Enron as "Bush’s Whitewater"; And "Worse" Than Whitewater; To CNN, Arafat is the Victim; Kinsley Insulted Goldberg as "Dense"
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President Bush and other administration officials clearly have ties to Enron -- received donations, solicited advise of Enron executives or once worked for the company -- but on Thursday night, in reporting on Bush’s comments about the case and Attorney General John Ashcroft’s recusal, the networks, especially ABC and CBS, did their best to add a "who knew what and when did they know it" scandal motif while either ignoring, or only mentioning as an afterthought, how many Democrats also benefited from Enron contributions.
CBS Evening News anchor John Roberts turned the Bush cabinet’s lack of any action to help Enron into a scandal itself, asking: "Who knew what about the Enron fiasco? The White House now acknowledges members of the Bush Cabinet were contacted about the energy giant’s financial troubles." CBS’s Bill Plante relayed how much Enron donated to Bush and Ashcroft, but ignored their donations to Democrats.
"Enron’s connections to the Bush administration, wide and deep," warned ABC’s Peter Jennings. Only at the very end of a subsequent story did Linda Douglass acknowledge: "Ken Lay did play golf with then-President Clinton, and Enron has contributed to Democrats."
Indeed, in offering specific names not uttered by the other networks, on FNC’s Special Report with Brit Hume, Wendell Goler noted: "Fleischer points out Enron executives also gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and New York Senator Chuck Schumer. And Ken Lay was one of Bill Clinton’s golfing partners."
MSNBC’s Brian Williams referred to Enron’s collapse as "easily the most under-covered news story of the past few weeks" and warned that "before this is all over it could be a major pre-occupation, if not a danger, for the Bush White House." Though Clinton was a personal investor who controlled a large percentage of the Whitewater project, while Bush had no financial stake in Enron, Williams likened it to a Clinton scandal: "For more on the political ramifications of the crash, and resulting mushroom cloud from Enron, the story some are already calling Bush’s Whitewater, we are joined now by Howard Fineman, Newsweek magazine senior political correspondent."
Williams asked Fineman on the January 10 News with Brian Williams: "Is that overstatement? Just how big is this thing going to get?" Fineman reveled the Washington press corps certainly doesn’t think so: "Well, it’s hard to tell, but judging by the press room at the White House today Brian, that was like a pack of bloodhounds on the first day of hunting season..."
More detail about January 10 evening show coverage on ABC, CBS and NBC, all of which opened Thursday night with multiple stories on the Enron situation:
-- Peter Jennings teased: "On World News Tonight, the criminal investigation of the energy company Enron, which cost so many people their retirement savings. Enron’s connections to the Bush administration, wide and deep."
Jennings set up the first story: "Enron was a company with deep political connections to the Bush administration, and so there are political issues to be dealt with."
Terry Moran outlined how the case presents "tough questions about regulatory policy and political influence," before he ran through Bush’s comments and promise of an investigation, how Ashcroft’s campaign received $50,000 from Enron CEO Ken Lay and how last fall Lay had called Treasury Secretary O’Neill and Commerce Secretary Evans for help, but they had turned him down.
Jennings then announced: "Enron has very extensive connections to the President and other officials in his administration."
Linda Douglass outlined the ties, as taken down by MRC analyst Brad Wilmouth: "President Bush seemed to downplay his long political relationship with Enron CEO Ken Lay, pointing out that Lay supported his opponent when he first ran for Governor of Texas."
George W. Bush: "I got to know Ken Lay when he was the head of what they call the Governor’s Business Council in Texas. He was a supporter of Ann Richards."
Douglass countered: "But during that campaign, Lay contributed twice as much money to Mr. Bush as he did to Ann Richards. Over Mr. Bush’s career, Lay and Enron became his most generous supporters, giving or raising more than $500,000 since 1993."
Craig McDonald, Texans for Public Justice: "If you had to choose one individual and one corporation, clearly Ken Lay, the CEO of Enron, and the resources of Enron, would be the number one supporter or promoter of George Bush’s political career."
Douglass: "All the while, Enron lobbied for legislation to open up markets for its energy trading business. As Governor, Mr. Bush signed a law championed by Enron and others deregulating power in Texas. When Mr. Bush became President, Lay weighed in on energy issues. He and Enron officials met privately six times with Vice President Cheney or his staff, four times as they were drafting the administration’s energy policy."
Douglass concluded: "The ties between Enron and the White House are deep and wide. The President’s chief economic advisor, his trade representative, his secretary of the army, his choice to head the Republican Party, all worked for Enron. Ken Lay did play golf with then-President Clinton, and Enron has contributed to Democrats. But a Senate committee led by Democrats will scrutinize Enron’s ties to the current White House in hearings later this month."
-- John Roberts teased the CBS Evening News: "Who knew what about the Enron fiasco? The White House now acknowledges members of the Bush Cabinet were contacted about the energy giant’s financial troubles. And Enron’s auditors reveal a significant number of documents have been destroyed."
Roberts opened the broadcast: "Just as the Justice Department is opening a criminal investigation into the collapse of the Enron corporation, Enron’s auditors revealed today that documents related to the company have been destroyed. More about that in a moment, but first, what did the Bush Administration know about Enron’s financial troubles? The White House acknowledged for the first time today that Enron contacted members of the President’s Cabinet, telling the Treasury Secretary the company was heading for bankruptcy, a collapse that cost many investors and Enron employees their life savings. We begin our coverage tonight with Bill Plante at the White House."
Plante reported: "President Bush moved to distance himself from the bankrupt Enron corporation, one of his largest campaign contributors, even as the White House revealed that Enron’s chairman sought administration help as his company collapsed. Enron Chairman Kenneth Lay is an old friend of the President’s, but Mr. Bush says he hasn’t talked to Lay in months, and never talked business."
George W. Bush: "I have never discussed with Mr. Lay the financial problems of the company-"
Plante: "But as Enron failed, Lay did contact two Bush Cabinet members, possibly seeking support for a bailout. Lay made two phone calls to Treasury Secretary O’Neill and one to Commerce Secretary Evans expressing concern about the effect Enron’s problems might have on the economy. The Cabinet secretaries declined to help, but they never told the President about the calls. Their spokesmen say they had no information that wasn’t already public. Bill Allison for the Center of Public Integrity has been tracking the Enron bankruptcy."
Bill Allison, Center for Public Integrity: "And to just sit on the information and do nothing is really hoping a problem will go away rather than dealing with it."
Plante noted how Bush has ordered an investigation of the crash which "cost thousands of employees their pensions while Enron executives cashed in for big profits."
Plante relayed donation numbers, but skipped contributions to Democrats: "Enron Chairman Lay has been a generous contributor. Lay donated more than $166,000 to Mr. Bush’s various campaigns. The company and its employees have given Bush a total of $623,000. Lay also gave $25,000 to the John Ashcroft Victory Committee in October 2000 when Ashcroft was running for the Senate. The ranking Democrat on the House Government Reform Committee sent Ashcroft a letter today suggesting conflict of interest, and Ashcroft and several members of his staff announced they would not take part in the Enron investigation."
-- Tom Brokaw began the NBC Nightly News by explaining: "Enron chief executive Kenneth Lay and his company have been some of the most generous contributors to President Bush during his political career. And Enron executives met six different times with Vice President Cheney or his staff as he was shaping the administration’s energy policy last spring. So the White House today was working hard to put distance between the President and this company’s troubles."
Following pieces by David Gregory from the White House, in which he pointed out the donations to Bush, a story by Pete Williams on the charges against Enron, and a piece by Jim Avila on those who lost all their retirement funds, Brokaw turned to Tim Russert who reported that White House staffers realize they have a problem on their hands, though they maintain the Bush team did nothing wrong. Russert added: "Congress also understands, Tom: 40 percent of the House of Representatives, 70 percent of the United States Senate also took contributions from Enron."
For a list of who in both parties benefitted from Enron’s political donations, check the Center for Responsive Politics Web site: opensecrets.org
opensecrets.org
While the GOP got more than Democrats, Al Gore and Bill Clinton received some Enron money, the Center for Public Integrity noted:
opensecrets.org |
