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

To: RON BL who wrote (333510)	12/24/2002 3:27:53 AM
From: Skywatcher	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769670

The fact that California has been wrecked by the Texas Oil Boyz is obvious.....like most states we are also at the mercy of the W economy which is why most voted Democratically.....The Feds and Whitehouse get to spend whatever they want without the legislature protection of balances budgets like states have..... Judge allows `explosive' e-mails into $1 billion trial over Enron deals Monday December 23, 9:38 pm ET By Devlin Barrett, Associated Press Writer NEW YORK (AP) -- A federal judge has ruled that "explosive" e-mails about J.P. Morgan Chase and Co.'s oil deals with Enron could be shown to a jury in a $1.1 billion lawsuit over who should pay for the failed financial pacts. Morgan is suing 11 insurance companies for refusing to pay more than $1 billion for guarantees on failed oil and gas trades arranged between Enron and a Chase-affiliated offshore company called Mahonia Ltd. The Chase affiliate made six deals with Enron beginning in 1998, in which Enron was paid in advance for oil and natural gas to be delivered months or years later. The insurance companies counter that the trades were really disguised loans, financial shams designed to pump more cash into Enron. The e-mails center around Morgan Vice Chairman Donald Layton's 1999 review of internal accounting. "We are making disguised loans, usually buried in commodities or equities derivatives," Layton wrote in one of the e-mail messages. In a 10-page decision Monday, Manhattan District Judge Jed Rakoff said the jury's interpretation of the e-mails could be important to how the panel decides the case. "It does not constitute `unfair' prejudice any more than would, say, a confession," the judge wrote, adding that jurors could adopt the opposite view and find the messages "innocuous." At an earlier hearing in the trial, the judge referred to Layton's comments as "explosive," depending on whose interpretation the jurors believed -- the bank's or the insurance companies'. Layton and Morgan said the e-mails should not be admitted because he was not referring to the Enron-Mahonia transactions but to upfront cash payments for commodities transactions. The bank argues the insurance companies gave "crystal clear" assurances to back the deals if Enron failed to deliver on its promises and are now trying to back out of their obligations. The e-mails are expected to be shown to the jury Thursday or Friday, when Layton is scheduled to testify. Closing arguments are expected next week. CC