Before the cock crows...

George W. Bush doesn't have much (or anything) to say about former ENRON CEO Kenneth Lay. One would think that Former Texas Gov. Bush never really knew Mr. Lay at all.

If you believe that, you should go to eBay and bid on my great used bridge in Brooklyn!

Exhibit A

The close ties between the Bush administration and Enron come from a long-standing relationship, and campaign-finance watchdogs generally considered the company to have been Bush's most staunch benefactor.

According to the Center for Public Integrity, Enron has contributed more than $500,000 to Bush's political activities, starting with his gubernatorial campaigns.

As recently as October 16, with a crisis atmosphere swirling around Enron, the company gave $60,000 to the Republican National Committee.

Lay himself worked with the Bush transition team and helped screen candidates for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. LINK

Exhibit B


Click on letter to enlarge

Exhibit C

Austin, TX: President George W. Bush revised history yesterday when he said that Enron CEO Ken Lay "was a supporter of Ann Richards in my [gubernatorial] run in 1994." While Richards received $19,500 from Enron sources in that campaign, according to the Dallas Morning News, Bush received far more Lay and Enron money.

In fact, in an interview with PBS’s "Frontline" taped on March 27, 2001, Lay said, “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.”

Mr. Lay and Enron's PAC were early donors to Bush’s 1994 race, contributing $30,000 to Bush's gubernatorial committee as early as November 1993. All told, Enron's PAC and executives contributed $146,500 to Bush's first gubernatorial war chest in 1993 and 1994.

"President Bush's explanation of his relationship to Enron is at best a half truth,” said Craig McDonald, Director of Texans for Public Justice. “He was in bed with Enron before he ever held a political office." LINK

Former Texas Governor George W. Bush has twice denied his close personal relationship with finally- indicted Kenneth (Kenny Boy) Lay, ENRON CEO.

Once denied...

"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. 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... Mr. Lay..."

—President George W. Bush, answering reporters' questions in the Oval Office Jan. 10, 2002. LINK

Twice denied...

Election year windfall: 'Kenny Boy' Lay's indictment hands Kerry a potent issue
Date: Thursday, July 08, 2004 @ 09:56:23 EDT
Topic: Enron

By John Wildermuth and Carla Marinucci, San Francisco Chronicle

The indictment of former Enron chief Ken Lay represents an election year windfall for Democrats -- who say the man President Bush nicknamed "Kenny Boy" is a poster boy for corporate greed and malfeasance.

Lay's indictment Wednesday in connection with the energy giant's 2001 bankruptcy hands Sen. John Kerry and the Democrats the perfect person to link the president's re-election campaign to the high-living corporate miscreants who left their companies, workers and stockholders in financial ruin, politicians and analysts said.

"What it does is raise the specter of corporate chicanery by someone who is a longtime, close ally of the president of the United States," said Phil Trounstine, director of the nonpartisan Survey and Policy Institute at San Jose State University. "I'm sure the president will want to keep a distance from Mr. Lay, but they have a long history together. Let's put it this way: You'd rather have Mother Teresa on your side."

Bush was asked about the indictment Wednesday at an appearance in Waterford, Mich., but he walked away without answering. LINK

Thrice...?

If Bush denies Kenny Boy yet again (as in Presidential Pardon), does that mean that Bush will allow himself to be crucified upside down?

Remains to be seen...