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Lieberman enron Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20020116/pl/enron_lieberman_1.htmlhttp://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20020116/pl/enron_lieberman_1.html
Wednesday January 16 7:13 PM ET
Ex-Lieberman Aide Lobbied for
Enron
By LARRY MARGASAK, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Sen. Joseph Lieberman's
former top aide, working as an Enron lobbyist, met
three times with the senator's staff and tried
unsuccessfully to arrange a meeting between Enron's
chairman and Lieberman - now leading an investigation
of the oil giant.
Lobbyist Michael Lewan served three years as
Lieberman's chief of staff and remains a political adviser,
but the relationship won't affect the Senate
Governmental Affairs Committee inquiry, Lieberman
spokesman Dan Gerstein said Wednesday.
The lobbyist and Lieberman talked from time to time
``but not about Enron,'' Gerstein said. ``The senator
was aware that Enron added him (Lewan) as a client.''
The revelation adds to a growing list of Washington
politicians whose ties to Enron have come under
scrutiny in the aftermath of the jolting financial collapse
of one of America's largest companies.
Lieberman, the unsuccessful vice presidential candidate
in 2000, was one of the first lawmakers to announce an
investigation of Enron after its December bankruptcy.
Earlier, the senator had asked for a review of contacts
between a federal official and Enron Chairman Kenneth
Lay.
The Connecticut Democrat also has cautioned
colleagues not to jump to conclusions about Enron's
political connections with the Bush administration or
Congress before having all the facts.
Enron executives were among the largest source of
donations to President Bush's campaign, and just a
week before filing for bankruptcy protection the
company donated $100,000 to the Senate Democrats'
fund-raising committee.
``We don`t know enough to know whether any of that
influence in any way stopped the administration or
agencies of our federal government from protecting
average shareholders who lost their life savings when
Enron collapsed,'' Lieberman said this week.
In addition to its political donations, Enron and its
affiliates reported spending about $1 million in the first
half of 2001 on a star-studded lobbying team in
Washington.
That team included former Clinton White House counsel
Jack Quinn, ex-Democratic Louisiana Sen. J. Bennett
Johnston, former Al Gore adviser Greg Simon and
Republican strategist Ed Gillespie.
Lewan said he worked as an Enron lobbyist from June
through November, earning some $40,000.
Lewan, who worked as Lieberman's chief of staff from
1989 to 1992, said he tried to build relationships for the
company with Democratic members of Congress who
focused on energy issues, but not his former boss.
``I wasn't hired to lobby Joe Lieberman,'' Lewan said.
``We're still personal friends. The last thing I want to be
is a political burden to him.''
But Gerstein acknowledged Lewan tried to arrange a
meeting this summer between Lay and Lieberman.
Gerstein said he didn't know what Lay wanted. The
meeting never took place because Lieberman had
initiated a General Accounting Office investigation of
Lay's contact with a federal energy official that was still
ongoing at the time.
``We thought it was inappropriate to meet with Ken Lay
while that investigation was going on,'' Gerstein said.
The GAO is Congress' investigative agency.
Gerstein said Lewan did meet with Lieberman staff
members three times in June and July.
Lewan met with the Senate Governmental Affairs
Committee's energy expert, David Berick, on price
gouging in California. He discussed the company's
broadband business with Chuck Ludlam of Lieberman's
personal staff. And he had an introductory, courtesy
meeting with the committee staff director, Joyce
Rechtschaffen.
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