Ted Re..A company insider claims the president's son did not initiate the deal -- but feels that his presence in the firm helped with the Bahrainis. "Hell, that's why he's on the damn board," the insider says. "...You say, 'By the way, the president's son sits on our board.' You use that. There's nothing wrong with that." " <<<<<<<<<
You highlight and put in bold these sentences as if GW did something wrong here. Could you please explain what you are complaining about? How many big corporations don't have influential names on their boards for the very same reason Harkin had GW. And GW pay of $80,000/yr is childs play for a lot of board seats. What is the problem?
Did Junior or any of the other Harken Energy executives trade on the Bush name in these speculative business deals? None of the principals will answer questions. But this much is known: after the Harken-Bahrain deal was settled, Othman was added to the list of fifteen Arabs who met with President George Bush and National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft three times in 1990 -- once just two days after Iraq invaded Kuwait -- while serving on Harken's board of directors. <<<<<<<<<<<<<<
What is wrong with Othmans name being added to a list of fifteen Arabs. Othman was an influential arab, he was part of Bahrains power structure; Bahrain had interests in the gulf war. Why wouldn't he be added to others? What is the problem here?
The promise of hitting it big in the oil-rich gulf was certainly critical for Harken. News of the Bahrain deal kept investors buying stock and lenders making loans. Still, Harken had nowhere near the capital required for such a large offshore operation halfway around the world. This required real money. But not to worry: The billionaire Bass brothers stepped up to the plate and said they'd be happy to underwrite the cost of the drilling in return for a piece of the action. <<<<<<<<<<<<<
Now there is a real incriminating piece of evidence. The Bass brothers invested in the project in return for a piece of the action. We ought to take them outside and shoot the bastards; hanging is too good for them. The nerve of those guys. Wanting a piece of the action in return for an investment. Maybe I am over reacting. What the hell is wrong with the Bass brother investing in the project in return for a piece of the action.
The secret memo augured ill for Harken's fledgling venture. To compound matters, that same month, Harken's own financial advisers at Smith Barney produced a hand-wringing report voicing alarm at the company's rapidly deteriorating financial condition. <<<<<<<<
"The secret memo augured ill for Harken's fledgling venture. <<<<<<<<<<<<
You seem to be making a big deal of a secret memo. But this memo was sent by the CIA to Scrowcroft. What is the connection to GW. None as far as I can tell. Here is part of the main story you left out. Othmamm was a representative of the Sheik of Bahrain. Certainly the CIA would have notified the shiek through Othmamm about the memo. And Othmamm could easily have told Harkin's board. How does GW necessarily fit in here?
. In May 1990, the U.S. State Department sent a chilling but still classified report to Scowcroft. The report warned that Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was out of control and was threatening his neighbors: <<<
In June 1990, Junior suddenly unloaded the bulk of his Harken stock -- 212,140 shares -- for a tidy $848,560. <<<<<<<<<<
You left this out from the original story.
. Harken absorbed Spectrum, and, in the process, Junior got $600,000 worth of Harken stock in return for his Spectrum shares. He also won a lucrative consulting contract and stock options<<<<<<<
So GW sold his share for $4/share in 1990. But you will notice that those same shares were worth $600,000 when Harkin bought Spectrum. Where is this massive profit you and the reporter are alluding too? GW made 30% on his money over 4 yrs. He could have done that well putting his money in a bank. What is the problem here? Also the $4/ share wasn't unreasonable because of this. The company has only one real asset -- its Bahrain contract. If that field turns out to be dry, Harken's stock is worth, at the most, 25 cents a share. If they hit it big over there, the stock could be worth $30 to $40 dollars a share. It's a pure crapshoot." <<<<<<<<<
I bought into AMD in aug of 1999 for 16.50/ sh and all amd had was the promise of the k7. What is the difference between AMD and Harkin? They both were crapshoots.
I find it incredible that you have this vendetta over this one part. The June 1990 transaction was an insider stock sale, and security laws required that it be reported no later than July 10, 1990. But Junior filed no such report, at least not then.
Then, in August, Iraqi troops marched into Kuwait, and Harken shares plummeted 25 percent. Junior would have lost $212,140 if he'd waited to sell his shares until then. Still, he didn't file his SEC disclosure until seven months later, in March 1991 -- well after U.S. troops had finished fighting and the gulf war had moved off the front pages. <<<<<
Correct me if I am wrong, but at the time GW was supposed to file his SEC report, there was a war going on in the gulf. If you were part owner of a company concerned with it's existence, would you have remembered to file the papers in a timely matter. And as the article states, GW did file his papers with the SEC in March 1991. If GW was trying to hide something, why would he report it at all? If the SEC hadn't caught it by then, why would they later? Secondly, why didn't the reporter mention that the SEC had looked into it, after GW filed his report and decided that GW had in fact simply forgot to file the report? Its not like GW got a blowjob in the office and claimed he forgot about it 6 months later, when there wasn't a war going on. This hardly compares with Whitewater where 9 people were convicted of crimes involved in the case. 2 witness (jim McDougal and Tucker) testified that Bill was at meetings, Hillary was their lawyer, and hid papers involved in a subpoena: and in the end, Bill admitted to lying and obstruction of justice in the case. In whitewater, the people of ARk. lost $300,000 from the guaranteed loan, In Harkin, by the time GW was supposed to fie papers with the SEC, Saddam had already invaded Kuwait, and the stock had already dropped to $3. When GW did file in March 1991, the stock rose after that to around $5. If anything GW filing kept the price from rising more, rather than causing a panic. What is the problem here? If this is the only dirt you can dig up on GW, you aren't trying very hard. Go to one of the 20,000 anti GW sites on the internet and get something that we should be concerned about. Right now, if this is all you have on GW, GW looks like a saint compared to the rest of the politcians. Surely you can do better than this to justify your vendetta. |
