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As a Top Enron Exec Pleads Guilty, Journalist Robert Bryce
Discusses the Death of Enron and the Firm's Close Ties to
President Bush
Crime without Conviction: U.S. Makes Deals With Corporate
Criminals Instead of Prosecuting
Reverend Billy Preaches on Shopocolypse Tour of the Country
As a Top Enron Exec Pleads Guilty, Journalist Robert
Bryce Discusses the Death of Enron and the Firm's Close Ties
to President Bush
Enron's former chief accountant Richard Causey may now testify
against Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling. We look at the fate
of President Bush's corporate biggest campaign donor with
the author of "Pipe Dreams: Greed, Ego, and the Death
of Enron." [includes rush
transcript]
Enron's former chief accountant -- Richard Causey -- has
pleaded guilty to securities fraud. Causey was scheduled to
go on trial next month along with Enron's founder Kenneth
Lay and ex-Chief Executive Jeffrey Skilling. But now Causey
is expected to cooperate with government prosecutors during
the trial.
- Reid Weingarten, attorney for Richard Causey
That was Richard Causey's attorney Reid Weingarten. Causey
had been facing more than 20 years in jail but under the terms
of the plea deal he will serve no more than seven. He also
admitted that he and other Enron executives had made false
public filings and statements.
Four years ago Enron filed for bankruptcy after years of
defrauding its own employees and investors. The bankruptcy
put over 4,000 people out of work. The value of the company's
stock dropped from ninety dollars to about 30 cents. Thousands
of Enron employees lost their lifesavings. The opening of
Lay and Skilling's trial has now been pushed back to January
30. Up until yesterday, Causey's attorneys were working directly
with them on a joint defense.
- Michael Ramsey, attorney for Kenneth Lay
It remains unclear how the upcoming trial will affect President
Bush - who was closely linked to the Texas-based firm. The
family of Enron founder Ken Lay was one of President Bush's
biggest financial backers. It donated about $140,000 to Bush's
political campaigns in Texas and for the White House. The
president personally nicknamed Ken Lay "Kenny Boy."
Overall Enron employees gave Bush some $600,000 in political
donations. According to the Center for Public Integrity this
made Enron Bush's top career donor - a distinction the company
maintained until last year. Shortly after Bush took office
in 2001, Vice President Cheney reportedly met with Enron officials
while he was developing the administration's energy policies.
- Robert Bryce, investigative reporter based in Austin,
Texas. He has been covering U.S. energy issues since 1989
and is the author of two books: "Pipe Dreams: Greed,
Ego, and the Death of Enron" and "Cronies: Oil,
the Bushes, and the Rise of Texas, America"s Superstate."
Crime without Conviction: U.S. Makes Deals With Corporate
Criminals Instead of Prosecuting
Corporations that commit securities and accounting fraud
can now expect to get sweetheart deals from the Justice Department,
and they don't face public exposure for their misdeeds. We
speak with Russell Mokhiber of Corporate Crime Reporter.
A report released yesterday found that under a new policy
implemented by the Justice Department in 2003, a number of
major corporations caught committing serious crimes have not
been prosecuted or convicted by the U.S government. The report,
titled, "Crime without Conviction: The Rise of Deferred
and Non-Prosecution Agreements" by the watch-dog group,
Corporate Crime Reporter, named 34 major corporations that
have entered into special deals with the U.S government.
Under these deals, prosecutors agree not to criminally prosecute
the corporation in exchange for cooperation against executives,
implementation of corporate monitors and fines. In fact, the
report finds that no major corporation caught engaging in
accounting or securities fraud has been convicted since the
Arthur Andersen conviction in June 2002.
Reverend Billy Preaches on Shopocolypse Tour of the
Country
Reverend Billy and the Stop Shopping Gospel Choir went on
a holiday circuit to preach against corporate consumer culture
from Wal-Mart to Disneyland. The Reverend joins us in our
firehouse studio.
We turn now to a crusader against corporate domination. Reverend
Billy and the Stop Shopping Gospel Choir have just completed
their nationwide tour crossing the country in 2 bio-diesel
buses. They urged consumers to celebrate the holidays by rejecting
over-consumption, avoiding big-box mega-stores, and supporting
local proprietors and community economies. They brought their
message to shoppers in a variety of venues including the largest
retail complex in the U.S, the Mall of America in Minnesota,
the headquarters of Wal-Mart in Bentonville, Arkansas and
Disneyland.
During the last several years Reverend Billy and his Church
of Stop Shopping have made themselves a thorn in the side
of companies like Walt Disney, Nike, Home Depot and Starbucks
by staging protests both outside and inside the stores. Today
he joins us in the studio.
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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