Bush Staff Questioned on Enron Ties
Mon Apr 29,11:20 PM ET
By SCOTT LINDLAW, Associated Press Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) - White House Counsel Al
Gonzales directed more than 100 staff members
Monday to complete a questionnaire on
communications between the administration and
Enron Corp. in the months leading up to the
company's collapse.
The White House undertook the
survey at the request of Sen. Joe
Lieberman , D-Conn., chairman of the Senate
Governmental Affairs Committee.
Lieberman wrote to White House
chief of staff Andrew Card on March
27, "The rapid collapse of what was
once ranked as the nation's
seventh largest company demands
public scrutiny." His committee
plans to probe how regulators acted
in the days leading up to the
implosion of Enron Corp., the
largest U.S. bankruptcy ever, and
what might have been done to avert
it.
He sought information on White House and certain
Cabinet agency action regarding Enron dating from
just before the end of the first Bush administration in
1992. Lieberman sent similar letters to two Cabinet
secretaries and chiefs of agencies dealing with energy
and shares trading.
Gonzales' questionnaire fell far short of what
Lieberman sought.
"We have been working with the committee, and we're
continuing to work with the committee to comply with
reasonable requests," White House spokesman Scott
McClellan said.
Lieberman wanted identities of people who initiated
meetings with Enron officials, who was present, the
subject matter, dates and a host of other details.
"This is an obvious delaying tactic," Lieberman
spokeswoman Leslie Phillips said of the White House
action, and "unacceptable" to omit two subjects from
the questionnaire: national energy policy and
presidential appointments.
"They should at least be searching for the
information," she said.
Gonzales' three-page questionnaire instructs staff
members — assistants, deputy assistants and special
assistants to both the president and vice president —
for simple yes or no answers.
A third possible answer is "I'd like to discuss."
"We are not asking for further explanation at this
time," Gonzales wrote in the cover page. "Instead,
depending on your answers, the Counsel's office may
contact you to obtain additional information."
Phillips said using yes-or-no answers is "totally
insufficient" and an inefficient way of doing it and the
administration is continuing a pattern "of refusing to
provide any information to the American public."
Gonzales set a May 10 deadline for returning the
completed forms. Lieberman had sought a response
from Card by April 12.
Certain individuals from the president's Council of
Economic Advisers, Council on Environmental Quality,
Office of Management and Budget and U.S. Trade
Representative also were sent the survey.
It asks the executive-branch personnel to identify "to
the best of your knowledge and recollection" whether
they had any official Enron-related communications
between Jan. 20, 2001 — the date of Bush's
inauguration — and Dec. 2, 2001, when Enron filed
for bankruptcy.
The agencies specified in the White House inquiry are
the Securities and Exchange Commission (news - web
sites), Commodities Futures Trading Commission,
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (news - web
sites), Overseas Private Investment Corp., U.S.
Export-Import Bank and the Labor, Commerce and
Energy departments.
The White House released the questionnaire Monday
night during Bush's trip to Los Angeles.
story.news.yahoo.com. ___
On the Net: Governmental Affairs Committee:
senate.gov |
