In Enron's bag
Enron not only funded politicians but recruited heavily to its ranks former government officials, accountants and legal people building a strong network of contacts and influence and no doubt gaining useful insider information. The following are a few examples of business and political figures who were employed by Enron, owned Enron shares or received Enron funds. * George W Bush, President of the USA. * Dick Cheney, Vice President of the USA. * Lawrence B Lindsey, economic adviser to US President. * Donald H Rumsfeld, US Defence Secretary, former ambassador to NATO. * James A Baker, former Secretary of State. Enron reportedly paid him more than US$2 million in "consulting expenses" last year. * Frank Wisner Jr, a former Pentagon official. An Enron deal maker, played an important role in Enron gaining contracts in India and the Philippines. * Attorney General John Ashcroft. The Department of Justice is carrying out a criminal investigation into Enron. Ashcroft and his chief of staff have had to remove themselves from any involvement in the official investigation because of their links with Enron. * Michael T Shelby, US attorney for southern Texas. The entire US Attorney's Office in Houston has also been removed from the case because of personal ties to current or former employees of Enron. * Thomas E White, now Secretary of the Army, was an executive with Enron for 11 years. Held US$50 million in Enron shares, sold most of them before the collapse. White was hired to bring business and other expertise to the military. He is a retired brigadier general and decorated Vietnam veteran (23 years of military service) and Cold War warrior. * Karl Rove, Chief of Staff and Bush's top adviser. Rove owned a block of Enron stock once worth US$250,000. * Robert Zoellick, Bush's Trade Representative, also on Enron's payroll in an "advisory capacity". * Marc Racicot, Republic National Committee chairman, former Montana Governor and Enron lobbyist. * Lee Rosenthal, Federal judge, has removed herself from all Enron lawsuits, apparently just three days after denying a motion to freeze assets held by Enron executives and board members. * Senator Phil Gramm, one of the biggest recipients of Enron campaign donations. Wasn't sure whether he should drop out of congressional investigations into Enron. * Dr Wendy Gramm, Senator Gramm's wife, chair of the federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission from 1988-1993. Played a major role in exempting the trading of energy products from government oversight greatly benefiting Enron. Then left the Commission and joined the board of Enron and its audit committee. * Jeffrey K Skilling, Enron director, former director of the Houston Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. * Lord John Wakeham, Enron director since 1994, former UK Secretary of State for Energy and Leader of the Houses of Commons and Lords. * Herbert S Winokur, Enron director since 1985, chairman and chief executive officer of Capricorn Holdings Inc. Former board member of the Harvard Endowment Fund, chairman from 1988 to 1997 of DynCorp. DynCorp is one of the lead contractors for the new phony war on Drugs in South America called "Plan Colombia"-a plan which swells the coffers of the companies involved at the same time as fighting political wars and capturing resources for US corporations like Enron. * Billy Tauzin, Republican Representative, chair of House Energy and Commerce Committee inquiry focusing on Enron and Arthur Andersen. Received campaign money from Enron and Arthur Andersen. * Richard A Causey, Enron Board member former senior manager with Arthur Andersen in Houston, where he had primary responsibility for the Enron engagement. And so the list continues ... on and on.