It turned out this was too long for one post, so now it is posted in two parts at:
http://www.rumormillnews.net/cgi-bin/config.pl?read=20814
Phoenix
: This contains more references about the connections between
: Cheney, Enron, Bush and Binladin and also the information
: from the disappeared Saudi Binladin Group website on
: Iridium.
: Phoenix
: "The information in this article I wrote in October will
: make it clear why Bush and Cheney would like the Enron
: connections to them not be investigated.
: And this is only the tip of the iceberg.
: ENRON: FOUL PLAYER IN THE BUSH ENERGY EMPIRE
: Posted By: Phoenix
: Date: Thursday, 25 October 2001, 9:19 a.m.
: The Enron connection is most interesting, especially between
: Bush, Cheney and Osama Bin Laden.
: These are just a few examples of some of Enron’s foul plays
: since riding into the White House on the coat tails of some
: of it’s more prominent front men; Bush, Cheney and Phil
: Gramm.
: Follows is a partial list of Enron’s foul plays: 1. Kenneth
: Lay, Enron’s CEO was just released of criminal and ethics
: charges by the GAO stemming from a phone call with the
: ex-FERC chairman, Curt Hebert, who accused him of trying to
: change his position on a key Commission policy issue in
: exchange for his endorsing Hebert to continue on as
: chairman.
: Article follows for you will not be able to access it without
: being a subscriber: NGI's Daily Gas Price Index
: published : September 21, 2001
: Ex-FERC Head, Enron Chairman Cleared of Criminal, Ethics
: Violations
: The General Accounting Office (GAO) has cleared former FERC
: Chairman Curt Hebert and Enron Corp. Chairman Kenneth Lay
: of any criminal charges and ethics violations stemming from
: a telephone conversation between the two men last February
: in which Hebert claimed Lay asked him to change his
: position on a key Commission policy issue in exchange for
: his endorsing Hebert to continue on as chairman.
: "We found no evidence that applicable federal statutes or
: ethics regulations were violated. There is no evidence that
: the chairman [in seeking Lay's endorsement] attempted to
: use his public office for private gain, acted other than
: impartially, or offered preferential treatment to Mr. Lay
: and Enron. Likewise, there is no evidence that Mr. Lay
: offered a thing of value to Mr. Hebert," the GAO said
: in a letter to Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), chairman of
: the Governmental Affairs Committee. Hebert stepped down as
: FERC chairman in late September when President Bush
: appointed close friend and former Texas regulator Pat Wood
: III to head up the Commission.
: Leiberman asked the GAO to undertake an investigation after
: the The New York Times last May reported the telephone call
: between Hebert and Lay.
: During the probe, the agency said both men agreed that a
: telephone conversation occurred in February 2001, that Lay
: asked Hebert about his views on what FERC's policy should
: be on access to the electricity grid, and that they did not
: discuss any matters relating to pending cases before the
: Commission involving Enron.
: But Hebert and Lay differed in their interpretations of the
: telephone call, according to GAO. "Mr. Hebert believes
: that Mr. Lay was attempting to tie his support for [Hebert]
: continuing as chairman to a change in [Hebert's] position
: on this policy issue." But Lay denied there was any
: quid pro quo involved. Lay contends that since Hebert
: "was pressing him for an endorsement," he simply
: "took the opportunity to ask him [Hebert] about his
: position on access, an issue that he and Mr. Hebert did not
: agree on."
: The GAO cleared Hebert and Lay of potentially violating: 1) a
: federal bribery statute, which makes it a crime to
: "give, offer or promise" anything of value with
: the "intent to influence any official act;" 2) a
: federal law that makes it a crime for any public official
: to "demand, seek, receive, accept or agree to
: receive" anything of value in exchange for being
: "influenced in performing any official act;" and
: 3) a federal statute that makes it a crime to "solicit
: or receive any money or thing of value" in an attempt
: to obtain public office.
: "Regardless of who initiated the discussion concerning
: open access, it does not appear that any of the criminal
: statutes...were violated," said the GAO. "All
: three statutes require that money or a 'thing of value' be
: offered or solicited in return for something else," it
: noted. "Although the courts interpret the term 'thing
: of value' broadly to include both tangibles and
: intangibles, our review of case law found no support for
: the proposition that mere political support may be
: considered a thing of value for purposes of the relevant
: criminal statutes."
: Moreover, "the offer of a thing of value must be tied to
: an expectation of a corresponding action by the other
: party. That is, there must be an expected quid pro
: quo...Here, there is no evidence that such an exchange was
: contemplated," the GAO concluded.
: Nor, the agency said was there evidence that Hebert violated
: federal government ethics regulations, which bar employees
: from soliciting or accepting any gift or items of monetary
: value from a person or entity seeking to influence official
: action. Lastly, it found that the telephone conversation
: between Hebert and Lay did not violate FERC regulations
: banning off-the-record communications that could affect the
: outcome or influence a decision in an on-the-record
: proceeding.
:
: http://intelligencepress.com/subscribers/daily/news/d20010921d.html
: _____________________________________________________
