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Enrongate Shocker: Why Democrats Backed Off Enron
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| Republican_Strategist
Posted on 06/26/2002 6:00:47 AM PDT by Republican_Strategist
State's losses get scrutiny
TALLAHASSEE - Before Enron's collapse cost the state pension fund $334 million late last year, few Floridians had ever heard of Frank Savage.
Now Savage, who simultaneously sat on the boards of Enron and Alliance Capital Management, the firm largely blamed for Florida's losses, has become the lightning rod for speculation that insiders benefited at Florida's expense.
Tuesday, during congressional hearings, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., invoked Savage's name as he asked Enron executives if they had any evidence of investment firms pushing Enron stock in an effort to shore up the now-collapsed energy giant's stock price.
'What I'd like to know from any of you -- do you have any knowledge of any communication . . . that said . . . `Help us, the company is going to be OK, buy the stock now, so it will get the price back up?' '' Nelson asked.
Enron executives told Nelson they were not aware of any attempt by any money management firm to prop up Enron stock. And Savage's attorney, W. Neil Eggleston (Freeper note: Eggleston has three other connections to the Clinton Adminstration. Eggleston served as Associate Counsel to the President from 1993-94. Eggleston connections to the scandal-ridden Clinton Adminstration are troubling due to the nexus between Arthur A. Coia and Bill Clinton.), told The Herald: ''Mr. Savage was not involved in any way with the investment decision-making process of Alliance.'' Alliance officials have said Savage adhered to the firm's strict rules that prohibited him from discussing with Alliance managers any investments in corporations he is associated with.
But those assurances have done little to quell speculation. Nelson said Tuesday he will keep probing Alliance's actions, particularly in light of learning that Florida's pension fund was still buying Enron stock through its Alliance account while New York state, also an Alliance customer, was selling its stock.
Alliance spokesman John Meyers said Florida's money manager remained confident in Enron's basic business and therefore kept buying Enron stock. However, a different money manager, hired with a different investment strategy, managed the New York state account, Meyers said.
ALTERNATE VIEWS
Differences in Enron holdings between Alliance clients was a result of different investment strategies and individual money managers' judgment, not some grand conspiracy, Alliance officers have said.
Herald interviews with many of Alliance's biggest institutional investors appear to confirm that.
Like Janus, another major investment firm, Alliance managers had differing views of Enron's viability.
Alliance managers who believed in Enron, like other investors, ''were misled'' by company officials and auditors, Alliance Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bruce Calvert has said.
State lawmakers, Gov. Jeb Bush, Comptroller Bob Milligan and Attorney General Bob Butterworth -- all frustrated over the pension fund loss -- have all asked similar questions about Alliance's role.
But in all the various conspiracy theories alleging Alliance was buying Enron to help shore up the company's sagging stock price, one key fact has been overlooked, according to market watchers and government regulators: Alliance didn't have the ability to prop up Enron's stock price even if it wanted to.
With Enron stock trading, on average, 50 million shares a day, it would have required concerted buys worth billions of dollars to affect the stock's price, said a U.S. Securities and Exchange commission official. It is unlikely any money manager tried to do that, said the official, speaking on condition that his name not be published.
Alliance, when it sold its entire stake in Enron on Nov. 30 for 28 cents a share, held just 57 million shares bought over the past year.
''You would need many more money managers doing the same thing in an orchestrated way to perhaps drive up the price, but the purchases would have to be in the billions of dollars,'' said the SEC official.
Alliance Vice Chairman Alfred Harrison bought Enron for several major clients, including Florida and his own $12 billion retail mutual fund, Alliance Premier Growth.
KEPT BUYING
Most notably, Harrison escalated his buying of Enron shares for his clients last October and November as the price fell quickly on news of various accounting irregularities. His growing bet came as Dynegy, Enron's main competition, announced plans to merge the two companies, a prospect that could have raised the value of Enron stock by as much as 50 percent.
It also appears Savage, who has made millions through a respected career as a financial investment executive, was in no position to profit greatly from buoying Enron's stock price, even if his firm had the means to do so.
Despite being on the Enron board, Savage received none of the millions in compensation that some of the board's employee directors did. In fact, the two-year association likely cost him more than $100,000, as the $50,000-a-year in stock he took for compensation is now worthless, his attorney said. He also has lost the value of about 550 shares of Enron he bought on his own at a price of about $20,000.
Savage joined the board in October 1999, the day after board members took the last and second controversial vote to waive ethics rules to allow off-the-book partnerships with Enron managers. His attorney said Savage had no indication of Enron's shaky finances.
''It turns out Mr. Savage worked for free for two years on Enron's behalf,'' said Savage's attorney Eggleston, who is representing Savage and 11 other outside non-employee directors of Enron. ``He actually lost money.''
Savage -- who has been in South Africa for more than a week as part of his new private equity firm committed to African investments -- has declined requests for interviews, referring questions to Eggleston.
AMONG THE ELITE
Before Enron's collapse, Savage rarely warranted the spotlight, though he has long been a player in elite circles and frequently ranked among the nation's top blackcorporate executives.
He's a corporate board member for Lockheed Martin Corp., Qualcomm Corp., Bloomberg News Service as well as the Harlem Boys Choir, the New York Philharmonic and Johns Hopkins University, where he obtained a master's degree in international studies.
In 2000, when Bill and Hillary Clinton released their list of 361 people who had spent the night in the White House, Savage and his wife Lolita, longtime Democratic supporters, were among them.
And Colin Powell, now U.S. secretary of state, pushed for Savage to be chairman of the Howard University Board of Trustees, said David Williams, former chief executive officer and chairman of Alliance. Savage has held the post for two years.
''The general called me and asked if Alliance would support Frank should he get the post, because it would require such a huge commitment,'' Williams said. ``I told him we'd be honored.''
Source: The Miami Herald
Democrats: Don't Gloat About Enron
As Congress gears up for hearings on Enron's $60 billion collapse, some Democrats are savoring a chance to investigate links between the company and its many G.O.P. friends in the White House and Congress. But the scandal may wind up tainting Democrats as well. Florida's state pension fund, which lost $325 million on Enron, is examining, as part of a broader inquiry, what role Frank Savage, a major Democratic donor, may have played in the state's loss. The fund's investments were directed by Alliance Capital Management, where Savage was a senior executive and chairman at the same time he sat on Enron's board.
State officials want to know whether he inappropriately pushed Enron's stock on the pension fund while the energy giant was failing. Alliance more than doubled the state's stake in Enron since last August, buying 5.6 million shares in three months, even as stock prices fell and analysts questioned the firm's management and accounting practices. Coleman Stipanovich, deputy executive administrator of the pension fund, said his staff would like to learn what Savage knew of Enron's internal problems and what, if anything, he passed on to fund managers at Alliance. "We're going to want to be satisfied there was no undue influence," he told TIME.
An Alliance spokesman said Savage, who headed an international subsidiary until leaving the firm in August, had no influence on Enron trading. Savage did not return calls for comment. Since joining Enron's heavily Republican board in 1999, he has donated $100,000 to Democrats and is raising money for New York gubernatorial candidate Carl McCall. Which proves, if nothing else, that Enron was a bipartisan debacle.
Source: CNN
White House
Guests Database
Savage, Frank
STAMFORD , CT
(Alliance Capital Management) Total contributions so far in this election cycle: $85,000
| Amount |
Recipient |
Date |
|
|
|
$25,000 |
DNC/Non-Federal Individual, (D) |
6/19/2000 |
|
|
|
$20,000 |
DNC Services Corp, (D) |
4/18/2000 |
|
|
|
$10,000 |
New York Senate 2000, (D) |
1/22/2000 |
|
|
|
$10,000 |
Democratic Congressional Campaign Cmte, (D) |
10/28/1999 |
|
|
|
$5,000 |
DNC/Non-Federal Individual, (D) |
4/18/2000 |
|
|
|
$5,000 |
Democratic Congressional Campaign Cmte, (D) |
6/17/1999 |
|
|
|
$1,000 |
Corzine, Jon, (D) |
12/30/1999 |
|
|
|
$1,000 |
Corzine, Jon, (D) |
12/30/1999 |
|
|
|
$1,000 |
Bradley, Bill, (D) |
5/24/1999 |
|
|
|
$1,000 |
Gore, Al, (D) |
3/11/1999 |
|
|
|
$1,000 |
Gore, Al, (D) |
2/2/1999 |
|
|
|
$1,000 |
Clinton, Hillary Rodham, (D) |
7/15/1999 |
|
|
|
$1,000 |
Clinton, Hillary Rodham, (D) |
10/18/1999 |
|
|
|
$1,000 |
Rangel, Charles B, (D) |
7/27/1999 |
|
|
|
$1,000 |
Gore, Al, (D) |
3/11/1999 |
|
|
|
$500 |
Kennedy, Edward M, (D) |
2/3/1999 |
|
|
|
$250 |
Waters, Maxine, (D) |
4/11/2000 |
BuzzFlash.com Commentary on Savage (Fails to mention Savage is a Clinton Friend and Democrat)
Enron Press Release mentioning Savage |
TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Front Page News
KEYWORDS: clinton; democrats; enron; enronlist
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To: *Enron_List
To: JeanS; tallhappy; Ernest_at_the_Beach; Elkiejg; backhoe; Grampa Dave; Willie Green; seamole; ...
View my post.
To: Republican_Strategist
Things that make you go "Hmmmn."
But the Demo's don't want to talk about this......
To: Robert A. Cook, PE
Aren't we all shocked?
To: Republican_Strategist
I think that we are going to find as time progresses that any corporation associated with A.A. is now bankrupt. I also feel that Enron, WorldCom and many many other large Corp. have been robbed by the Clintons and those within their innercircle. Let's face it folks... we are paying for eight years of abhorent corruption, and it's only going to get worse from here. Our country is bankrupt.
6
posted on
06/26/2002 7:30:08 AM PDT
by
mindstar
To: Republican_Strategist
Thanks.
I most have had a senior moment when the NY Slimes, DC Compost, LA Slimes and the SF Gayrhonicle covered this story.
Great find and thanks for posting it and the ping.
To: Liz; d14truth; Shermy
Pinging for you possible interest.
To: Grampa Dave
Why Democrats Backed Off Enron....... Why? B/c smug Waxman set up an Enron tip-line but the only tips received were DemonRats Enron chicanery .......LOL.....
9
posted on
06/26/2002 8:08:53 AM PDT
by
Liz
To: Liz
The rats got Enronized with their Enron strategy!
The data is out on Martha. She has never contributed to a republican and has given the rats a lot of money over the years.
Apparently the DC Compost and the RAT's head nest feel that evil corporate ceo's are their best campaign target for this November's election. Of course they will try blame GW for the 8 years of theft that occurred on the Bent One's watch.
I hope that they do go into this suicidal movement. We have the internet and Free Republic to get the real data out re which political party these crooked CEO's and sometimes boards donated to. Like this Savage creep and your favorite tv good lady/Martha!
To: Republican_Strategist
Enron was a business scandal, that is winding down. It shouldn't be viewed as a political scandal or as an indication of inefficient US legislation or judicial systems.
To: Grampa Dave
Hi, Grampa Dave. Dontcha love it when they begin to rot from within? They can't pin anything on Bush, as hard as they've tried, and now they're slowly committing suicide with their rhetoric. I just LOVE IT!
To: Republican_Strategist
To: Marysecretary
It is a beautiful sight.
When the Goron came out with his famous and very scary, There is no controlling legal authority! statement, he and his fellow rats had no controlling legal authority.
Jake Reno deballed the FBI and installed its anti justice clowns in the former Justice Department.
The Clintoons then had the FBI files delivered to the White House to insure that there was no controlling legal authority.
They are so arrogant, that they think that they still are in power and there is no Controlling Legal Authority. A lot of them are in for some real surprises!
It will be fun to watch.
To: mindstar
Your comment of firms connected to A Anderson being suspect is proving very true. I also think that World Com will have a Clinton financial connection.
Rush seems to be on a rant much along the lines of what your said about paying for 8 years of corruption in the whitehouse.
To: Grampa Dave
A lot of them are in for some real surprises!
Oh, how I hope you are right!
16
posted on
06/26/2002 10:10:08 AM PDT
by
Bigg Red
To: Liz; All; Registered
The connection of Registered's great work below to this post, shows another Rat caught while showing arrogance and forgetting that the No Controlling Legal Authority concept is passe:
Hey Registered, with the World Com meltdown, it might be time to redo your Arthur Andersen Cooking the Books art and recycle it.
To: Bigg Red; Liz; d14truth
They were so arrogant that they continued to do business as usual after the Bent One and Jake Reno left office in Jan 2001.
Martha Stewart is a prime example of rich elite rats who violated the insider selling laws. Her net worth is down at least 100 million $'s. She will not be able to get a sponsor for her tv show except the DNC in a few months.
She will have to spend millions trying to stay out of jail. Even if she beats the rap, she will be a big time loser in $'s and perceived power.
Reality is starting to bite these clymers big time.
We can sit back on our Lazy Boy's with our feet up, enjoying a cool one, having some popcorn while watching Fox News show the trails of these former Rat Elites as they lose their fortunes and power due to their arrogance.
I intend to savor and enjoy every moment!
To: Grampa Dave
Martha Stewart is a prime example of rich elite rats who violated the insider selling laws..........She will not be able to get a sponsor for her tv show except the DNC...... Can't you just see Martha's suckups to the DNC on her show? Hilllary will guest.......baking cookies, of course.
Bill will come on to demonstrate how to remove stains from blue dresses.......
Monica will show how to make knee pads for "under the desk duty."
Terry McAuliffe will give tips on how to make a fortune with a $100 thou investment.
19
posted on
06/26/2002 10:51:15 AM PDT
by
Liz
To: Liz
Your suggestions sound like great themes for upcoming Martha shows from one of the NY prisons.
They can rename the show to the Rats and Martha Show from felons to felons!
K Mart will probably be the only corporation to continue their contract with her.
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