July 17, 2002
Hark: The Harken Tale, According to George W. Bush
by
Lois Erwin
Hark: the Harken tale, according to George W. Bush
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First the SEC "lost" his Form 4 informing the SEC that Bush, as a Harken director, had sold $845,000 worth of Harken stock.
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Then the "company's lawyers" must have been negligent about filing Form 4 -- although the law clearly states that it is the responsibility of the company director, not the company or its lawyers, to file Form 4.
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Then for a few minutes, we heard from the Bush team that it was no big deal, no worse than going 60 mph in a 55 mph zone.
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Then we heard the president tell us that things are not always black and white in the world of accounting. Two and two do not always add up to four in this new Bushworld.
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I have even heard murmurings of "everybody does it" from Bush devotees.
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On Monday, Mr. Bush looked for pity by claiming he still hasn't figured out what happened.
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Ohmigosh, Bush even tried to push the idea that if people had not panicked when the Harken stock tanked -- once he was safely free of his Harken shares -- they would, eventually, have made a profit. Try that on the folks who lost their shirts when the stock tanked.
How the scam worked:
The one thing Mr. Bush does not try to explain is the Aloha Petroleum "purchase" shell game. This was how the scam worked: A partnership of Harken Energy insiders purchased a Harken subsidiary called Aloha Petroleum for far more than it was worth using money loaned to them by, surprise! -- Harken Energy -- the better to hide the deal, and then listed a phantom $10. million profit, enabling Harken to hide three-fourths of its actual 1989 losses.
Things may not be "black and white" in George W. Bush's accounting world, but they sure are subject to much hide-and-seek.
Then there's the matter of Bahrain. But, we'll save that for another day.
Lois Erwin
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