center on Responsive Politics, said Enron's "strategy certainly has been to hire lobbyists with the best connections to the most powerful people in both parties. They've been seeking to maximize their influence in Washington."
He said the hiring of Mr. Hayes "is a great example of the revolving door that is politics, which is people who represent government turning around and lobbying the very people and agencies for whom they used to work."
Stephen Smith, the Knoxville-based executive director for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, said, "unfortunately, that's the way the game's played."
"These companies like Enron, they have a huge megaphone in terms of being able to hire lobbyists and make financial contributions to political campaigns," Mr. Smith said.
Mr. Smith also noted this: "My understanding is there is absolutely no love lost between TVA and Enron."
While it was known Mr. Hayes and Mr. Bones both were lobbying for Enron, the lobby disclosures provide the first information on how much they were paid.
Earlier this year, Enron reportedly sought to have Mr. Hayes strengthen the company's ties with Linda Breathitt, a Kentucky Democrat who serves on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. An Enron spokesman, Eric Thude, confirmed the account in an interview earlier this year.
TVA spokesman John Moulton said Mr. Hayes contacted TVA earlier this year to discuss a proposed Enron power plant's connection to TVA's power transmission system. Enron later sold the plant, which remains under development.
Mr. Moulton said Mr. Bone's contact with TVA came as the agency was negotiating a settlement in a major lawsuit it brought against Enron. The suit, eventually settled for an undisclosed sum, involved Enron's alleged failure to live up to an agreement to provide power to TVA during peak periods.
Despite all the links between the RATS and Enron, the media will continue painting it as a Bush-only story.
You can put me on the list.
Then we can assist Henry in his fishing expedition-
Waxman Enron tip line. Cheers.
A drop or water in the Pacific Ocean.
Pray for GW and the Truth
At the least, such giving habits may have helped hasten their downfall.
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