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

To: CYBERKEN who wrote (313019)	11/1/2002 1:44:37 AM
From: Mr. Palau	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 769667

This guy is great. I wish the GOP could clone him. His public persona, and TV presence, is unmatchable: SEC's Pitt admits withholding info By Greg Farrell, USA TODAY A political firestorm engulfed the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday after Chairman Harvey Pitt admitted that he had withheld information from his fellow commissioners on the eve of a crucial vote to select members of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. The incident — the latest in a series of public missteps the former securities lawyer has made since joining the SEC 15 months ago — further enraged Democratic lawmakers, who vowed to investigate his actions and called on President Bush to fire Pitt. White House spokesman Claire Buchan was quick to defend Pitt, saying, "We support him." Pitt's latest controversy erupted when he told the commission's four other members that the man the SEC chose last week to head the accounting board — former FBI director William Webster — had been a director at a company facing shareholder lawsuits alleging accounting fraud. Webster had chaired the board's audit committee. According to The New York Times, which reported the story Thursday, Webster told Pitt about the issue before last week's vote and offered to withdraw his candidacy. Pitt told him that was unnecessary. But on Halloween, Pitt's decision not to disclose the potential skeleton in Webster's closet became a big problem. Here's what happened: After Pitt told the other commissioners of his omission, they asked that the SEC inspector general, Walter Stachnik, investigate the matter. Pitt agreed. Democrats in Congress asked the General Accounting Office to investigate what happened. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., joined other Democrats calling for Pitt's resignation. Sen. Paul Sarbanes, D-Md., who wrote the bill that created the oversight board, called for Pitt's removal last week after the SEC's 3-2 vote naming Webster to the post instead of a candidate opposed by accounting firms. "I'm shocked at how inept this is," said Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass. "They took Webster, who's a very distinguished guy, and used him as a front man." SEC spokeswoman Christi Harlan said Pitt believes Webster "is a man of unquestionable integrity who will make an excellent chairman" of the board. SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins, who originally nominated Webster for the post, said the selection process could have been different, but "I have heard of no facts that would lead me to change our decision." usatoday.com