The AP is reporting; "The White House is trying to put at least an arm's length between President Bush and indicted Enron executive Kenneth Lay, a campaign benefactor Bush nicknamed 'Kenny Boy' when the two were up-and-comers in Texas."

Later in the story, the offer this bit of a counter argument; "Lay's relationship with the Bush family dates from at least 1990 when he was co-chairman of former President Bush's economic summit for industrialized nations, which was held in Houston. Lay also was co-chairman of the host committee for the Republican National Convention when it was held in Houston in 1992."

But this isn't the first time Bush has tried to spin himself away from the Kenneth Lay/Enron disaster, as you will soon see -- the first report comes from Slate, the second from The Smoking Gun, and both are over two years old.

-------------------------------

Whopper of the Week: George W. Bush "Ken who?"

link: http://slate.msn.com/id/2060884/

"In distancing himself from Enron, President Bush said that CEO Kenneth Lay 'was a supporter' of Democrat Ann Richards in his first race for Texas governor in 1994.

"But records and interviews with people involved in the Richards campaign show that he was a far bigger Bush supporter.

"Mr. Lay and his wife gave Mr. Bush three times more money [italics Chatterbox's] than Ms. Richards in their gubernatorial contest, according to a computer-assisted review of campaign finance reports by The Dallas Morning News. ... Mr. Bush, a Republican, collected $37,500 from the Lays in his successful bid to unseat the Democratic incumbent, state records show. Ms. Richards received $12,500."

-- Wayne Slater, "Lay Gave More To Bush," Dallas Morning News, January 12, 2002

link: http://www.dallasnews.com/texas_southwest/1Atxenron_12tex.ART0.d1e8.html

"I got to know Ken Lay when he was the head of the -- what they call the Governor's Business Council in Texas. He was a supporter of Ann Richards in my run in 1994 [italics Chatterbox's]. And she had named him the head of the Governor's Business Council. And I decided to leave him in place, just for the sake of continuity. And that's when I first got to know Ken. ..."

-- President George W. Bush, answering reporters' questions in the Oval Office January 10, 2002

link: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/01/20020110-1.html

"When Governor Bush -- now President Bush -- decided to run for the governor's spot, [there was] a little difficult situation -- I 'd worked very closely with Ann Richards also, the four years she was governor. But I was very close to George W. and had a lot of respect for him, had watched him over the years, particularly with reference to dealing with his father when his father was in the White House and some of the things he did to work for his father, and so did support him."

-- Interview with Enron Chairman Kenneth Lay for Frontline's 2001 documentary, "Blackout: What Caused the Power Crisis in California? And Who's Profiting?"

link: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/blackout/interviews/lay.html

-------------------------------

While the White House has repeatedly described former Enron chairman Kenneth Lay as simply a "supporter" of George W. Bush, extensive correspondence between the two men paints a far cozier picture of their relationship, according to copies of letters obtained this afternoon (2/15) by The Smoking Gun.

The pages of correspondence, exchanged during the years Bush served as governor of Texas, were released today in Austin by the state archives in response to Freedom of Information requests filed by TSG and other news organizations.

The Bush-Lay material touches on both personal matters (birthday greetings and Bush's knee surgery) and public concerns of Lay and Enron, such as energy legislation and tort reform, and reflects the kind of jocular relationship that reportedly saw the nickname-happy Bush call the Enron boss "Kenny Boy." The Houston-based energy firm, Bush's leading career political contributor, is now bankrupt and the target of a multitude of criminal and congressional probes.

link: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/bushlay1.html