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US officials didn't alert Bush on Enron

Top US administration officials said on Sunday they felt they were not obligated to inform President George W Bush or Enron employees and shareholders of the energy firm's requests for help because the information discussed was already known to the public.

Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said that while he was contacted both at home and in the office by Enron Corp chairman Kenneth Lay, the conversations revealed nothing unusual or new and he felt there was no reason to alert President George W Bush.

"I didn't think this was worthy of me running across the street and telling the president," O'Neill said on the Fox News Sunday program. "I frankly think what Ken told me over the phone was not new news. You all had been reporting for weeks that Enron had problems, that they were in trouble."

O'Neill said he had read reports that Enron President Lawrence Whalley had asked for help from Treasury's undersecretary, Peter Fisher, but told ABC's "This Week" program "nothing was done."

Thousands of employees lost their pensions and life savings in the former Wall Street darling's downfall, which began last autumn when the company acknowledged several hundred million dollars of previously undisclosed liabilities.

Five congressional committees, the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating Enron's demise, including the company's bankruptcy filing on December 2, the largest in US history.

O'Neill said on Sunday as a result of those investigations he was not discussing the Enron case with his deputies "to make sure we do this correctly."

TOO LATE FOR EMPLOYEES

Commerce Secretary Donald Evans told NBC's "Meet the Press" that Lay's October 29 call to him was about reviews of Enron's business by credit agencies.

"When I was talking to Ken I wasn't thinking about bankruptcy," Evans said. "I was thinking maybe their credit rating would be dropped some."

The information discussed was publicly known, he added, and "at that point in time, tens of thousands of employees had already lost their life savings because the stock value had already collapsed."

Evans said he later informed White House chief of staff Andrew Card about the call but Card did not tell Bush.

Evans, who served as Bush's presidential campaign manager, said he had several discussions with the president about the impact of Enron's downfall but never mentioned Lay's calls.

Meanwhile, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham called Lay on November 2 to inquire about the company, Energy Department spokeswoman Jeanne Lopatto said on Sunday.

Lay did not ask for Abraham's help, nor did Abraham offer any assistance, to try to solve Enron's problems, said Lopatto. She added that Abraham was concerned with the impact Enron's problems could have on energy markets.

Previously, she said Lay had asked for a meeting with Abraham on September 18 or 19, but that request was denied. Lopatto said she did know what Lay wanted to talk about or why the meeting didn't take place.

A week earlier, Lopatto said former Enron president and chief executive officer Jeff Skilling asked to meet with Abraham on September 11, almost four weeks after Skilling resigned from the company for personal reasons on August 14. That request was also turned down, she said.

Sen Joseph Biden told NBC Enron's failure could be "of gigantic consequence" politically if it were found the Bush administration tried to help the troubled firm as a favor for the large financial contributions the company made to the Bush campaign.

"If there was any, any involvement because of the incredible help the Bush campaign got from Enron, it will be devastating," said Biden, a Delaware Democrat.

Enron and its employees made $623,000 in contributions to Bush's campaigns since 1993, according to the Center for Public Integrity, a public watchdog group.

Before its collapse Enron contributed to nearly half of the current US House of Representatives and almost three-quarters of the Senate, the group has said.

CRIMINAL INDICTMENT FOR ANDERSEN?

Enron's auditor, Arthur Andersen, also came under fire on Sunday, with Sen Joseph Lieberman saying the No 5 accounting firm could face criminal indictment for the destruction of documents related to its audit of Enron's books.

The chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, Lieberman said his panel had also begun an investigation.

The Connecticut Democrat referred to a report by Time magazine that Andersen ordered employees in an October 12 memo to destroy all Enron audit material except the most basic "work papers."

The magazine reported on Sunday that the workers who audited the company's books were also reminded of the memo in the weeks before the first Security and Exchange Commission subpoenas were issued on November 8.

An Andersen spokesman told Time it would be inappropriate to discuss the situation until the company completes its own review. Andersen officials on Sunday did not return calls for comment.

Last week Andersen made the stunning admission its employees had destroyed a significant but unknown number of documents related to Enron in recent months.

Former SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt, speaking on ABC's "This Week," said he believed it was illegal for Arthur Anderson to shred Enron documents. "I think it is a violation of our securities laws, and it's highly unusual at best," he said.

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