|
Pardons,
Two Bushes, and Two Clintons
July 11, 2001
by
Lois Erwin
When plain George W. Bush, a member of the board of directors
and consultant1 to Harken
Energy Corporation, sold off 212,140 shares of his Harken
stock2 (60% of his holdings,
making himself an $848,560 profit!) on June 22, 1990 - just
a week before Harken announced, in its quarterly report, a
serious problem with the company - G. W. Bush was investigated
by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on grounds
of "insider trading." While he was never found innocent3,
neither was he ever punished.
One has to wonder why.
Seek no further for an answer to the question. At the time
of Bush's Harken stock sell-off, his father was President
of the United States. As president, George Herbert Walker
Bush, had appointed the SEC Chairman; and the general counsel
of the SEC was an old Bush friend. They were both old Bush
family friends. (We don't need to investigate George Jr. He
comes from such a nice family. Why make trouble for them?
Not worth it.)
Now, let's assume for a moment that George Jr.'s father had
NOT been president of the United States and had NOT appointed
the SEC Chairman, and the SEC general counsel was NOT an old
friend, and George Jr. had done the same deed - the "insider
trading" deed.
He would have, undoubtedly, been found in violation of the
prohibition against "insider trading" and might have faced
jail time and/or a serious fine - and NOT been eligible to
be President of the United States today.
In any event, does anyone suppose that if George Jr. had
been found guilty, his father - the President of the United
States - would not have pardoned his son? Does anyone suppose
that if George Jr. had been found guilty, his father would
have needed to be "lobbied" by George Jr. to grant such a
pardon? Or does being a member of the president's family automatically
guarantee access to the president's time, the president's
heart, the president's agenda, and the president's list of
pardons?
I do not find anything unusual about Roger Clinton's access
to his brother. When the first President Bush was in the White
House, George Jr. ran all over the place telling people off
and in some cases giving them their walking papers. The fact
remains, that even having access to his brother did not win
pardons for ANY of Roger Clinton's clients.
So, what was gained other than a review of Roger Clinton's
clients' pardon applications? Big deal. If it is the access
that troubles rabid right-wingers so, one wonders how they
feel about the Intel executives' access to Karl Rove? Did
Rove not open doors for Intel executives and in so doing enrich
himself? Did George W. Bush not stall aluminum production
for two years and enable his Treasury Secretary to make a
windfall profit of $62 million on his $100 million investment
in Alcoa aluminum? Do Far-Righters wonder WHY Paul O'Neill
did not divest himself of his Alcoa stock as soon as he knew
of his appointment as Treasury Secretary?
Just some thoughts to ponder.
1
G. W. Bush was an active consultant to Harken CEO Mikel Faulkner
on mergers, acquisitions, and projects.
2
The Harken stock fell from the $4.12 Bush sold at to $2.37
per share in August 1990, after the quarterly report came
out and after Iraq invaded Kuwait.
3
The SEC investigation of Bush's "insider trading" ending
without filing charges, but the associate director of the
U.S. SEC's enforcement division noted in a letter to Bush's
attorney: "It must in no way be construed as indicating that
the party has been exonerated or that no action may ultimately
result."
View
All Articles
|
