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This article forwarded to you by BuzzFlash:
CHENEY Tried to Aid ENRON With India Money Problem
"...Two other e-mails indicate that President Bush
was to bring the subject up with Indian Prime
Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, but the idea was
scrapped before they met..."
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Veep Tried to Aid Enron
Key role in India debt row
By TIMOTHY J. BURGER
Daily News Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON
http://www.mostnewyork.com/2002-01-
18/News_and_Views/Beyond_the_City/a-138620.asp
Vice President Cheney tried to help Enron collect a
$64 million debt from a giant energy project in
India, government documents obtained by the Daily
News show.
"Good news is that the veep mentioned Enron in his
meeting with [Indian opposition leader] Sonia Gandhi
yesterday," a National Security Council aide wrote in
a June 28 e-mail.
Two other e-mails indicate that President Bush was to
bring the subject up with Indian Prime Minister Atal
Bihari Vajpayee, but the idea was scrapped before
they met.
The documents are the latest indication that there
were contacts between the Bush administration and
Enron on issues directly related to the company's
business. The White House maintains Enron enjoyed no
special favors from the White House or Cheney.
Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and Commerce
Secretary Donald Evans have conceded that they spoke
with Enron chief Kenneth Lay last fall about the
energy giant's impending failure, but they insist
they refused to help.
The new documents, obtained under the Freedom of
Information Act, indicate Cheney took a key role in
pushing the Maharashtra State Electricity Board to
make good on the huge debt claimed by Enron for a
power plant it built in Dabhol, India.
Cheney spokeswoman Mary Matalin denied yesterday that
Enron officials prodded Cheney to raise the issue
with Gandhi, widow of slain Prime Minister Rajiv
Gandhi and daughter-in-law of assassinated Prime
Minister Indira Gandhi.
"This is not our issue," Matalin said. "It was in the
briefing papers, so he asked the question. The vice
president didn't remember that topic at all. I asked
him directly."
White House and other top officials were interested
in the Dabhol project partly because the taxpayer-
backed Overseas Private Investment Corp. provided
insurance against losses resulting from political
problems in India. Overseas could face exposure as
high as $300 million.
The $3 billion Dabhol project was started in 1992 and
built amid political wrangling in India that included
allegations of bribery. The plant eventually was
completed, but it has never been used. It involved at
least 40 international finance institutions,
including Overseas, and Enron's partners included
General Electric and the Bechtel Corp.
The e-mails indicate the State and Treasury
departments also were deeply involved in making
Enron's case.
The highest-level contact they verify was Cheney's
June 27 meeting with Gandhi, president of the
opposition Congress Party.
Other e-mails indicate Lay was expected in Washington
around that time, but they do not say whether he was
in contact with Cheney's office.
Lay - whom Bush used to call "Kenny Boy" - has given
more than $600,000 to support Bush's political
career.
Matalin said Lay and Cheney never discussed the
Indian debt or Enron's financial condition.
The documents obtained by The News showed that the
National Security Council had given the Overseas
Private Investment Corp. high hopes that Bush would
raise the issue with Vajpayee in a Nov. 9 meeting.
The investment corporation had sent the White House
"talking points on Dabhol prepared for the
President's meeting with Prime Minister Vajpayee,"
according to a Nov. 1 e-mail.
But a Nov. 8 e-mail, whose sender and recipient are
blacked out, warned, "President Bush cannot talk
about Dabhol."
White House economic adviser Lawrence Lindsey, who
was previously paid $50,000 a year as an Enron
adviser, also "was advised that he could not discuss
Dabhol."
National security adviser Condoleezza Rice, however,
was still expected to raise the issue - but did not,
another e-mail says.
Original Publication Date: 1/18/02
http://www.mostnewyork.com/2002-01-
18/News_and_Views/Beyond_the_City/a-138620.asp
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