ENRON WAS COZY WITH TOP CLINTON OFFICIALS: MAG By WILLIAM J. GORTA
While there has been much scrutiny of the relationship between Enron and the Bush administration, the embattled energy company's influence in the White House dates back to the Clinton years, a new report says.
The Clinton White House asked for Enron's input into a 1995 plan to increase cash flow and credit of opportunities for energy producers - and then altered its draft report to accommodate Enron's advice, according to documents obtained by Time magazine.
Bill White, the deputy energy secretary under Clinton, told Enron his staff would "rework the proposal to take into account the specific comments and suggestions you made."
White also told Enron chief Kenneth Lay in 1994 that "much opportunity" existed for Enron to sell natural gas in Mexico.
Hazel O'Leary, Bill Clinton's energy secretary, brought Enron officials to trade missions to India, China, South Africa and Pakistan.
Another letter reveals White, trying to convince an Enron official to accompany him to Pakistan, bragging: "I have strong personal relationships with the existing government."
But the largesse was not one-way: Enron contributed an unknown amount to O'Leary's "I Have a Dream Charity."
It also gave the Democratic Party $100,000 in 1996 - Enron's highest-ever single contribution.