White House Downplays Bush-Enron Ties

Former Enron CEO Kenneth Lay, left, is led into Federal Court by a law enforcment officer in Houston Thursday July 8, 2004. (AP Photo/Michael Stravato)


Hey, somehow the White House is forgetting how George flew with Kenny Boy on the Enron plane all over Texas and the nation back during his earlier campaign days. Bush (and his dad) sat with Kenny Boy at Ranger ball games. Dick Cheney had Kenny Boy into his office to meet over creating the new energy policy for the nation and consulted with him by phone and all while Cheney ignored the Hart-Rudman Commission's report on national security and its warnings of a terrorist attack on the U.S. And when California was being ripped off by Kenny Boy's Enron and other energy companies with huge financial supporters of Bush during its "energy crisis", he kept the Feds from both investigating the illegal wrong doings AND placing any price caps to find out what was so immorally wrong with the price gouging. Yeah, right. Kenny Boy was just a passing friend...---Sam


By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - The White House sought Thursday to minimize President Bush's ties with indicted former Enron chief Kenneth Lay, saying it has been a long time since they talked and suggesting it was only a passing friendship.

When Bush was governor of Texas, he called Lay "Kenny Boy" and Enron was a big financial backer. Bush has received more than $550,000 in donations from Enron, its employees and their relatives during his political career — the most from any source.

Lay was accused in an 11-count indictment of being involved in a wide-ranging scheme to deceive the public, company shareholders and government regulators about the energy company that he founded and led to industry prominence before its collapse in 2001.

"Cracking down on corporate wrongdoing is a top priority for this president," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said when asked about Lay's indictment Thursday. "The administration is taking strong and aggressive actions to pursue corporate wrongdoers and to strengthen corporate accountability. I don't think I'm going to get into discussing specifically a criminal indictment."

Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's campaign accused the administration of dragging its feet on Enron. "It was three years too late," Kerry spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said of the Lay indictment.

Trying to distance Bush from Lay, McClellan said Lay had supported many politicians, Democrats as well as Republicans. Altogether, more than 250 members of Congress from both parties have received Enron contributions.

"He was a supporter in the past and he's someone that I would also point out has certainly supported Democrats and Republicans in the past," McClellan said.

He also said that "it's been quite some time" since Bush and Lay talked.