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Non-Tech : The ENRON Scandal -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Karen Lawrence who wrote (2758)	2/12/2002 3:31:54 PM
From: Karen Lawrence	Respond to of 5185

Lay feels bad and other urban legends: Lay sits stoically through a scolding from Congress, then refuses to testify DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer Tuesday, February 12, 2002 Breaking News Sections (02-12) 09:28 PST (AP) -- WASHINGTON (AP) -- Kenneth Lay asked Congress not to think badly of him for staying mum about how Enron crumbled, but it was already too late. One by one, members of the Senate Commerce Committee gave the 59-year-old former chairman of Enron a scolding. One cried "shame." Lay smiled briefly when he first arrived, but as senators denounced his career in corporate America, and his refusal to answer any of their questions, Lay sat straight-faced. The eyelids on his brown eyes drooped toward his cheekbones; the sides of his mouth sloped down in a frown. "I'd say you were a carnival-barker, except that wouldn't be fair to carnival-barkers," said Sen. Peter Fitzgerald, R-Ill. "A carney will at least tell you up front that he's running a shell game." "Mr. Lay, we are all stunned and confused by Enron's behavior, and especially by your unwillingness to come clean with the American people," said Sen. Jean Carnahan, D-Mo. Although he resigned as chairman and chief executive officer on Jan. 23 and stepped down from the board of directors last week, Lay still personifies Enron, a company he nurtured into an energy-trading giant. The corporate executive who is now the focus of a multitude of federal investigations straightened his red tie as he sat down in the crowded hearing room. Many of the politicians who sat facing him have received contributions from Enron. As the senators chastised Lay, he sat motionless in the front row, his hands, at times, pressed against his knees. His daughter, Liz, sat one row behind him. His wife, Linda, who has publicly defended him and called him a victim, did not attend. Afterward, Lay's attorney Earl Silbert said that Lay had pondered his decision not to testify. "He agonized, I can assure you he truly did," said Silbert, who insisted Lay stay silent. He nodded intermittently as Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., remarked, "Obviously Mr. Lay, the anger here is palpable," and as the senator talked about how Washington and especially the company should have done more to prevent the debacle. "Shame on us," Kerry said, "but more shame on them for not understanding the virtues of a real accountability, real transparency, real business and real responsibility to the American people." The Senate committee forced Lay to appear, but couldn't force him to testify once he invoked his constitutional right against self-incrimination. In brief remarks, Lay expressed "profound sadness" for what happened to Enron and its employees, retirees and shareholders. As expected, he said his lawyer had instructed him not to testify based on his Fifth Amendment rights. Then he pleaded with lawmakers not to make anything out of his decision to stay mum. "I respectfully ask you not to draw negative inference because I am asserting my Fifth Amendment constitutional protection on instruction of counsel," Lay said.

To: Karen Lawrence who wrote (2758)	2/13/2002 9:30:48 AM
From: Dorine Essey	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5185

This AM, I heard on a local radio station, that a member of the CUBAN AMERICAN NATIONAL FOUNDATION CANF, JOE GARCIA , was considered by the Bush administration for a position in the ENERGY COMMISION. If some of you may recall, the CUBANS voted for BUSH and also were the ones who stopped the vote counting in Miami Dade County. JOE GARCIA has said that he was interviewed by ENRON and of course as we now know, he didn't get the position. How many more are there like Joe, who are willing to spill the beans. Dorine