Enron Ties to Bush Administration
Good read here of an online chat the Washington Post had yesterday with Robert Bryce, author of Pipe Dreams: Greed, Ego, and the Death of Enron. His new book is Cronies: Oil, the Bushes, and the Rise of Texas -- America's Superstate. The WaPo requires free registration.From the transcript, here's a partial list of people with direct Enron ties to the Bush administration:
Tom White, former secretary of the Army, was at Enron Energy Services, a company that was little more than a sham from the get go.
Ed Gillespie, current head of the Republican National Committee, was an Enron lobbyist.
Marc Racicot, former head of the RNC, was an Enron lobbyist.
Robert Zoellick, current US Trade Representative, worked for Enron as an adviser.
James Baker III, former secretary of state -- and the man who was crucial to Bush's win in Florida -- was an Enron lobbyist.
Alberto Gonzales, current White House counsel and former partner at the Vinson & Elkins law firm. V&E was one of Enron's primary law firms and signed off on some of the controversial partnership structures. Gonzales still has strong ties with V&E.
Bryce also says this: "...it appears the prosecutors are trying to prove that Lay knew that Enron was in bad shape when he was selling stock. My guess is that Andy Fastow is playing a key role in showing that Lay knew the company was failing. Of course, had he bothered to look at the cash flow statement he would have known that. Alas, Lay is a PhD economist who can't read a cash flow statement."
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