oracle
07-23-2002, 03:07 PM
Joe Lieberman’s Cover-Up (http://www.nationalreview.com/levin/levin072302.asp)
Where is Robert Rubin?
Mark R. Levin
The news this morning for Citigroup, Inc., one of Enron's largest creditors, is bad.
The New York Times reports (http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/23/business/23CITI.html?ex=1028088000&en=521970df2888ac6e&ei=5006&partner=ALTAVISTA1) that "senior credit officers of Citigroup misrepresented the full nature of a 1999 transaction with Enron in the records of the deal so that Enron could ignore accounting requirements and hide its true financial condition, according to internal bank documents and government investigators." The Wall Street Journal reports that Enron "marketed similarly structured deals to a slew of other companies." And yesterday, the Washington Post reported (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41262-2002Jul21.html) that Citigroup, along with J. P. Morgan Chase & Co., "transferred billions of dollars to Enron ... in recent years in what amounted to loans that Houston energy trader concealed as it struggled to survive .…"
Given the central role played by Citigroup in concealing Enron's debt from investors, the general public, and government regulators, why, then, hasn't former Clinton treasury secretary, Robert Rubin, now the chairman of Citigroup's executive committee, been called to testify before Congress? In particular, why hasn't the chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, Senator Joseph Lieberman, sought Rubin's testimony? After all, Lieberman is heading up the Senate's investigation into Enron's bankruptcy and fraudulent dealings.
And there's ample reason to hear from Rubin. In addition to this week's disclosures about Citigroup's assistance in cooking Enron's books, during Enron's final days Rubin played a direct role in attempting to conceal Enron's financial condition from credit-rating agencies. Specifically, on November 8, 2001, Rubin made a telephone call to Peter Fisher, the Treasury Department's undersecretary for domestic finance, seeking Fisher's intervention with Wall Street credit-rating agencies on behalf of Enron when those agencies were about to downgrade Enron's ratings
...
Lieberman's supposed concern for "average stockholders" and "their life's savings" clearly doesn't outweigh his political interests in covering up Rubin's central role in helping to prop up Enron and protect Citigroup's investments. If Lieberman were to force his fellow Democrat to testify about his conduct, the Democrats might lose their election-year issue. Meanwhile, Citigroup's stock value has declined by more than ten percent, to the lowest level in nearly three years, on news of its deceptive activities.
Click here to read more (http://www.nationalreview.com/levin/levin072302.asp)
Where is Robert Rubin?
Mark R. Levin
The news this morning for Citigroup, Inc., one of Enron's largest creditors, is bad.
The New York Times reports (http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/23/business/23CITI.html?ex=1028088000&en=521970df2888ac6e&ei=5006&partner=ALTAVISTA1) that "senior credit officers of Citigroup misrepresented the full nature of a 1999 transaction with Enron in the records of the deal so that Enron could ignore accounting requirements and hide its true financial condition, according to internal bank documents and government investigators." The Wall Street Journal reports that Enron "marketed similarly structured deals to a slew of other companies." And yesterday, the Washington Post reported (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41262-2002Jul21.html) that Citigroup, along with J. P. Morgan Chase & Co., "transferred billions of dollars to Enron ... in recent years in what amounted to loans that Houston energy trader concealed as it struggled to survive .…"
Given the central role played by Citigroup in concealing Enron's debt from investors, the general public, and government regulators, why, then, hasn't former Clinton treasury secretary, Robert Rubin, now the chairman of Citigroup's executive committee, been called to testify before Congress? In particular, why hasn't the chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, Senator Joseph Lieberman, sought Rubin's testimony? After all, Lieberman is heading up the Senate's investigation into Enron's bankruptcy and fraudulent dealings.
And there's ample reason to hear from Rubin. In addition to this week's disclosures about Citigroup's assistance in cooking Enron's books, during Enron's final days Rubin played a direct role in attempting to conceal Enron's financial condition from credit-rating agencies. Specifically, on November 8, 2001, Rubin made a telephone call to Peter Fisher, the Treasury Department's undersecretary for domestic finance, seeking Fisher's intervention with Wall Street credit-rating agencies on behalf of Enron when those agencies were about to downgrade Enron's ratings
...
Lieberman's supposed concern for "average stockholders" and "their life's savings" clearly doesn't outweigh his political interests in covering up Rubin's central role in helping to prop up Enron and protect Citigroup's investments. If Lieberman were to force his fellow Democrat to testify about his conduct, the Democrats might lose their election-year issue. Meanwhile, Citigroup's stock value has declined by more than ten percent, to the lowest level in nearly three years, on news of its deceptive activities.
Click here to read more (http://www.nationalreview.com/levin/levin072302.asp)