WASHINGTON, March 28 (UPI) -- A Senate Committee chaired by Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., has demanded access to all communications between the White House and bankrupt energy giant Enron Corp. since 1992. The requests were made in letters to White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card and to the U.S. Archivist and include all of the executive agencies.
The requests cover contacts between both the Clinton and current Bush administrations. So far, the Bush White House has resisted several other attempts by congressional investigators to release specific data about meetings between key administration officials and energy companies.
The collapse of Enron last fall -- considered the largest bankruptcy in history -- has underscored the relationship between government regulation and a powerful company that made huge campaign contributions to politicians of all stripes. Lieberman said the appearance that regulators failed to heed warning signs makes the investigation crucial.
"As our inquiry into the Enron debacle has unfolded, we've learned that too many watchdogs failed to bark," Lieberman said. 'I will not hesitate to ask for anything that helps us investigate as thoroughly as possible what the federal government might have done to prevent, or at least anticipate, Enron's demise, and whether there are steps we can take to avoid another corporate failure of this magnitude in the future. A broad inquiry of this sort demands that contacts between the White House and these agencies be reviewed."
The committee gave the White House until April 12 to deliver the documents, which include contacts and discussions between the White House and virtually every executive branch agency that could have had oversight of the energy trader. On March 22, the committee subpoenaed Enron and its accounting firm, Arthur Anderson for any contacts those firms might have had with the White House and the other agencies.
