Bush Served on Harken Board During Enron Trades

Yahoo ^ | 10/22/02

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - While President Bush (news - web sites) served on Harken Energy Corp.'s board more than 10 years ago, it engaged in complex trades with Enron Corp., a watchdog group said on Tuesday.

Enron's relationship with Bush has become a political issue since its collapse in December amid a widening financial scandal. The company was one of Bush's biggest campaign contributors.

Administration officials say Bush did nothing improper.

The documents, released by the Center for Public Integrity, showed that one of Harken's partners in commodities trading was Enron. A June 1990 memo from Harken Marketing, a Harken subsidiary, listed a $363,000 letter of credit with the now bankrupt energy trader.

White House officials had no comment on the transaction. Harken officials were not immediately available to comment.

The nonpartisan Center for Public Integrity said other documents showed that Bush was paid $80,000 in 1987-88 to consult for Harken even though he was working full time for his father's presidential campaign.

Bush flew to Texas and to New York to attend Harken board meetings. These trips were paid for by his father's campaign, and reimbursed by Harken, the Center said, citing Bush campaign receipts and Harken documents.

White House officials said there was nothing improper about Bush simultaneously working for Harken and his father's campaign.

Bush served on Harken's board from 1986 until 1993.

Former Enron Chairman Kenneth Lay was a longtime Bush ally and a generous donor to his political campaigns. He was part of an elite group known as the "Bush Pioneers" who gathered at least $100,000 in donations for Bush's 2000 run for the presidency.

High-level members of the Bush administration said Lay called asking for help while he fought to keep Enron out of bankruptcy, but they said they did nothing and that the president knew nothing about it.

[Eva]

This is so-o-o stupid! Most of the Enron misdeeds occurred in the past ten years since Bush left Harken.

[woofie]

Bush served on Harken's board from 1986 until 1993.

Ten years ago I was ten years younger ...so?

[spycatcher]

Didn't the whole world trade with Enron?

[Billthedrill]

Gosh, what a surprise. Late October and Reuters manages a smear just before the elections. The retraction, if any, will come on the 6th of November.

[1rudeboy]

Does anyone know if the Center for Public Integrity came up with something new, or is this story a rehash of their old press-releases?

[Steven W.]

now I finally understand the "conspiracy" that my local Jefferson Pilot radio station "reporter" was so thrilled about reporting this AM (it made no sense and now I see why - it makes no sense, just trying to take a bunch of unrelated events and tie them together in conspiratorial fashion) ... so sickening that I e-mailed Jefferson Pilot Investor Relations and complained.

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

Didn't the whole world trade with Enron?

If they fined every member of every board that traded with Enron, plus every government official, $100 each, we could pay for the war with Iraq. This is so stupid.

[stalin]

It's a good thing Bush isn't a democrat. Republicans would be trying to impeach him by now.

[BlueCat]

Hmmmm.....the Center for Public Integrity. I wonder how quickly they threw that group together for this little smear. Plaeasssse.

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

"Didn't the whole world trade with Enron?"

[BikerNYC]

Most of the Enron misdeeds occurred in the past ten years since Bush left Harken.

Most?

[eureka!]

Pick up board. Walk over to dead horse. Whack! Whack! Whack!Whack! Whack! Whack! Whack!

The Clymers cannot stop themselves. Amazing. The money the presstitutes have spent on this thing. Oh well, I guess it'll give the circle jerkers at DU something to whack about tonite as well. Sheesh....

[ffrancone]

A sentiment worthy of your namesake. Like Hitler, he too believed in the big lie.

[DaBroasta]

Once again Reuters has taken it upon itself to go trolling for stupid voters for the rabid RAT cult. Why can't they do the honorable French thing and go surrender to something?

[Jorge]

Huh? What would they be trying to impeach him for?
We're still waiting to hear what he supposedly did wrong and the Dems can't seem to come up with anything.
This is beyond stupid. It's pathetic.

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

It's a good thing Bush isn't a democrat. Republicans would be trying to impeach him by now.

Grasshopper, you have much to learn. We conservatives do not call for impeachment at the drop of a hat. Do you know how large the data base was on Clinton at this forum? I hazard to say, Clinton has more scandals over his head, uncovered, than all the other presidents combined.

The day Bush sells nuke tech for campaign cash, the day that Bush has a Waco, the day that Bush intimidates witnesses, the day that Bush organises IRS audits on enemies, the day that Bush raids a SINGLE FBI FILE [let alone 900], that is the day that you can challenge Republicans.

[stalin]

They would be "crying wag the dog" about Iraq and be very against the war effort. They would be "investigating" him about the financial scandals and when they found nothing they would investigate his freids , his gradschool teachers and his dog until they could came up with somthing that they could hang onto for awhile to deflect our attention away from foriegn policy and any war because which make a president poplular. All the while Bush's approval ratings would continue to go up so they would try to impeach him for not getting the enemy in Afganistan or something , anything.

[stalin]

If Bush did all of those things people on this board would refuse to believe it ; no a matter what the evidence.

He's collected more soft money bribes than any president in history. What do you think he's doing for that money ?

[deport]

Uh Oh...... I smell an FOIA coming to get to the bottom of this because........

No one is above the law.....
except when the IRS investigates tax returns