HARKEN PAPERS ONLINE
New on The Public i:
Harken Energy Corporation Internal Documents
The Center for Public Integrity has obtained internal Harken Energy documents that were part of the Security and Exchange Commission's investigation of the company, including minutes of board meetings, meeting agendas, and memos, all of which cast more light on Harken's financial crisis in 1990. The documents do not unambiguously resolve the question of what Bush knew about Harken's reporting of the sale of its Aloha subsidiary.
Harken ultimately had to to restate its financial reports for 1989, admitting a loss of $12.5 million, more than triple the loss it originally declared.
The full report can be accessed at:
public-i.org
M. Asif Ismail
Production Editor
Center for Public Integrity
publicintegrity.org
(202) 466-1300, ext: 124
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July 20, 2002
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Primary Sources
Harken Energy Corporation Internal Documents
(Web posted July 19, 2002) George W. Bush chaired a special committee of
board members set up to review the terms of a $12 million note held by
Intercontinental Mining and Resources Ltd., which was set up by Harken
insiders to purchase Aloha, according to an internal Harken document dated
March 14, 1990 that was obtained by the Center for Public Integrity. Harken’s
treatment of that sale in its financial reports was challenged by the SEC, which
forced Harken to restate its earnings for 1989, more than tripling its loss that
year. View the document -- and 18 others that were part of the SEC's
investigation, here. >>
Special Report
Right on the Money: The George W. Bush Profile
(Web posted July 15, 2002) The Center's investigation and reporting on Harken
Energy began as part of our The Buying of the President 2000 project. The
Center looked at each candidate and his or her "patrons" -- the financial backers
who helped their political careers. Here is the chapter on George W. Bush, as we
published it two years ago. >>
Managing Editor's Note
Bush, Harken and the Center for Public Integrity
(Web posted July 15, 2002) The Center has released Harken-related papers
largely because of the overwhelming number of requests we have had for the
documents, which we obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.
We have let the documents speak for themselves, without editorial comment. >>
Primary Sources
Additional Harken Documents
(Web Posted July 12, 2002) Since posting the last batch of documents yesterday,
we received requests for more Harken-related documents. Today, we are
posting Harken Energy Corporation's 1989 Form 10K, which includes
information on the Aloha transaction and the loans George W. Bush received
from the company, and the company's quarterly reports from the period ending
June 30, 1990 (during which time Bush sold more than 212,000 shares of
Harken stock) and the following quarter, which ended Sept. 30, 1990 (when
Harken declared its $23.2 million loss).>>
Primary Sources
More Harken Documents
(July 11, 2002) The Center for Public Integrity, as a public service, is posting a
second round of the documents that we obtained from the Securities and
Exchange Commission under the Freedom of Information Act. >>
Primary Sources
Securities and Exchange Commission Documents
Because of a column by Paul Krugman that ran in the New York Times and a
follow-up Washington Post story, there has been renewed interest in two reports
the Center published on the Public i concerning George W. Bush's days as a
director of Harken Energy. We published the first on the April 4, 2000 and second
on Oct. 2, 2000.
As a public service, we are offering here in PDF format some of the
documents we received from the Securities and Exchange Commission
under the Freedom of Information Act.>>
Special Report
Study Shows States Were a $263 Million Back
Channel for Soft Money
(WASHINGTON, June 25) -- In the 2000 elections, Democratic and Republican
state party committees raised $570 million, with 46 percent comprised of soft
money transfers from national party organizations, according to an
unprecedented study of party activity at the state level by the Center for Public
Integrity, the Center for Responsive Politics, and the National Institute on Money
in State Politics. >>
Center Commentary
Freedom of Information Under Attack
(Washington, June 20, 2002) Asking the tough questions required of "watchdog
journalism" is especially difficult in a national crisis atmosphere of fear, paranoia
and patriotism. Trauma from the worst civilian loss of life on American soil and
the resultant "war on terrorism" without borders have all contributed to an historic
assault on openness and the public's access to information by government
officials at all levels. >>
Special Report
War On Error: Live Pictures Taken by U.S. Planes
Were Freely Available
(LONDON, June 12, 2002) -- The war on terrorism in Europe is being
undermined by a military communications system that makes it easier for
terrorists to tune in to live video of U.S. intelligence operations than to watch
Disney cartoons or new-release movies.>>
Special Report
Smog-Forming and Toxic Gases 'Consistently'
Undercounted, Major Study Finds
(HOUSTON, May 31) In a discovery with national implications, a group of
government, academic and private researchers involved in a $20 million study of
Houston's air quality have found that petrochemical plants in the city's vast
industrial complex have been significantly underestimating their emissions of
key air pollutants in required reports to regulators.>>
Special Report
Federal Board Concludes Current Chemical
Regulations Are Inadequate
(Web posted May 15, 2002) A class of chemicals can, under certain conditions,
cause runaway reactions (including the release of toxic gases), fires and
explosions. Yet federal rules governing their storage and handling are
inadequate to prevent those conditions from occurring, the Chemical Safety and
Hazard Investigation Board recently concluded, confirming an earlier Center
report. >>
News Release
Center Wins Sigma Delta Chi Award for Online
Journalism
(Web posted May 1) The Center for Public Integrity has won the Society of
Professional Journalists' prestigious 2001 Sigma Delta Chi Awards for
excellence in journalism. The Center won the award in the "Public service in
online journalism (independent)" category for its report "Watchdogs on Short
Leashes," released Dec. 13 last year.>>
State Projects Report
Lobbyists Spent $565 Million to Influence States
(Web posted May 1) The Center for Public Integrity's groundbreaking investigative
research and analysis of special interest politics in state legislatures continues
with the publication of the Center's latest book, Capitol Offenders: How Private
Interests Govern Our States. The book is being released in conjunction with "The
Fourth Branch," a new Center study that reveals lobbyists spent at least $565
million impacting legislation in states across the country in 2000.>>
Special Report
Kuchma Approved Sale of Weapons System to Iraq
(Web posted Apr. 15) Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma approved of the sale,
and the smuggling, to Iraq of a high-tech radar system capable of detecting
aircraft -- even those using stealth technology -- and targeting them with
anti-aircraft missiles. Kuchma's authorization of the sale, which violates U.N.
sanctions, was recorded on tape. >>
Special Report
Bush Administration Kills Safety Regulation
Opposed by Donors
(Web posted April 11) The Bush administration quietly shelved a proposal to
tighten regulations on a group of hazardous chemicals despite evidence linking
dozens of deaths and hundreds of injuries to accidents involving those
chemicals.>>
Special Report
Center Prevails in Freedom of Information Suit
(Web posted Mar. 29) The Center for Public Integrity has prevailed over the
Department of Energy in a dispute over a Freedom of Information Act request
filed in the spring of 1999. At issue were records related to the sale of Elk Ridge
Naval Petroleum Reserve #1 to Occidental Petroleum Corp., which was the
largest privatization in U.S. history.>>
Special Report
Broadcast Industry Defeats Shays-Meehan
Provision
(Web posted Mar. 7) Of the 14 amendments proposed to Shays-Meehan during
the marathon house session in February, only three passed. One of those
eliminated a reform that might have interfered with the more than $600 million
broadcast outlets earn from showing political ads. The broadcast lobby got its
way in Congress once again.>>
Special Report
Victor Bout Denies Involvement in Arms Traffic
(Web posted March 4) Victor Bout, accused by the United Nations of fueling
Africa's bloodiest wars and suspected of selling arms to the Taliban, has issued
a statement denying the charges against him, his companies, and his
associates. The Center previously reported on Bout's alleged role in the arms
trade.>>
Special Report
Shays-Meehan Opens Soft Money Loophole In the
States
(Web posted Feb. 28) The Shays-Meehan campaign finance reform bill, should it
become law, would be the most wide-ranging attempt to reduce the influence of
money in politics in decades. Even as it closes old loopholes, however, it opens
new ones—particularly in those states that allow unlimited corporate and labor
union contributions.>>
Center Commentary
The Enron Collapse: A Financial Scandal Rooted in
Politics
(Web posted Feb. 25) The collapse of Enron has touched far more than the
company, its investors and employees, and the executives responsible for its
downfall. The scandal has undermined confidence in the securities markets,
and those who regulate them -- right up to the President himself, Executive
Director Charles Lewis says.>>
Special Report
EU Accuses U.S. Tobacco Companies of Trading
With Iraq, Terrorists
(Web posted Feb. 22) The European Union has alleged that U.S. tobacco
companies have sold billions of cigarettes to Iraq, in violation of U.S. and
international sanctions. The companies shipped the cigarettes through third
countries and were aided by the PKK or Kurdish Workers Party, which the United
States has labeled a terrorist group.>>
Special Report
Martinez Reverses Course and Releases Fund to
Nonprofits
(Web posted Feb. 13) Last November, the Center reported that a HUD freeze on
grant payments imperiled as many as 40 small nonprofit groups that aid
low-income housing residents. At a hearing on Feb. 13, HUD Secretary Mel
Martinez said HUD's actions caused "a tragic situation" and announced the
groups would be paid.>>
Special Report
Big GOP Contributor Advised Administration's
Energy Task Force
(Web posted Jan. 31; updated March 4) The Bush administration has refused to
release the names of the outside advisers of its National Energy Policy
Development Task Force. The Center discovered that one of those advisers,
energy executive and generous GOP donor Forrest Hoglund, sought specific
help for a company project.>>
Special Report
Africa's 'Merchant of Death' Sold Arms to the
Taliban
(Web posted Jan. 31, 2002) Russian arms trafficker Victor Bout, already exposed
by the United Nations for his role in fueling some of Africa's bloodiest wars,
practiced his trade in another war-torn region. He sold millions of dollars worth
of weapons and munitions to the Taliban in Afghanistan.>>
Commentary
Enron, Integrity, Reader Feedback, and Clearing
Up a Few Misconceptions
(Web posted Jan. 25, 2002) Few reports we've released have stirred up as much
interest as those we've posted the last few weeks on Enron. Managing Editor Bill
Allison responds to the most common comments and criticisms from readers,
and offers some historical context for the Center's interest in Enron, which
stretches back to the Clinton years.>>
Special Report
Questionable Accounting Industry Practices Led
Fellow ‘Big Five’ Firm to Ignore Enron Case
(Web posted Jan. 25, 2002) While conducting a peer review of
troubled accounting firm Arthur Andersen's records, fellow 'Big Five'
accountant Deloitte & Touche ignored newly bankrupt Andersen
client Enron from its analysis. According to Deloitte & Touche's
spokeswoman, that's normal procedure when firms check up on
each other's work.>>
Managing Editor's Note
Pentagon Releases Misleading Statement
(Web posted Jan.22) In a statement released Jan. 22, the Pentagon
noted that Donald Rumsfeld doesn't own stock in Enron. It further
claimed that a Center for Public Integrity report, which noted that
when Rumsfeld filed his financial disclosure report, he was one of
14 officials who owned Enron, was inaccurate. The Center stands
by its report.>>
Special Report
Enron's Accounting Firm Has Close Ties to
Administration
(Web posted Jan.16) Since 1998, the accounting firm implicated in the collapse
of Enron, Arthur Andersen LLP, and its employees have contributed $212,825 to
President George W. Bush. The total makes Andersen one of Bush’s biggest
financial backers. Like Enron, the accounting firm has spent lavishly on
contributions and lobbying.>>
The Bush 100
Center Releases Report on Bush's Top Appointees
(Web posted Jan.14) The average net worth of the top 100 members of the Bush
administration was somewhere between $3.7 million and nearly $12 million,
according to a Center for Public Integrity analysis of executive branch personal
financial disclosure forms.>>
Special Report
Fourteen Top Bush Officials Invested in Enron
Stock
(Web posted Jan.11) A Center for Public Integrity analysis of federal disclosure
forms shows 14 high-level administration officials owned stock in Enron worth,
at the time of their filings, as much as $886,000. That finding is from an analysis
of the finances and professional affiliations of the top 100 officials in the Bush
administration, which will be released Monday, Jan. 14.>>
Special Report
Enron Top Brass Accused of Dumping Stock Were
Big Political Donors
(Web posted Jan. 9) A group of 24 Enron executives and directors poured
$800,000 into political campaigns, including $74,200 to the Bush campaign,
from 1999-2001. Those individuals, along with five others, have been accused in
a lawsuit of selling $1.1 billion in company stock when they knew -- and the
public didn't -- that Enron was nearly insolvent.>>
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