WASHINGTON (voa) President Bush has promised a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding last year’s bankruptcy of energy-trading giant, Enron, which is headed by a leading Bush supporter and fundraiser.
Speaking at the White House after meeting his economic team Thursday, Mr. Bush also announced an overall review of U.S. pension rules under the direction of U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill. Mr. Bush said he is deeply concerned about the impact of Enron’s collapse on employees. Many workers at the Houston-based company lost their life savings when the company filed for bankruptcy December 2. But company executives reportedly were able to get out of nearly one billion dollars worth of their investments before things turned bad.
Mr. Bush said there needs to be a full review of disclosure rules to make sure all American stockholders are protected and that this never happens again. His comments come one day after the U.S. Justice Department opened a criminal probe into Enron’s collapse – the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history.
Meanwhile, a White House spokesman Thursday said Enron’s chairman and chief executive, Kenneth Lay, telephoned two of President Bush’s cabinet officers ahead of the company’s collapse, including Treasury Secretary O’Neill. Ari Fleischer says that information was never shared with the president. The president also has said he never discussed Enron’s financial situation with Mr. Lay. He says the last time he saw Mr. Lay was at a political fundraiser in the first half of last year.
The White House earlier acknowledged that Vice President Dick Cheney or his aides met six times with Enron executives last year, but said the company’s financial position was not discussed. The probe comes amid concern Enron executives may have had excessive influence over the Bush administration’s energy policy.
