What Ken Lay could tell us: How, why and who was involved in the massive energy gougings in 2000-2001 which started the week after Bush-Cheney were nominated and ended the day after Jeffords switched parties giving dems subpoena powers. Plus -
What Lay got in exchange for the some 1.5 million he funneled to GW Bush over the years.
Lay could dish the dirt on several important topics: the Karl Rove-brokered push that resulted in Enron paying Christian conservative turned super-lobbyist Ralph Reed $300,000; Lay's dealings with secretary of state turned super-lobbyist James Baker; why Enron hired Ed Gillespie, the man who now heads the Republican National Committee; the reason for Lay's decision to allow the Bushes to use Enron's fleet of airplanes as their own; what happened in those meetings with Dick Cheney and his energy task force; and what really happened with the California energy crisis.
In 1997, Rove, Texas Gov. Bush's closest political advisor, went to someone at Enron and asked that person to hire Reed, who was just leaving his job as head of the Christian Coalition. The Enron gig was very important for Reed. As one of his first clients, Enron gave his new outfit, Century Strategies, instant credibility. It also put Reed squarely on the Bush/Rove/Lay team. And in those days, as Bush was cranking up his presidential run, having Reed on his side was critically important.
Lay could explain why Enron decided to hire Reed. He could tell us whether Rove offered him any quid pro quo. He could also offer his opinion on whether Reed was worth the expense and describe exactly what Reed did for Enron. Finally, he could explain why, just a few months before Enron filed for bankruptcy, Reed was given an additional contract, this one paying him $30,000 per month plus expenses.
While Reed was a good ally for Enron, the really big-name lobbyist was Baker. Lay hired the former secretary of state (then back in Houston) in early 1993, just 33 days after the first Bush administration left the White House. Lay put Baker to work lobbying for contracts in Kuwait, Turkey, Qatar and Turkmenistan. But it's not at all clear that Baker knew what he was doing. One former Enron employee who specialized in developing power plants told me that Baker didn't know anything about the electric power business and that the only reason Lay hired Baker was that he wanted to be Baker's pal.
In fact, Baker and Lay did become chums. A short time after Baker went on Enron's payroll, the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University began awarding the prestigious Enron Prize -- an honor that soon was bestowed on a variety of Bush family friends, including Colin Powell, Mikhail Gorbachev and, just before Enron's bankruptcy, Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan.
Lay could tell us what Greenspan said when he refused to accept the crystal trophy and cash award that came with the Enron Prize. He could also divulge another secret: the amount of money that winners of the Enron Prize have received. |
