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Enron Execs Found Guilty on Multiple Conspiracy, Fraud Charges
Enron: The Bush Connection
Enron Played Central Role in California Energy Crisis
Enron - The Smartest Guys in the Room
Enron Execs Found Guilty on Multiple Conspiracy,
Fraud Charges
The two top figures in the Enron corporate scandal have
been found guilty. On Thursday Enron founder Ken Lay was convicted
on 10 counts of conspiracy, securities fraud, wire fraud,
bank fraud and for making false statements to banks. Enron’s
former CEO Jeffrey Skilling was also convicted on 19 of 28
counts. With Lay’s conviction, one of President Bush’s
top financial backers is now facing the possibility of spending
the next 30 years in prison. We speak with investigative journalists
Robert Bryce and Greg Palast. [includes rush
transcript]
With the conviction of Enron’s founder Ken Lay, one
of President Bush’s top financial backers is now facing
the possibility of spending the next 30 years in prison. On
Thursday Enron founder Ken Lay was convicted in two separate
trials on 10 counts of conspiracy, securities fraud, wire
fraud, bank fraud and for making false statements to banks.
Enron’s former CEO Jeffrey Skilling was also convicted.
A jury found him guilty on 19 of 28 counts. The conspiracy
and fraud convictions each carry a sentence of up to 10 years
in prison. Four years ago Enron filed for bankruptcy after
years of defrauding its own employees and investors. The bankruptcy
put over 4,000 people out of work. The value of the company’s
stock dropped from ninety dollars to about 30 cents. Thousands
of Enron employees lost their lifesavings. Hours after the
jury announced its verdict Ken Lay spoke outside the Houston
courthouse and proclaimed his innocence.
- Ken Lay, speaking after he was convicted Thursday.
Ken Lay will be sentenced during the week of September 11th.
Today we are going to spend the hour looking at the Enron
scandal, corporate crime, the energy industry and Enron’s
close ties to President Bush. In Austin, Texas we are joined
by Robert Bryce. He is a former reporter at the Houston Chronicle
and is the author of “Pipe Dreams: Greed, Ego and the
Death of Enron.” Here in New York we are joined by BBC
investigative reporter Greg Palast. He has closely followed
the Enron scandal and the regulation of power markets. His
latest book is titled “Armed Madhouse: Who’s Afraid
of Osama Wolf?, China Floats, Bush Sinks, The Scheme to Steal
‘08, No Child’s Behind Left, and Other Dispatches
from the Front Lines of the Class War.”
- Robert Bryce, Texas-based journalist who regularly covers
energy issues. He is the author of two books: “Pipe
Dreams: Greed, Ego, and the Death of Enron” and “Cronies:
Oil, the Bushes, and the Rise of Texas, America’s
Superstate.”
- Greg Palast, investigative reporter with the BBC who
has closely monitored the Enron scandal and the regulation
of power markets. His latest book is titled “Armed
Madhouse: Who’s Afraid of Osama Wolf?, China Floats,
Bush Sinks, The Scheme to Steal ‘08, No Child’s
Behind Left, and Other Dispatches from the Front Lines of
the Class War.”
Enron: The Bush Connection
Enron founder Ken Lay and his family rank among President
Bush’s biggest financial backers of his political career.
The family donated about $140,000 to Bush’s political
campaigns in Texas and for the White House. The president
personally nicknamed Ken Lay 'Kenny Boy.' Our guest Greg Palast
examined the connections between Enron and the Bush administration
in his documentary “Bush Family Fortunes.” [includes
rush
transcript]
We turn now to the connections between President Bush and
Enron. Enron founder Ken Lay and his family rank among President
Bush’s biggest financial backers of his political career.
The family donated about $140,000 to Bush’s political
campaigns in Texas and for the White House. The president
personally nicknamed Ken Lay “Kenny Boy.” Overall
Enron employees gave Bush some $600,000 in political donations.
According to the Center for Public Integrity this made Enron
Bush’s top career donor - a distinction the company
maintained until 2004. Shortly after Bush took office in 2001,
Vice President Cheney met with Enron officials while he was
developing the administration’s energy policies. Our
guest Greg Palast examined the connections between Enron and
the Bush administration in his documentary “Bush Family
Fortunes.”
- Excerpt of the documentary "Bush Family Fortunes".
Enron's influence reached as far as Uzbekistan. In January,
we interviewed the former ambassador to Uzbekistan, Craig
Murray. He spoke about the relationship between President
Bush and the Uzbek regime of President Karimov.
- Craig Murray, former UK Ambassador to Uzbekistan.
Enron Played Central Role in California Energy Crisis
Six years ago, California was plunged into an unprecedented
energy crisis. Rolling blackouts shut down parts of the state.
Power bills soared. It turned out that at the center of the
crisis was Enron – although the company’s role
wasn’t fully understood at the time. We play excerpts
of audiotapes that proved Enron asked power companies to take
plants offline at the height of the California energy crisis
- in order to make more money. [includes rush
transcript]
In California, the state’s former governor Gray Davis
praised the jury for convicting Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling.
Davis said “Given the way Enron ripped off California,
I think the jury did an excellent job. I take some solace
in the fact that Ken Lay and Skilling will spend some time
in prison.” Six years ago, California was plunged into
an unprecedented energy crisis. Rolling blackouts shut down
parts of the state. Power bills soared. It turned out that
at the center of the crisis was Enron – although the
company’s role wasn’t fully understood at the
time.
Two years ago lawyers involved in a lawsuit in Washington
state obtained audiotapes that proved Enron asked power companies
to take plants offline at the height of the California energy
crisis - in order to make more money. In one taped phone call
an Enron employee celebrated the fact that a massive forest
fire had shut down a transmission line carrying energy into
California causing the price of energy to rise.
- Excerpts of the Enron Tapes.
In this phone call an Enron employee talked about how the
company had ripped off poor grandmothers in California.
- Excerpts of the Enron Tapes.
Enron employees also discussed the possibility of Ken Lay
becoming Secretary of Energy if George W. Bush won the 2000
election.
- Excerpts of the Enron Tapes.
And in this phone call from January 2001 an Enron employee
asked a worker at a power plant in Las Vegas to take the plant
offline. That same day energy supplies were so tight that
Northern California experienced a Stage 3 power emergency
and rolling blackouts hit as many as 2 million consumers.
- Excerpts of the Enron Tapes.
Enron - The Smartest Guys in the Room
We bring you an excerpt from the documentary "Enron
- The Smartest Guys in the Room" - based on the book
of the same name by Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind. [includes
rush transcript]
We bring you an excerpt from the documentary "Enron
- The Smartest Guys in the Room." It is based on the
book of the same name by Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind.
In this excerpt, Enron founder Kenneth Lay talks about the
state of Enron to a roomful of employees. The date was October
22, 2001 -- a week after the Securities and Exchange Commission
sent a letter to Enron asking for information on the company’s
third-quarter losses.
- Enron - The Smartest Guys in the Room, excerpt of documentary.
- See website: EnronMovie.com
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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