George Bush and Enron

The Washington Post held an on-line chat with Robert Bryce, former reporter for the Austin Chronicle and author of Pipe Dreams: Greed, Ego, and the Death of Enron and Cronies: Oil, the Bushes, and the Rise of Texas -- America's Superstate.

Bush's many connections with Enron were pointed out...

Los Angeles: On how many days during the 2000 election and its primaries did George W Bush fly on the Enron corporate jet?

Follow up: How many people with direct connections to Enron have worked in the Bush administration?

Follow up: If revealing the names of the people who wrote the Bush energy policy would violate the privacy of the administration, couldn't they at least tell us how many of those people have been indicted since that time?

Robert Bryce: By my count, the Bush campaign used Enron's jets at least a dozen times during the campaign. However, the critical use came during the Florida Recount. According to the campaign's IRS filings, Enron's jets were used 4 different times during the period that covers the recount. That period was crucial because time was of the essence.

Your second question is a bit harder to answer. A partial list of people with direct Enron ties to the Bush administration includes:

Tom White, former secretary of the Army, was at Enron Energy Services, a company that was little more than a sham from the get go.

Ed Gillespie, current head of the Republican National Committee, was an Enron lobbyist.

Marc Racicot, former head of the RNC, was an Enron lobbyist.

Robert Zoellick, current US Trade Representative, worked for Enron as an adviser.

James Baker III, former secretary of state -- and the man who was crucial to Bush's win in Florida -- was an Enron lobbyist.

Third question: The number of people indicted is about a dozen. I don't have recent figures.

[...]

re: Bush administration officials: One more to add to your list ...

Alberto Gonzales, current White House counsel and former partner at the Vinson & Elkins law firm. V&E was one of Enron's primary law firms and signed off on some of the controversial partnership structures. Gonzales still has strong ties with V&E.

Robert Bryce: I don't know what his ties are to V&E right now. But it's clear that V&E -- long one of the most powerful law firms in Texas -- is having serious problems. V&E was a key backer of LBJ. They also represented George and Herman Brown, the founders of Brown & Root, for decades. V&E also represented Halliburton until 2002 or so. Now, Halliburton is represented by -- drum roll, please -- Baker Botts*. It's a small world, no?

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*James Baker's Law Firm

Bush's relationship with Kenneth Lay, in particular, is well documented at The Smoking Gun.