- WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Representatives
of the collapsed energy giant Enron Corp. met six times with Vice President
Dick Cheney or staff from his energy task force, the White House has told
a Democratic lawmaker.
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- In a Jan. 3 letter to Rep. Henry Waxman, vice presidential
counsel David Addington said that Enron's Chairman Kenneth Lay met Cheney
once during the development of the administration's energy plan. Cheney
has already acknowledged this publicly.
-
- But the Addington letter also revealed five further meetings
with Cheney's energy task force staff, three of which took place before
the White House energy policy was announced in May and two afterwards.
-
- Enron's financial position was not discussed in any of
the meetings, Addington's letter to Waxman said. Waxman, a California Democrat
and ranking member of the Government Reform Committee, released the Addington
letter on Tuesday. The lawmaker had written to Cheney's office seeking
information on Enron's possible influence on administration policy.
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- "Enron did not communicate information about its
financial position in any of the meetings with the Vice President or with
the National Energy Policy Development Group's support staff,'' said the
Addington letter.
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- Waxman, in a reply addressed to Cheney, noted the meetings
with Cheney or his energy task force staff had stretched from last Feb.
22 to Oct. 10, just a few days before Enron announced a reduction in shareholder
equity ahead of its spectacular collapse.
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- "For the first time, the letter from Mr. Addington
provides some limited details about the contacts between Enron and the
energy task force,'' Waxman told Cheney. "It reveals that Enron had
extensive access to the task force, meeting in person six times with you
or the task force staff to discuss 'energy policy matters'''.
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