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Enron had friends in the Clinton administration as well
Monday August 19, 12:24 PM
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Now-bankrupt energy giant Enron -- whose ties with the administration of President George W. Bush have generated controversy -- had input on energy policy in the administration of former president Bill Clinton as well.
Before Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task force met with Enron officials, Enron had already been working with Clinton's energy team, according to Time Magazine due on newsstands Monday.
Enron had input in a 1995 plan to help facilitate cash flow and credit for energy producers. Energy staffers were asked to "rework the proposal to take into account the specific comments and suggestions you made," Clinton deputy energy secretary Bill White wrote to an Enron official in documents obtained by the weekly magazine.
Hazel O'Leary, Clinton's energy secretary, also included Enron officials on trade missions to India, China, Pakistan and South Africa.
To show its gratitude Enron donated an undisclosed sum of cash in O'Leary's name to a charity called "I have a Dream," and gave 100,000 dollars to Clinton's re-election campaign, according to the magazine.
On the other hand, Enron was the largest industry contributor to President George W. Bush's campaign with donations of 2.3 million dollars, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a group that tracks campaign donations.
The company filed for bankruptcy -- the largest in US history at the time -- last December amid reports that executives exaggerated profits and hid losses. |
