WASHINGTON, Jan. 8 (UPI) -- Representatives from Enron Corp. met six times last year to discuss energy policy with Vice President Dick Cheney or members of his energy task force, a White House attorney told a Democratic lawmaker.
Cheney met only once with Kenneth L. Lay, chairman and chief executive officer of the bankrupt energy trader, on April 17 to discuss energy policy matters, David Addington, counsel to the vice president, wrote in a letter dated Jan. 3. The vice president revealed the meeting last May in a television interview with the PBS program "Frontline."
Rep. Harry Waxman, D-Calif., released the White House's letter on Tuesday. He is seeking details of the meetings and information about any telephone calls or e-mails between Cheney's office and Enron.
"Mr. Addington's letter is a recognition that Congress and the public have legitimate interest in learning about the contacts between Enron executives and the White House," Waxman said in his letter to Cheney.
He also urged the vice president "to provide a full accounting of the contacts between Enron and the White House energy task force and other White House officials."
According to Addington, besides the one meeting with Cheney, Enron officials participated in meetings with members of the task force on five other occasions.
Based in Houston, Enron on Dec. 2 filed Chapter 11 in the largest bankruptcy court filing in U.S. history after its rival Dynegy Inc. terminated its $8.4 billion merger. Congressional Democrats and Republicans, as well as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Departments of Justice and Labor have opened investigations into the company's collapse.
Democrats are also expected to look at the relationship between Enron and the White House when hearings on Capitol Hill begin later this month. Lay, a personal friend of President Bush, was a major Republican fundraiser during the 2000 election.
In his letter to Cheney, Waxman noted that the first meeting was held Feb. 22, with the last meeting on Oct. 10, six days before Enron announced the $1.2 billion reduction in shareholder equity that precipitated its collapse. It was the first in a series of admissions that sent to price of the company's stock, which had been as high as $90.56, to less than a dollar a share.
Meanwhile, the vice president's energy task force went out of existence Sept. 30.
"An employee on the vice president's staff ... met on Oct. 10, 2001 with Enron representatives and reports that they discussed energy policy matters and did not discuss information concerning the financial position of the Enron Corp.," according to Addington's letter.
Addington said Enron's financial condition wasn't discussed at any of the earlier five meetings.
Cheney met with lay for about a half-hour on April 17 to discuss "energy policy matters, including the energy crisis in California," the letter said.
The day after meeting with Lay, Waxman noted that Cheney announced the Bush administration would not support price caps on wholesale energy sales in California.
"At the time, Enron had launched a high-profile campaign against the imposition of federal price caps on wholesale energy sales in California," he wrote.
The White House letter said the other meetings between Cheney's aides and Enron officials took place on March 7, April 9 and Aug. 7. In another meeting Cheney and Lay were on a panel June 24 at the American Enterprise Institute World Forum in Beaver Creek, Colo., where the topic was energy.
Addington wrote the April 9 meeting was with two dozen representatives of utilities, including Enron. The Aug. 7 meeting was with officials of an Enron German subsidiary. He said the Enron meetings weren't out of the ordinary.
Waxman said Addington's letter didn't reveal enough information, including what was discussed at the meetings, requests for policy changes, copies of documents from the meetings and names of people attending the meetings.
He also repeated his request for information regarding other contacts between Enron officials and the White House.
