{"article":{"id":14941,"heading":"Jeb Bush and Enron","author":"see material","created":"2002-02-16 02:00:58","modified":"2015-12-18 10:15:28","last_modified":"Fri, 18 Dec 2015 17:15:28","article":"\n
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Joan Claybrook
Letter to Florida Gov. Jeb Bush: About You and Enron
Thu Feb 14 19:38:43 2002
68.3.132.0
February 14, 2002
Letter to Florida Gov. Jeb Bush: About You and Enron
By Joan Claybrook
The Honorable Jeb Bush
Office of the Governor
The Capitol
Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0001
Dear Governor Bush:
Florida's pension fund --for which you chair the oversight board --lost $334
million on Enron stocks and bonds in the wake of the company's collapse.
Many of the pension fund's investments were made as Enron's stock was
plummeting in value and financial problems at the company were being
publicly revealed. Investigations into the fund's losses are now being
conducted by the Florida attorney general, the Florida State Board of
Administration and a committee appointed by the state House of
Representatives.
Because of the conflicts of interest resulting from your strong ties to
Enron and your extensive entanglements with the company, we call for you to
recuse yourself from making any decisions or taking any actions relating to
these investigations, and from taking an active role in any lawsuits against
Enron, Arthur Andersen or other entities related to the Enron collapse. We
also call on you to refrain from taking any actions on behalf of the Board
of Administration that relate to Enron.
Your longstanding relationship with the company and its executives requires
that you step down from any potential involvement in bringing Enron to
justice. It is a state and national imperative that any wrongdoing be fully
and independently investigated and that these investigations avoid even the
appearance of conflict of interest.
We make our request because:
You have been a business partner with Enron. In 1995, you invested nearly
$92,000 in an Enron affiliate, Enron Liquids Pipeline, and sold your
interest 10 months later for a $7,100 profit;
You appointed Walter Revell to be chairman of the Florida 2020 Energy Study
Commission, which was established to develop energy strategies for the
state. Mr. Revell is a 25-year friend of Ken Lay. The policies set forth by
the commission could have greatly benefited Enron;
In 1999, Enron subsidiary Azurix proposed a scheme under which it would help
pay for Everglades restoration in exchange for water rights. Approximately
two weeks after Enron's plan was proposed, you appointed James Garner III,
an Azurix lobbyist, to the Governor's Commission for the Everglades;
Enron has been a generous contributor to your campaign and to Florida
Republicans. Enron, its subsidiaries and its employees contributed $420,000
to Florida political campaigns between 1995 and 2001, more than 80 percent
of that going to Republicans, according to the St. Petersburg Times. And the
Florida Republican Party received at least $76,500 from Enron towards your
election in 1998, state records show;
According to Florida Department of State records, you accepted nearly
$20,000 from Enron, its subsidiaries, and the company's accounting and law
firms, during your 1998 campaign, including $6,500 directly from Enron
executives;
Ken Lay reportedly gave money to the Foundation for Florida's Future, a
think tank you founded (the foundation refuses to reveal its funders or the
amount of their gifts);
The Board of Administration's deputy executive director is Coleman
Stipanovich, brother of J.M. \"Mac\" Stipanovich, a Republican political
consultant and lobbyist who ran your gubernatorial campaign in 1994;
In January of this year, Richard Kinder, former Enron president and large
donor to your brother, George W. Bush, and the Republican Party, held a
fundraising event for you at his Houston home, which you attended;
Enron and its employees contributed $312,500 to your brother's 1994 and 1998
Texas gubernatorial campaigns, and another $113,800 to his presidential
campaign. Enron also gave $10,500 to the Bush-Cheney Recount Fund and
$300,000 to the Bush-Cheney 2001 Inaugural Fund, according to the Center for
Responsive Politics.
Other prominent officials have recused themselves from involvement in any
investigation or litigation involving the company. U.S. Attorney General
John Ashcroft did so, as did John Cornyn, attorney general for Texas. Three
federal judges have recused themselves, as has the entire U.S. Attorney's
office in Houston.
In light of the fact that other public officials have acknowledged their
conflicts and reacted accordingly, we believe that you owe the people of
Florida a complete explanation of the extent of your ties with Enron. We ask
you to:
Disclose all contacts you have had with Enron executives or agents since you
have been governor and explain the nature of those contacts;
Tell the public when you knew Enron was in financial trouble, particularly
whether you had knowledge of Enron's shaky financial condition as the state
pension fund was buying shares that were rapidly declining in value;
Explain what safeguards you put in place, or attempted to put in place when
you became governor to ensure that such dramatic pension fund losses would
not happen; and,
Tell Floridians what measures you plan to enact to ensure that such losses
do not occur again.
We look forward to your making this information available to the public.
Sincerely,
Joan Claybrook
President
Public Citizen
http:\/\/www.publiccitizen.org\/
President's View (Public Citizen News - January\/February 2002)
Investigators Must Dig Deep; Explore Enron's
Shady Deals, Political Links
Blind Faith: How Deregulation and Enron's Influence Over
Government Looted Billions from Americans
http:\/\/www.publiccitizen.org\/publications\/release.cfm?ID=7138
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