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Clinton Democrats Sued Over Global Crossing
Wes Vernon, NewsMax.com
Wednesday, May 8, 2002
WASHINGTON – Top Clinton Democrats found themselves in legal hot water Tuesday when Judical Watch filed its promised lawsuit against the telecom giant Global Crossing and some of its Democrat benefactors.
After a series of NewsMax.com exposés, a congressional committee held a hearing on Global Crossing in late March, and other House panels are investigating the company, which experienced an Enron-like bankruptcy, leaving shareholders and employees high and dry.
The suit names 13 top officers and directors of the company, including chairman and CEO Gary Winnick.
The suit was filed on behalf of Global Crossing shareholders who have brought claims of fraud, civil conspiracy and violations of the California Corporations, Business and Professions Code.
Former defense secretary and Global Crossing board member William Cohen is among the suit’s defendants for allegedly conspiring to "pump and dump” Global Crossing stock, and for allegedly corruptly awarding contracts. This is the same William Cohen who, as a member of the Senate Iran-Contra investigating committee in the late 1980s, seemed to have an inexhaustible supply of piety.
The beleaguered accounting firm Arthur Andersen, which has received similar bad publicity for its involvement in the Enron scandal, is named in the lawsuit for allegedly participating in, aiding and abetting Global Crossing’s fraudulent acts as a co-conspirator.
Terry McAuliffe in Another Scandal
Democrat national chairman Terry McAuliffe is accused in the suit of "allegedly conspiring with Global Crossing directors and officers to inflate and artificially enhance Global Crossing’s income and market price of its stock.”
McAuliffe, while acknowledging he did quite well with his investment in Global Crossing, has denied reports in NewsMax and elsewhere that he turned a $100,000 investment into $18 million. But the New York Times, not exactly a bastion of the "vast right-wing conspiracy,” has done the math and certified those figures are accurate.
The Chinese Connection
Finally, the suit names Li Ka-Shing as a defendant, along with his Global Crossing affiliate, Asia Global Crossing. The extra eye-opening significance of this is that Li Ka-Shing, a Hong Kong businessman, is an agent of the Chinese communist government, and he is now seeking majority control over the entire corporation.
"If Li Ka-Shing gains control over Global Crossing, that would make the Chinese government the phone company for the Pentagon and other sensitive agencies,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton told NewsMax.com.
"Whether its Enron or Global Crossing, Judicial Watch’s nonpartisan efforts to clean up corporate, legal and political corruption will not be deterred by the ‘elite business, legal, and political class’ who think they are above the law,” stated Judicial Watch General Counsel Larry Klayman.
Klayman chastised the Bush administration for taking "no meaningful action against either Enron or Global Crossing, both of whom lined politicians’ pockets, so the job falls to Judicial Watch.”
Given the involvement of Clinton and other Democrats in these twin scandals, the reluctance to go after them could be motivated by President Bush’s "new tone” in which "bickering” (no matter how truthful) is eschewed.
Constitutional scholars have pointed out that the Founding Fathers drew up a Constitution that would deliberately encourage what is now called "bickering.” The idea was to make sure that any action taken considers informed input, as well as informed consent of the governed and thorough debate. Nothing was to be railroaded. Notwithstanding this, "bickering” has become a pejorative buzzword for free and open debate in a republic.
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Namaste!
Jim |
