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Strategies & Market Trends : VOLTAIRE'S PORCH-MODERATED -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mannie who wrote (46948)	1/24/2002 12:06:05 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 65232

CONGRESS PLAYING TOUGH <<...A lawyer for the fired Andersen partner wrote the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee, saying it was premature to require his client, David Duncan, to testify at Thursday's hearings into the Enron debacle. In an early sign of the muscle Congress is willing to flex in its numerous Enron probes, committee chairman Rep. Billy Tauzin said no immunity would be granted Duncan unless the Justice Department had signed off, but that has not happened. ``I will not provide immunity to anyone without consent of the Justice Department, who is doing a criminal investigation,'' the Louisiana Republican told CNN. ``I have not received such a green light to this date, as to whether or not they change their mind I can't say.'' Lawyer Robert Giuffra said his client had only gotten access to documents from his files at Andersen on Tuesday. He said Duncan, who led Andersen's audits of Enron, would exercise his constitutional Fifth Amendment right not to testify. However, Giuffra said Duncan would testify on Thursday if the committee votes to grant him immunity. Elsewhere on Capitol Hill, the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday asked Enron for permission to publicly disclose its tax information, saying the public needed a better understanding of events at the collapsed company. The committee, investigating whether Enron complied with federal tax laws, also plans to review the use of corporate tax shelters with an eye toward possible legislative action. A tax watchdog group said last week that Enron had used hundreds of subsidiaries in tax haven countries to avoid paying U.S. income taxes in four of five years through 2000, while receiving tax refunds close to $400 million in that period. IMMUNITY COULD WRECK CRIMINAL PROBE A spokesman for Rep. Tauzin, Ken Johnson, told Reuters Duncan would have to appear in person on Thursday to invoke his right not to testify rather than send a sworn statement. ``The committee is going to insist on his appearance,'' he said. ``If he thumbs his nose at us, then we'll consider our options, including contempt of Congress.'' Legal experts have said immunity offered in exchange for congressional testimony could play havoc with the Justice Department's criminal probe of Enron and Andersen. Enron fell in just weeks last year from No. 7 on the Fortune 500 list of large companies to filing the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history on Dec. 2, wiping out billions of dollars in equity and devastating employee retirement funds. Along with the Justice Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Labor Department and at least eight congressional committees are investigating. Duncan was dismissed in mid-January by Andersen, which alleged he had ordered the destruction of documents after he had learned of a request by the SEC for information on Enron's financial reporting. Giuffra, a partner at the law firm of Sullivan & Cromwell, said Duncan sought full disclosure of the truth. He said his client remained committed to cooperating with all pending investigations concerning Enron. Enron's bookkeeping practices are under heavy scrutiny by investigators and the proceedings are expected to spawn fresh efforts for campaign finance, pension and regulatory reform....>> biz.yahoo.com