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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Karen Lawrence who wrote (278853)	7/22/2002 2:18:11 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769667

Calls Mount for Bush, Cheney, to Come Clean thedailyenron.com Questions about President Bush's and his Vice President's past corporate behavior continue to dog the administration's efforts to staunch the hemorrhage of investor confidence in corporate America. Opinion polls over the weekend show that the majority of those polled believed the President and Vice President were not telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth about their prior business dealings. Vice President Cheney has come under fire for his tenure as CEO of Halliburton, which is now under SEC investigation for accounting irregularities initiated during Cheney's years with the company. Cheney has refused to discuss the issues raised by the SEC, or a shareholder lawsuit alleging accounting fraud that names him as a defendant. President Bush has deflected questions about his time at Harken Energy by suggesting that reporters consult SEC documents and Harken board minutes. Meanwhile, SEC commissioner Harvey Pitt has refused to release those documents unless the White House requests that he do so. But, the White House refuses to do so. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-CT) said yesterday that the U.S. economy will continue to suffer a crisis in confidence unless President Bush and Vice President Cheney come clean by releasing details of their actions as private-sector corporate executives. "Because of the president's involvement in the Harken Energy case, there is a large cloud hanging over his head," Mr. Lieberman said. "I am afraid if he doesn't eliminate it soon by giving full disclosure, [the suspicions] will diminish his moral authority — his presidential authority to lead the critical effort to restore confidence in the [stock] market." The facts that have dribbled out in each case have only raised more concerns and questions. In a recent interview, Halliburton's current CEO, David Lesar, said Cheney was well aware that the company was counting cost overruns as revenue. The blunt admission raises the possibility that his former colleagues at Halliburton are sending Cheney a message; "We will not take a fall for you, Dick. If you let us go down, we will take you with us." Lieberman directly addressed the Vice President's role at Halliburton, saying that "whereas the president's disclosures, so far, on Harken Energy have been inadequate, the Vice President's disclosures regarding Halliburton have been nonexistent." "I just think that the longer this goes on, the worse it's going to be for the administration, but, more to the point, the worse it's going to be for our economy," Lieberman said. "Every day that the market drops and individual investors lose millions of dollars is another day crying out for the kind of restoration of confidence that has to come from the very top of our government as well as from the very top of the American business community." Meanwhile, two other Bush administration officials continue fighting for their political lives. SEC chairman Harvey Pitt made the rounds of talk shows looking increasingly like a boxer who has taken too many punches to the head. Pitt's troubles began months before either Bush's or Cheney's, as critics focused on his close ties to the very accounting firms he must now discipline. As a private attorney, Pitt represented both Andersen and KPMG accounting firms before accepting his position at the SEC. "I'm the right person for the job," he said on NBC's Meet the Press. "This guilt-by-occupation is really a needless diversion. I'm beholden to no one. I represent the American people," a wide-eyed Pitt recited. Army Secretary Thomas White is recovering this week from an angry and confrontational session before a Senate investigating committee last week. White is currently under investigation for insider trading in relation to his sale of Enron stock after he left the company, where he served as head of Enron Energy Services. "People are starting to view the administration as 'Ali Babba and the Forty Thieves," one Hill observer said. "It's becoming increasingly difficult for voters to feel confident that this collection of fat cats, who themselves profited from all corporate misbehavior, have the moral authority necessary to cleanse the system."