Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2001; 10:02 a.m. EST
McCain Hints Armey's Retirement Tied to Enron
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: Probably some scandal we could hold on him.
MCCAIN: (Laughing) I don't -- I don't know. I -- I really....
IMUS: It would be great, though, if he's in some mess. I mean, not horrible but....
MCCAIN: I doubt if that's the case. I think this Enron situation is going to take a lot of time and attention of a lot of people as they explain why executives of the company -- of the corporation were unloading stock right and left while the employees were not allowed to do so. The Enron's situation is going to be a big, big scandal. The biggest bankruptcy in history. (End of Excerpt)
It's not clear why McCain interjected Enron's problems into a conversation about Rep. Armey's retirement; whether it was an inadvertent non-sequitur or a backhanded attempt to smear the retiring House leader.
Rep. Armey has come under mild criticism for supporting, along with most Republicans, an economic stimulus package that grants Enron $254 million in tax breaks. But Enron is far from the biggest beneficiary of the plan.
The GOP plan would also give $2.3 billion in tax relief to Ford, $1.4 billion to IBM, $832 million to General Motors, $671 million to General Electric, $314 million to Chevron and $102 million to Kmart.
And while Enron has donated generously to both political parties, Rep. Armey himself has benefited little, with records showing just $5,000 in Enron money finding its way into the Texas Republican's campaign coffers.
Nearly two dozen recent news reports reviewed by NewsMax.com mentioning both Enron and Rep. Armey offered no suggestion that he had acted corruptly in any way.
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
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