Video reminds Bush family of embarrassing Enron links

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
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Another embarrasement for President Bush…

Video reminds Bush family of embarrassing Enron links](Video reminds Bush family of embarrassing Enron links | Enron | The Guardian) The Guardian

David Teather in New York Dec 18, 2002

The White House last night suffered an embarrassing reminder of the Bush family’s close relationship with the disgraced energy firm Enron. A video recorded for the leaving party of a former employee shows senior executives joking about how they could manipulate the accounts to make “a kazillion dollars”. It also features the current and former President Bushes paying warm tributes to the departing executive.

George Bush senior tells Enron’s then president Rich Kinder: “You have been fantastic to the Bush family. I don’t think anybody did more than you did to support George.” The 1997 video, shown on MSNBC last night, turned out to be prescient. In one skit, Enron’s then chief executive Jeffrey Skilling is shown handing a budget report to a colleague , and explaining how Enron could achieve 600% revenue growth in the coming year. “We’re going to move to something I call HFV, or hypothetical future value accounting,” he says. “If we do that, we can add a kazillion dollars to the bottom line.”

On the tape, then chief accounting officer Richard Causey jokes: “I’ve been on the job for a week managing earnings, and it’s easier than I thought it would be.” George Bush junior, then governor of Texas, says to Mr Kinder, who has not been implicated in the financial scandal: “Don’t leave Texas. You’re too good a man.” The relationship between the White House and Enron came under heavy scrutiny following the Enron collapse, during which it emerged that the company had been hiding massive debts. President Bush was close to the Enron chief executive Kenneth Lay, referring to him affectionately as “Kenny boy.”

Congressional hearings into the role that the now defunct Enron auditor Arthur Andersen played were concluded yesterday with the recommendation that a criminal investigation be opened on Nancy Temple, the firm’s former in-house lawyer. She sent an email which reminded staff of Andersen’s document retention policy, which was alleged to have sparked the shredding of important papers.

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Corporate Criminals.

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George Bush senior tells Enron's then president Rich Kinder: "You have been fantastic to the Bush family. I don't think anybody did more than you did to support George.

And I thought this sort of thing only happened in the third world? :)

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I wonder what the latest is about the Enron scandal?

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I would certainly love to see Bushes dragged over bushes in impeachment hearings. This is million times worse than one or two blows by Monica.

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Enron’s Political Ties: A Shadow Government?](http://www.thedailyenron.com/enron101/political.asp) The Daily Enron

Enron’s collapse into bankruptcy exposed not only its smoke and mirrors accounting methods, but also the full extent of Enron’s influence in the federal government.

Over 50 high-level Bush administration officials have had meaningful ties to the now defunct energy company. For example, the Secretary of the Army Thomas E. White worked at Enron for nearly two decades, and he served as vice chairman of Enron Energy Services. The President’s top economic advisor Lawrence B. Lindsey and Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick served on Enron’s advisory board. According to financial disclosure forms, at least 40 administration officials owned Enron stock. These officials include senior officials at the White House, the Departments of the Treasury, Commerce, and State, the U.S. Trade Representative’s office and EPA. The President reportedly refers to Enron CEO Ken Lay by the affectionate nickname “Kenny Boy.”

For a fuller understanding of just how far Enron’s reach into the Bush administration goes, see the table in the appendix.

Enron Campaign Contributions to Bush, DeLay and GOP

So how exactly did Ken Lay and Enron have so much influence on George W. Bush, his White House, and congressional Republicans? The answer is simple: money. Enron Corporation is President Bush’s number-one career patron, having given him more money throughout his political career than any other contributor. Enron Corporation PAC, and Enron executives, employees and their family members contributed a total of $736,800 to President Bush from 1993 to 2001. Enron also contributed $250,000 to the Republican National Convention for its 2000 convention.

Kenneth and Linda Lay gave $276,500 to George W. Bush from 1993 to 2000, including $100,000 to the President’s inaugural fund, $10,000 to his election recount fund and $40,000 to his 1999 State Victory Fund Committee.

**But it was not just the Bush campaign that raked in Enron contributions. From 1989-2001, Enron Corporation PAC, and Enron executives, employees and their family members gave a total of $5,951,570 in hard and soft money to federal candidates and parties. Of this amount, 74% ($4,404,162) went to Republicans and 26% ($1,547,408) to Democrats.

More specifically, one of the top House Republican leaders has been a big beneficiary of Enron contributions and is deeply tied to Enron. Majority Whip Tom DeLay and his political network have collected more than $200,000 from Enron and its executives over the last seven years.**

From 1989-2000, Majority Whip Tom DeLay has raked in more than $28,000 from Enron’s PAC and employees for his congressional campaign. His PAC, Americans for a Republican Majority (ARMPAC) got $50,000 in soft money from Enron in 2001. Enron gave $10,000 in soft money to ARMPAC in 2000, and between 1995-2000 Enron and its employees gave $47,250 in hard money. Kenneth Lay gave $50,000 to Republican Majority Issues Committee in 2000 - another one of DeLay’s fundraising operations. (Roll Call, 2/25/02)

Not only has Tom DeLay raised a lot of money from Enron, but his top staff have raked in Enron consulting fees. Ed Buckham, Karl Gallant and John Hoy were awarded a $750,000 contract by Americans for Affordable Electricity, an Enron-funded coalition, after DeLay recommended to Enron that they hire the team. (Roll Call, 2/25/02) His connections to Enron are so strong that “some call DeLay the ‘congressman from Enron,’.” (The National Journal June 3, 2000)