Bush Is No Good Trade

According to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission records, on four separate occasions Gov. George W. Bush disregarded federal statutes by failing to file insider stock trade reports on a timely basis, back-dating one trade by some four months. Moreover, one key trade just a few weeks before Iraq invaded Kuwait -- but reported some eight months late after the Gulf War was over -- netted Bush close to $1 million in profit as he sold stock in Harken Energy, an oil company doing business in the Middle East wherein some of his father's largest contributors also maintained substantial positions.

The SEC under President Bush carried out an incomplete investigation of the younger Bush's pre-Gulf War trade in 1991 after key presidential advisor George Jr. claimed that he filed a report, but that the SEC had most likely lost it. (No one has really asked whether the governor bothered to use registered mail to verify receipt of the documents.)

According to an Oct. 28, 1991, Time Magazine report, SEC spokesman John Heine said, "as far as I know, nobody ever found the 'lost' filing." And, strangely, Bush refused comment to Time regarding either the incident or his involvement with Harken.

The governor also did not reveal the blatant conflicts of interest involved, since the chairman of the SEC was Richard Breedon, former lawyer with Houston firm Baker and Botts and deputy counsel to Bush's father when he was vice president. Breedon received his SEC appointment after the elder Bush became president.

The SEC investigation of George W. was led by general counsel James R. Doty who, according to a UPI report, mysteriously neglected to interview any of the Harken directors. Moreover, Doty had previously served as George W. Bush's personal lawyer in the deal involving his Texas Rangers purchase. So, in the end, the younger Bush was cleared of insider trade wrongdoing by his personal attorney and by his father's vice-presidential counsel, a virtual impossibility for the average U.S. citizen.

That the mainstream media has refused to question Bush regarding what voters might consider a mockery of the criminal investigative process is a story in and of itself -- especially considering it concerns how a possible future president might enforce U.S. laws if he had also broken those statutes.

Consider that Americans who currently hold stocks or mutual funds would never -- by virtually no stretch of the imagination -- be able to obtain access to corporate insider information that could turn a million dollars profit. But reporters following Bush have not broached the subject during the campaign.

Most reports involving Bush's insider oil stock trades refer only to his highly controversial June 22, 1990, million dollar trade made six weeks before Gulf War hostilities broke out in Kuwait -- a trade which was reported eight months later. However, SEC documents between 1986 and 1993 show that Bush acquired 212,152 shares of Harken stock on Nov. 1, 1986, at the time he merged his Spectrum 7 company with Harken. But the future governor did not report the transaction until April 7, 1987 -- more than five months later.

When Bush filed late on April 7,1987, SEC filings show he had purchased another 80,000 shares on March 10, 1987. But strangely, two weeks later, an April 22 filing noted that the 80,000-share purchase was backdated to Dec. 10, 1986. When questioned by the media, Bush's attorney said it was the same 80,000 shares but he could not explain the discrepancy regarding the purchase dates or why Bush even reported the trade two times.

Another SEC filing, this from June 6, 1989, showed that Bush purchased another 25,000 shares of Harken but again waited more than four months to report the transaction.

The Houston Post, recognizing Bush's late SEC filings, noted that he "took eight months to notify the government of his sale of stock in a company on whose board he served" and "also missed the filing deadline for reporting other insider trades involving Harken Energy."

Documents obtained by the Post showed "additional instances in which Bush ... ran afoul of the SEC rule requiring notification." And George W. described himself as a "small, insignificant" Harken stockholder; but news reports examining SEC documents identified Bush as the third largest non-institutional investor.

In October 1991, Time Magazine questioned why the tiny country of Bahrain would stake so much of its financial future on Harken Energy, which it labeled an "obscure, money-losing company with no refineries and no experience in offshore oil exploration." But the magazine also noted that oil-insiders speculated that Bahrain's rulers saw the arrangement as a way to gain influence with the Bush administration.

Mysteriously, primary reporters have also ignored what could point to a nexus regarding foreign policy and personal financial interests. Interestingly, the Village Voice in January 1991 reported that in 1990 the Bush administration signed an agreement with Bahrain that chose the small country as the permanent principal allied base in the Middle East, although it was some 200 miles away from the hostilities in Iraq and Kuwait.

The military-base deal came after Harken announced its Jan. 30, 1990, joint oil-drilling venture with Bahrain. So President Bush's key contributors and his son George W. were carrying on personal financial business with Bahrain at the same time decisions were being made regarding the possibility of a war in the Gulf.

And neither the president nor his adviser, George Jr., let the press know that Bahrain had been permitted to infuse $7.7 million in foreign cash to hire U.S. public relations firm Hill & Knowlton to lobby Congress and the American people; a stunning variety of opinion-forming devices and techniques were employed to inflame U.S. patriotic passions of war while personal financial interests were on the line.

On May 21, 1990, less than ten weeks before Saddam Hussein's troops invaded Kuwait to initiate the Middle East hostilities -- but just four weeks before Bush unloaded the bulk of his Harken stock -- a renegotiated corporate loan agreement featured an unusually high interest rate of 12 percent, less credit for acquisitions, a $750,000 debt fee and even requirements by some of Harken's major stockholders to guarantee $22.5 million in debt, according to Associated Press.

Did Bush know of impending losses when he sold his stock on June 22, 1990, since Federal securities law prohibits corporate insiders from trading "on the basis of" material information that is not publicly known? Bush denied the charge in spite of his positions on the Harken Energy board of directors, audit committee and stock restructuring panel. He added that he had no idea Harken was going to get an audit report full of red ink until weeks after he had made his stock sale.

But U.S. News & World Report said, "there is substantial evidence to suggest that Bush knew Harken was in dire straits. ... Harken's SEC filings make it clear that the company's directors knew radical steps were necessary." The magazine added that "one informed source says Harken's creditors had threatened to foreclose on the company if substantial debt payments were not made." Shortly thereafter, Bush cashed out of Harken.

The April 4, 1991,Wall Street Journal added that "Mr. Bush didn't return their phone calls seeking comment, and the Bush White House said 'it doesn't comment on the activities of the president's children.'"

According to the Washington Post, Harken's audit committee, of which Bush was a member, met with Mikel Faulkner and

auditors from Arthur Andersen & Co.

, Harken's accountants, on June 11, 1990 -- just 11 days before Bush sold his stock on June 22. When asked for a copy of the June 11 minutes or permission to inspect them, the company declined to make the records available.

Bush's insider transaction yielding a profit of $848,560 -- some 250 percent profit on the stock's original value -- came a week prior to the end of a quarter in which the company lost $23 million. The quarterly report was released just a few days after Iraq invaded Kuwait and the Harken stock plummeted. However, as reported in a 1992 Mother Jones report, Bush attended a meeting regarding a revised stock offering in May 1990 working with Smith Barney's financial consultants concerning corporate restructuring.

In an Oct. 11, 1994, UPI report, Bush also claimed that he was not aware of Harken's poor financial condition when he sold the stock, but UPI said that the Dallas Morning News reported on the same day that a corporate official who served with Bush on the audit committee at Harken felt otherwise; Stuart Watson told the Dallas paper that he and Bush were constantly made aware of the company's finances. "You bet we were," said Watson. "We were both trying to keep that company on the straight and narrow."

On March 16, 1992, U.S. News echoed Watson's statement, reporting that "according to documents on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, his position on the Harken (restructuring) committee gave Bush detailed knowledge of the company's deteriorating financial condition."

Chuck McDonald, spokesman for Texas Gov. Ann Richards' campaign, said that SEC chief counsel in the Bush investigation -- James Doty, George W.'s former attorney -- never talked to George W., Watson or other Harken officials in its 1991 probe. He said, "Was this a real investigation, or was it a whitewash of an insider stock sale by the son of the sitting president?" UPI, which reported McDonald's statement, went on to note that "while Bush claims the SEC investigation absolved him of illegal insider trading, he has refused to release the investigation files."

Harken founder, Phil Kendrick, noted that the company's "annual reports and press releases get me totally befuddled. There's been so much promotion, manipulation and inside deal making." And even Harken chief executive Mikel Faulkner, an accountant, offered advice for those trying to decipher the financial statements: "Good luck. They're a mess."

Press accounts note that Bush requested a letter from the SEC, issued in October 1993, The letter, signed by SEC Associate Director Bruce A. Hiler, said that "the investigation has been terminated as to the conduct of Mr. Bush and that, at this time, no enforcement is contemplated with respect to him." But the letter also stated that "it must in no way be construed as indicating that the party has been exonerated or that no action may ultimately result."

On Oct. 18, 1993, the Bush administration SEC said it would not bring a case against George W. Bush.

Gov. Bush speaks about his outstanding business record on the campaign stump; however, in 1989, U.S. News & World Report said, "Harken Energy lost over $12 million against revenues of $1 billion." Harken President Mikel Faulkner said that in addition to Bush's position as a director at $2,000 per meeting, stock options worth $131,250, 5 percent loans and 40 percent discounts on stock purchases, he was also a consultant to Harken for "investor relations and equity placement" at a salary of $80,000 per year from 1986 until 1989, when his salary jumped to $120,000.

The board was equally generous to Bush in 1990 as "the company lost another $40 million and shareholder equity plunged to $3 million -- down from more than $70 million in 1988." Faulkner declined to say what services George W. has performed as a consultant.

In March 1992, U.S. News said that "Despite repeated requests for interviews, George W. declined to discuss Harken or the reason for his stock sale, saying through an assistant that he 'does not want to read about himself.'" But some might ask whether American voters have a right to know whether a possible president would strictly enforce federal statutes or appoint lenient attorneys with suspect ethical standards leading to fixed politically sensitive investigations.

Moreover, should Bush -- a director of the corporation -- be accountable when huge losses are reported over a period of time, especially as a presidential candidate purporting to have an outstanding entrepreneurial business record at every presidential campaign stop? The answers have real implications regarding presidential character, morality and personal ethics.

Author and commentator Kevin Phillips offered a perceptive look at the Texas governor in the February 2000 issue of Harpers magazine when he said, "We can fairly ask whether George W. Bush is anything more than another scion who has made a decent governor during a period of prosperity and easy growth, and whether the United States can afford nominees who are to presidential politics what legacies are to college fraternities."

This whole thread, discutions, postings et all could be summed up like..."beware of your "FRIENDS", will take of care of the enemy later"

... one is asking himself why the Republicans are such a loosers. Well this thread will be an example to start with, also have a long look in the bathroom mirror in the morning and ask yourself what the hell you want.

You see, one thing the Dems have, is that they stick togheter no matter what until they reach their goal and then they split the loot; we Republicans are like the mexicans...soon one of our candidates is in a higher position every fraction of the party is trying to drag you down for one reason or another, instead trying to work differences out like reasonable people. Everyone is trowing dirty laundry outthere for the Dems to catch and eventually to use against us.

I observed this practice on all levels and to be honest with you I am getting pretty frustrated with the "hollier than thou" crowd who think their shit don't stink.(posters on this thread included)When WE going to grow up and understand "P O L I T I C S"

< pulling bald head out of carcass of dead horse >

Oh come now, this stuff tastes great. Here, have another piece of intestine...yum yum < sticking head back into carcass for another bite >

The Aloha Oil acquisiton by Harken was going to be a $15 million loss that Bush knew personally was coming and would very likely lower Harken stock if not cast doubt on Harken management. So Bush unloaded Harken before news of the Aloha Oil losses became known to stockholders. Harken went down to $3 a share and did not rebound to $9 a share for more than a year after Bush dumped his stock ( and shareholders too) and after the Aloha Oil losses were absorbed by Harken ( and the stockholders).

This one story that the SEC (totally stacked by Bush Senior appointees) did not properly address in letting Bush Jr off the hook. It is the one story that the Bush spin artists do not talk about and would not be able to easily or honestly overcome.

Why is no one in Congress or the major news media or in either political party, or conservatives ,etc, complaining that Bush is sharing US star wars missile defense technology (and eventually operational control) with the Russians and Putin?

I think many of the American people have given up any political resistance to their loss of freedoms, to legalizing millions of illegal aliens, to giving away US soverignity to the ICC and to allowing the US to dwell carelessly by giving Russia our missile defense and China our nuclear technology.

The new world order and world government is already here and many in Congress and Bush have embraced it and ignore the American people and our Constitution.

I have heard some Americans now say, it is too late.

The American people have no where to turn to or do they?

Americans should rely more on themselves and each other rather than their failed leaders. And more importantly, they can rely on God and Jesus Christ to turn things around if they have the faith and will.

Just curious:

I understand and agree with the first sentence. The second sentence has me puzzled.
I can understand how a person's personal life and family can and does improve with the faith in God and Jesus. I do not agree however, that God and Jesus care a whit about national or international politics. The Creator of the universe, and everything that is in it, both imaginable (by us) and unimaginable (by us) could with a blink and a snap of the fingers (or whatever mode of action that God would choose) can easily "turn things around" a few thousand years ago. So, why allow everything that is not politically good to occur, from day one to present?
Don't those who disagree politically have a God to pray to?

I believe God has higher priorities than the little politics that we mortal sometimes dabble in.

Just my 3 cents (John Huang has the monopoly on 2 ) :-)

When the Power Structure exerts the kind of control over information sources , as there appears to be in this matter, there's a blowback effect. People just plain resent being steamrolled.

It took time for the cracks to appear in the TWA800, OKCBomb, Mena, etc, walls but they eventually did. We're 12+ years down the road from the Harken et al. story and a LOT of hypocracy has had to be put in the foreground to cover an incompetent poor little rich kid. And more and more folks are resenting that also.

The current drive toward near-dictatorial power for the "president" is the natural extension of the maintaining of Power for an Elitist Dynasty. And that Dynasty is not only the Bush family.

Forcing them into more abusive overt actions is what is coming next. It'll be done by those who've exhausted their tolerance capacity. We'll all see it, we'll all be affected by it.

And Revelations Predicts it.

"I believe God has higher priorities than the little politics that we mortal sometimes dabble in."

I'd like to jump in with my 1 cent's worth on that :-)

Personal Belief on the Grand Plan Offered here;

We've been given Free Will. WE determine whether our Souls will receive God's Promise. God doesn't Pre-Determine that for us, or He wouldn't win much of value, would He? Remember about the great cheers of his Angels mentioned in the Bible when one more Soul is saved?

He gave us His Plan in the Bible. An Unwitting part of our efforts to resist evil and satan's goals for us is that we'll help bring about God's timing for our world and humanity. God knows how it will end AND when. We don't. But He'll Judge us ALL based on how we used our Free Will and Faith in Him. I personally pray that my failures will be forgiven, and my accomplishments that are good in God's eyes are counted.

Just my 1 cent's worth. :-)

More on replies #229, #232,#233 and #234 :

Your words are wise rdavis84:

"But He'll Judge us ALL based on how we used our Free Will and Faith in Him"

You said it much better than I did. Thanks.

I do believe that Christians acting out of Faith in keeping the commndments and following Christ as an act of their own Free Will are a preservative of men and nations that can turns things around for America.

Nations are judged by God on this Earth while men are judged in the after life. Our Founding Fathers believed that also.

I fear, love and respect God. I want Christian men acting on God's commandments to preserve this nation so that our nation will not fall. Paraphrase from the Bible:

"If my people who are called by name humble themselves and call upon me and repent of their ways, I will hear and heal their land."

I have faith that these words are true and from God. God will keep His word. But will men in America do what is required of them to turn things around when God is willing to help them?

God sent Jonah to Ninevah to tell them to repent. Jonah did not want to go because he did not believe Ninevah would repent. But Jonah did go and Ninevah did repent and was spared God's judgement.

Habakkah and Jeremiah begged Israel to repent in their day. Israel did not repent and was taken into Babylonian captivity. But God used these men to give Israel many chances to repent before God judged Israel.

Today, God is giving America many chances to repent, to turn to Him. If America does turn back to God , God will keep His word and heal America and protect her. If not, the hedge or wall of protection will come down.

Nations serve at the pleasure of the Almighty.

God does more to keep the golden thread of life on Earth in tact than what men give God credit for. Just the act of His ignoring Earth after a time would ensure Earth's destruction. But God holds His creation together in spite of what men do because He is a God of Justice and Love.

Appreciate your reply. Your personal beliefs are certainly welcome.

My problem is not with personal beliefs per se, rather with understanding just which political movement or view is sanctioned by God, protected if you will (as long as prayer is fervent) versus views that are given thumbs down by the Almighty.

For example, two football teams are on the field, kneeling and praying before God, that their team prevails. So... does God reward the team that is most pious? most vocal? most wailing? most teeth gnashing? what??

Just what criteria are used by God to decide which team prevails, or which political view is "the best"..in his view?

If he were disapproving of a particular view, why wait until sufficient numbers of the opposing view gained sufficient power to vote out the prior admin? Why not send down a little help, perhaps a bolt of lightening, or similar instrument of persuasion?

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