Lieberman to Seek Subpoena on White House's Enron Contacts
By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr.
NEW YORK TIMES
WASHINGTON, May 17 — Democratic Senator Joseph I. Lieberman said today that he will seek to subpoena the White House about its contacts with the bankrupt but once-politically influential energy trader.
The move is a significant change of course for Democrats, who until now had only informally sought Enron-related information from the White House. Earlier this year, for example, Senate Democrats decided not to subpoena records of Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task force, opting instead to let the General Accounting Office sue to obtain the information.
Mr. Lieberman, chairman of the Governmental Affairs Committee and a potential 2004 presidential candidate, said he has become frustrated that White House officials have refused to turn over records of the contacts that his committee requested in a letter in March. Today, he informed the White House counsel, Alberto R. Gonzales, that he will ask his committee to issue subpoenas at a meeting next Wednesday.
The Connecticut lawmaker, who was the Democratic vice-presidential nominee two years ago, has sought "all communications" dating to 1992 between White House officials and Enron regarding the company's dealings with eight federal agencies, including the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Department of Energy. Mr. Lieberman also wants details of contacts between White House officials and officials at those agencies regarding Enron, as well as information about contacts between the Bush administration and Enron about national energy policy.
Before its abrupt collapse amid an accounting scandal last fall, Enron had close ties to the Bush Administration. Its executives had donated more to Mr. Bush's political campaigns than any other company, and its former chairman, Kenneth L. Lay, had served as chairman of a business advisory committee to Mr. Bush while he was the Governor of Texas.
In a letter to Mr. Gonzales today, Mr. Lieberman said that he has given up hope that the White House would provide the information the committee requested, despite "extensive efforts to resolve these issues with you and our extreme patience in waiting almost two months before demanding a response."
"Indeed," Mr. Lieberman said, "the only material you have sent us is copies of letters responding to other Congressional inquiries and a transcript of a presidential press conference. These documents are inadequate on their face even as a partial response to the Committee's request." |
