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Enron donates to Democrats just before bankruptcy; hires lawyer Robert Bennett By Larry Margasak, Associated Press, 12/26/2001 18:38 WASHINGTON (AP) A week before filing for bankruptcy protection, energy giant Enron Corp. donated $100,000 to the Democratic Party committee that helps Senate candidates, campaign finance reports show. The company, which had given 90 percent of its money to Republicans this year before the Democratic donations, also has hired high-profile Washington lawyer Robert Bennett, whose past clients include President Clinton. ''Donations of this type reflect certain political realities which are followed by all major corporations,'' Bennett said Wednesday in explaining Enron's $50,000 ...

POWER SCAM: THE ENRON BUSH CONNECTION By: Uri Dowbenko February 9, 2001 The phony US energy crisis has deep ties to the Bush Family. One of the prime beneficiaries of the "crisis" is Enron Corporation and its Chairman Ken Lay, a major corporate and personal contributor to George Bush Jr.'s presidential campaign. Even though California Gov. Gray Davis has reached into California residents' deep pockets to bail out the utility companies through emergency legislation, Washington Gov. Gary Locke has balked. According to KCPQ-TV's Chris Daniels' "A Disturbing New Twist in Western Power Troubles, "Governor Locke says, 'It's unjustified, it's obscene, ...

September 01, 1997 THE WHITE HOUSE THAT INVISIBLE MACK SURE CAN LEAVE HIS MARK BY MICHAEL WEISSKOPF/WASHINGTON Time Magazine In Part: For a man who had supposedly vanished from the corridors of power, MACK MCLARTY was the man to see in 1996. BILL CLINTON's former chief of staff, now a White House counselor tucked away in the basement, provided assistance to businessmen who ponied up $1.5 million for the Democrats in the last election. On Nov. 22, 1995, for example, Clinton scrawled an FYI note to McLarty, enclosing a newspaper article on Enron Corp. and the vicissitudes of its $3 ...

"THE ENRON BLACK MAGIC, PART TWO" by Sherman H. Skolnick 12/08/01 What did they think of themselves? In their heart of hearts, did they consider that THEY were great heroes? Saintly warriors, were they in their own estimation, opposing the barbarians of fatal finger pointing and the stone hurlers of biblical Judgment? On his throne of monopoly, a major media rajah, in clamping his un-elected fist of censorship on it, as if weighing its value in diamonds, haughtily proclaimed, "It would cause the scandal downfall of the American Government". A foreign bank entity, enlisted in the secret funding of the ...

Dems Let Enron Off the Hook    By James Freeman. Mr. Freeman is president of Hudson Media Corp., a television production company in Alexandria, Va. Enron CEO Kenneth Lay has been a major contributor to the GOP. But in an ironic twist, Democrats in Congress may help him beat the rap for his Texas-sized rip-off of investors. How is this possible? At Wednesday's joint hearing of the House Capital Markets and Oversight Subcommittees, members of both parties ripped Mr. Lay for declining to appear, and for the destruction of some $70 billion in wealth that decimated the retirement savings ...

Use the tip form to let us know of any information that may aid the investigation of Enron. The House Committee on Government Reform is the principal investigative committee for the U.S. House of Representatives. At the direction of Rep. Henry A. Waxman, the Special Investigations Division of the Committee's minority staff is investigating allegations of misconduct at Enron Corp., including fraud, mismanagement, self-dealing, and improper political activities. Please use the form below to let us know of any information that may be relevant to our investigation.

Sen. John McCain (R-Az) hinted Wednesday morning that the expected retirement of House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Tx) is somehow tied to the burgeoning Enron scandal. While McCain said he didn't believe Armey was personally implicated in any wrongdoing, the leading Senate Republican invoked the Enron bankruptcy imbroglio out of the blue when asked about his congressional colleague during an interview with nationally syndicated radio host Don Imus. The curious exchange went like this: IMUS: Have you talked to Dick Armey? Do you know why he's retiring? MCCAIN: No. I do not know. I do not know why he's.... IMUS: ...

Ideas about changing the Social Security system look different on the other side of the Enron collapse. For anyone who thinks it is a good idea to partially privatize Social Security, I have just one word: Enron. Enron is the Houston-based energy company that collapsed this year, sending shock waves through the financial and political communities. The company, which has filed the largest bankruptcy case in U.S. history, saw its stock fall from a high of $90 a share to just pennies per share. On Thursday, the stock closed at 42 cents on the New York Stock Exchange. Falling with ...

How Enron concealed losses, inflated earnings--and hid secret deals from the authorities. Are criminal charges next? Enron Corp.'s spectacular collapse may have shocked employees and investors, who lost tens of billions of dollars. Could it have been a surprise to its top executives or its auditors, Arthur Andersen? The complex side bets and partnerships Enron used left it extremely vulnerable to a drop in its stock price, its bond rating or the value of fiber-optic lines. The plunge of all three doomed the company. This much is apparent from some internal company documents leaked to FORBES: As early as March ...

Dec. 27, 2001, 11:57PM Enron defends timing of checks for Democrats By DAVID IVANOVICH Copyright 2001 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau WASHINGTON -- Just days before Enron Corp. landed in bankruptcy court, the one-time political powerhouse may still have been funneling campaign dollars to Democratic lawmakers, federal election records indicate. As Enron executives were scrambling to salvage a deal with Houston-based Dynegy in a vain effort to stave off bankruptcy, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee received three checks from the Houston-based energy and trading giant totaling $100,000, Federal Election Commission records show. The contributions were collected on Nov. 26, according ...

Credit Suisse First Boston on Friday quit its position on the creditors' committee for Enron, the bankrupt US energy trading company, after only two weeks in the job. The departure came as Enron won bankruptcy court approval to sell assets, amid calls by President George W. Bush for the US government to examine the Enron collapse. Credit Suisse Group's investment banking division said it was not worthwhile to participate on the committee because it did not believe its losses from Enron would be more than $100m. The CSFB representatives had attended just one meeting, and resigned two weeks after the ...

Dec. 3, 2001, 12:40AM $10 billion lawsuit charges Dynegy led company to fail By NELSON ANTOSH Copyright 2001 Houston Chronicle Two weeks ago, Enron Corp. and Dynegy were preparing a marriage of their energy businesses. On Sunday, they landed in divorce court.Enron is suing Dynegy for $10 billion, claiming Dynegy's cancellation of their merger set in motion the chain of events that led Enron into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The merger between the rival Houston energy traders was announced Nov. 9 as a way to save Enron from its mounting woes. When Dynegy scrapped the deal last week, it breached that ...

Dec. 3, 2001, 7:19AM (BW) Dynegy CEO Calls Enron Lawsuit ``Frivolous and Disingenuous`` Business Editors (c) 2001 Business Wire.     HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 3, 2001--Dynegy Inc. (NYSE:DYN) -- Watson points to Enron's snowballing loss of public confidence and credibility -- Dynegy remains firm: It is entitled to Northern Natural Gas or $1.5 billion payment     Dynegy Inc. (NYSE:DYN) Chairman and CEO Chuck Watson today called Enron Corp.'s lawsuit against the company "frivolous and disingenuous."     "We want to be perfectly clear on this point: Enron's lawsuit against Dynegy has no merit whatsoever in law or in fact, and is one more example of Enron's ...

HOUSTON — Enron Corp., its energy trading empire in ruins, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Sunday and hit rival and one-time suitor Dynegy Inc. with a $10 billion breach of contract lawsuit for pulling out of a last-ditch merger effort. The filing in federal bankruptcy court in the Southern District of New York sought protection from creditors while Enron, burdened with at least $16 billion in debt, tries to reorganize its finances. Under Chapter 11 of the U.S. bankruptcy code, a company can continue to operate while it and creditors work out a reorganization plan. The lawsuit accuses Dynegy of ...

HOUSTON — Enron Corp., its energy trading empire in ruins, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Sunday and hit rival and one-time suitor Dynegy Inc. with a $10 billion breach of contract lawsuit for pulling out of a last-ditch merger effort. The filing in federal bankruptcy court in the Southern District of New York sought protection from creditors while Enron, burdened with at least $16 billion in debt, tries to reorganize its finances. Under Chapter 11 of the U.S. bankruptcy code, a company can continue to operate while it and creditors work out a reorganization plan. The lawsuit accuses Dynegy of ...

NEW YORK, Dec 02, 2001 (AP WorldStream via COMTEX) -- Beleaguered energy company Enron Corp. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the company said Sunday. The company also filed a lawsuit against would-be suitor Dynegy Inc. for wrongful termination of its dlrs 8.4 billion proposed merger. Copyright 2001 Associated Press, All rights reserved

Nov. 30, 2001, 12:26AM Enron seeks bankruptcy alternatives Company may sue Dynegy over termination of merger By LAURA GOLDBERG Copyright 2001 Houston Chronicle A day after Dynegy walked away from its deal to buy Enron Corp., Enron scrambled to find alternatives to a bankruptcy protection filing and worked to get its trading operation back on its feet while employees wondered how long they would have jobs. Enron also may be preparing for a legal battle with Dynegy to fight Dynegy's termination of the merger deal and Dynegy's claim to Enron's Northern Natural Gas pipeline system. A source close to the ...

Enron Near Collapse After Dynegy Pulls Out By C. Bryson Hull HOUSTON (Reuters) - Energy trading behemoth Enron Corp. tottered at the edge of one of the biggest corporate collapses in U.S. history on Wednesday as its rescue by rival Dynegy Inc. blew apart. Shares of Enron, which was only recently ranked No. 7 on the Fortune 500 list of the biggest U.S. corporations, slumped 85 percent to an all-time closing low of 61 cents. Major credit rating agencies slashed their ratings on Enron's bonds to junk status, triggering expectations a company that was a darling of Wall Street just ...

Wednesday November 28 1:06 PM ET Dynegy Says Pulling Out of Enron Takeover HOUSTON (Reuters) - Energy trader Dynegy Inc. (NYSE:DYN - news) on Wednesday pulled out of a deal to buy larger rival Enron Corp. (NYSE:ENE - news), saying conditions had changed since the takeover was agreed on almost three weeks ago. Dynegy had planned to buy its Houston rival for about $9 billion in stock, but the collapse of Enron's stock led Dynegy to invoke escape clauses allowing it to get out of the deal. The buyout offer finalized Nov. 9 would have had Dynegy paying about $10.41 ...