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Politics : GOPwinger Lies/Distortions/Omissions/Perversions of Truth -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Brumar89 who wrote (3489)	2/21/2004 7:09:51 PM
From: geode00	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 173976

I didn't say they didn't do anything for Enron. I said we don't know what went on but obviously something did because it's all a big secret. $500K and close contacts over the years DOES buy you something in this admin. That it didn't save the company (but maybe the top exec?) from imploding doesn't mean corruption didn't exist. "Top Bush administration officials were in contact with executives of the failing Enron Corp. at least 14 times last year, more than the administration first reported. But a senior Senate Democrat said Sunday that investigations should focus largely on the energy giant's deception of its employees and shareholders, which led thousands to lose their investments and retirement security. Enron and its auditor, Arthur Andersen, covered up the company's ills so top executives could profit at the expense of workers and stockholders, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said. "They were selling glass as real diamonds, and that is false," he said on ABC's This Week. "I think we've got to tighten the laws." Congressional investigators say they have uncovered an internal Arthur Andersen memo dated Oct. 12 ordering workers to destroy materials related to their Enron audit. The memo was first reported by Time magazine after the accounting firm said Thursday that thousands of documents, including e-mails, had been destroyed. Enron, the nation's top energy trading company, filed for bankruptcy Dec. 2 after disclosing that it had been using accounting tricks to hide debt and overstate earnings. The Justice Department launched a criminal investigation that will be headed by the chief of its fraud division. The Labor Department and Securities and Exchange Commission also have begun probes, as well as five congressional committees. The White House sent two Cabinet members on television news programs Sunday to emphasize that despite more than a dozen contacts, the administration did nothing to help Enron avert bankruptcy. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said on ABC that Enron CEO Kenneth Lay phoned Oct. 28 to seek leniency from Enron's creditors. Lay called again Nov. 8 to talk about the firm's financial status but "asked me for nothing," said O'Neill, who took no action. Commerce Secretary Don Evans said on NBC's Meet the Press that he had spoken to Lay about five times last year. "He was looking for all the possible ways he could stabilize his company," said Evans, who decided not to respond. Neither Cabinet official informed President Bush of the calls, they said. At least six other calls from Enron executives went to O'Neill's domestic finance undersecretary, Peter Fisher. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham made a call to Lay on Nov. 2. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, who is not a Cabinet official, also received a call. Levin said Enron was aided in its deception by the millions of dollars in political contributions and lobbying fees that it had spread around Washington. Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., said on CBS that investigators will look into whether Enron's influence "in any way stopped our federal government from protecting average shareholders." Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., who has been investigating Enron's collapse, released two e-mails apparently sent to Enron employees last August as the company began to spiral downward. In them, Lay sought to bolster confidence in Enron stock. "I have never felt better about the prospects for the company," Lay wrote. Waxman said the e-mails "misled Enron employees." usatoday.com