Bush, Thompson, Rosenthal, Baker, Enron, & Argentina
January 13, 2002
I am sending you several stories and links that friends sent me today. Ashcroft has recused himself in the Enron case (how freaking ethical) but the guy in charge is now a man named Larry Thompson. I am sending you information on him and on some Bush-Enron-Argentina connections. Please please look it all over and see if you can do some investigating.
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Deputy Attorney General: Larry D. Thompson, a partner with the law firm of King & Spalding in Atlanta, Georgia. He served under former President Ronald Reagan as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, and was reported as "an ally of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas" (Washington Post, 3/24/01).
Secondly the law firm King and Spalding represented ENRON - what kind of bull is this?
John Keffer is a partner in the Houston office of King & Spalding . . .
Among Keffer's projects include:
Representation of Enron Global LNG in the development of the first liquefied natural gas plant to be built in Venezuela. Engagement includes the negotiation of a Gas Supply Agreement with PDVSA Gas, S.A., the gas subsidiary of the state owned company, as well as various ancillary agreements. This is the first project in Venezuela to take advantage of a new gas law permitting a private company to industrialize and export natural gas without any state participation.
Representation of ExxonMobil Corporation in its participation of the Natural Gas Initiatives of The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
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Jan. 9, 2002, 10:08PM
Judge declines to freeze profits of Enron officersA federal judge said Wednesday she has the authority to freeze hundreds of millions of dollars in assets that Enron Corp. insiders earned through selling their stock, but declined to do so. U.S. District Court Judge Lee Rosenthal cited a 1999 Supreme Court opinion for her authority to freeze the assets of the 29 Enron executives and board members named in a lawsuit filed on behalf of a number of worker retirement funds. But she ruled there were insufficient grounds for issuing such an order based on the evidence and arguments she has heard so far. In her ruling Rosenthal wrote she would not order the restraining order on the assets " ... without allegations or evidence that each, or any, defendant has, or is likely to, conceal the stock sales proceeds or profits or place them beyond reach, absent immediate judicial intervention."
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Judge Lee Hyman Rosenthal
Lee H. Rosenthal is a United States District Judge for the Southern District of Texas. Judge Rosenthal received her undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago (1974) and her J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School (1977). After law school she clerked for the Honorable John R. Brown, Chief Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit. Judge Rosenthal practiced in Houston with Baker & Botts until her appointment to the federal bench by President Bush. She is a member of the federal Advisory Committee on Civil Rules and serves as chair of its Class Actions Subcommittee. Judge Rosenthal is also a member of the Board of Directors for the Manual For Complex Litigation.
http://www.ca3.uscourts.gov/classcounsel/press052901.pdf (requires Adobe Acrobat)
I then wondered if this Baker by chance was James Baker so I entered this....
Google Search: "Baker & Botts James Baker"
Link to Google search
Search results from google page... says enough...
James A. Baker, III
... James A. Baker, III has served in senior government ... a senior partner in the law firm of Baker & Botts, senior counselor to The Carlyle Group, and ...
www.sddt.com/features/convention/bios/jab.html
I guess we should not be overly surprised. She should recuse herself, if she is worth her salt.
Jeez, is there anyone Honest anymore?
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Bush Friend Arrested for Illegal Arms Trafficking in Argentina
http://www.thegully.com/essays/argentina/010607bush_menem.html
Excerpts:
"A long-time friend of former U.S. President George H. Bush was arrested today on charges of illegal arms trafficking."
"The friend in trouble is the former President of Argentina, Carlos Menem, a golfing partner and business benefactor of the elder Bush. He is suspected of having illegally sold 6,500 tons of arms to Croatia and Ecuador between 1991 and 1995, in violation of international arms embargoes. Menem, who was put under house arrest today by a Buenos Aires federal judge, said in his defense last weekend that the U.S. knew all about the arms sales."
"Given how profitable the Menem connection has been for the Bushes, one might imagine Boucher was frostily putting interests of state ahead of the Bush family, until you realize that, with a Bush in the White House, they are essentially one and the same."
"In 1988, a few months before Menem was elected for his first term, George W. Bush, the then oilman son of a sitting U.S. President, had tried to pressure the administration of outgoing President Raúl Alfonsín to favor Enron, the Houston-based company, over other, more qualified bidders to build a gas pipeline in Argentina. He was unsuccessful, but the Bushes hit it off with the high-rolling, big-spending Menem from the start. One of Menem's first acts as President was to give Enron a $300-million sweetheart deal on the pipeline project."
"The Enron deal triggered a public outcry in Argentina. A congressional inquiry was demanded, and a special prosecutor launched a probe. But after Menem fired him, the probe fizzled. Enron and its founder and CEO, Kenneth Lay, another close friend of the elder Bush, were among the biggest contributors to George W. Bush's presidential campaign, as well as to his two gubernatorial campaigns."
"The [George H. W.] Bush soon became an assiduous guest of the flamboyant Menem. He was the first U.S. President since Eisenhower to visit Argentina. Over the years, he clocked eight visits to Menem, for what the Buenos Aires daily Página 12 described as "lavish golf parties." Money and politics were discussed, particularly the three Bush investment areas of choice, according to the newspaper Clarín: oil, gas, and casinos."
"When George W. Bush was inaugurated, Menem was the only Latin American politician in attendance. The elder Bush had hand-delivered the special inaugural invitation to him during lunch at a fancy Las Vegas restaurant a few days earlier. (Both men were in town to attend the Safari Club International hunters convention.)"
"Menem and his girlfriend, the former Chilean Miss Universe, Cecilia Bolocco, were also special guests at a private pre-inaugural party thrown in Washington, D.C. by James P. Baker in honor of former President Bush."
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Thank You....... Teresa Welby
