For Immediate Release: January 11, 2001
For More Info: Bob Fertik bob@... 718-424-7772

Democrats.com Reveals that Deputy Attorney General Thompson
Had Financial Ties to Enron - and Calls for Special Prosecutor for
"Enrongate"

Democrats.com, which publishes a daily Internet news service for
Democrats, today revealed that Deputy Attorney General Larry
Thompson had financial ties to Enron, and called upon George W.
Bush to appoint a Special Prosecutor to investigate the broadening
Enrongate scandal.

"Yesterday, it was revealed that Attorney General John Ashcroft
received campaign contributions totaling over $61,000 from Enron
and its chairman Kenneth Lay," said Bob Fertik, co-founder of
Democrats.com. "John Ashcroft took the necessary action, which
was to remove himself from the Justice Department's criminal
investigation of Enron.

"Ashcroft turned the investigation over to his Deputy Attorney
General, Larry Thompson. However, Democrats.com has learned
that Larry Thompson also has ties to Enron, which makes it
impossible for Thompson to lead an investigation of this importance,"
said David Lytel, co-founder of Democrats.com.

Thompson worked for the law firm of King & Spalding from 1977 to
1982, served as a U.S. Attorney under the Reagan administration,
and returned to King & Spalding as a partner in 1986. Thompson
remained at King & Spalding until his appointment as Deputy Attorney
General in 2001. According to King & Spalding's Web site, the firm
has done extensive work for Enron.

"King & Spalding has represented numerous subsidiaries of Enron,
including Enron Global LNG, Enron Global Markets, and Enron
Energy Services," Fertik said. "As a former law partner, Larry
Thompson profited personally from the firm's work for Enron. Even if
Thompson did not work directly on Enron matters - information which
is not publicly available - Thompson cannot avoid the 'appearance of
impropriety' which is fatal for such an important investigation," Fertik
said.

King & Spalding's work for Enron and other energy companies is
detailed here:
http://www.kslaw.com/practice_areas/prac_energy_matters.asp

Specifically, King & Spaulding

* Represented Enron Global LNG in the long-term time charter of an
existing liquefied natural gas vessel from a Norwegian ship owner
and in connection with various agreements for the short-term
purchase of liquefied natural gas from the Middle East and Africa.
The firm also represented Enron Global LNG in the long-term time
charter of a new Korean liquefied natural gas vessel from a Belgian
ship owner.

* Represented Enron Global Markets in connection with the liquefied
natural gas plant to be built in Venezuela.

* Represented Enron Energy Services in providing energy
outsourcing and commodity management services to a foreign
manufacturing company's North American operations.

According to Lytel, "Thompson's ties to Enron are just one more
conflict of interest standing in the way of a thorough investigation of
the Enron scandal by the Bush administration. Top officials
throughout the Bush administration have close ties to Enron and its
chairman, Kenneth Lay. These close ties start at the top, with George
W. Bush himself, who received more political contributions from
Kenneth Lay and other Enron executives - over $550,000 - than any
other donor," Lytel said.

Other top administration officials and close associates of George W.
Bush with Enron ties include Attorney General John Ashcroft, Vice
President Dick Cheney, former Secretary of State (and Florida
recount chair) James Baker, Army Secretary Thomas White, political
advisor Karl Rove, and Republican National Chairman Marc Racicot.

Enron's executives are under investigation for numerous problems,
including issuing misleading financial statements, and selling large
blocks of stock before the company's stock collapsed, while
employees were prevented from selling their stock. Yesterday
Enron's auditor, Arthur Andersen, revealed that an unknown number
of Enron documents had been destroyed. The White House also
revealed that Ken Lay spoke with Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and
Commerce Secretary Don Evans shortly before Enron's collapse.

On January 3, the White House revealed that Enron executives met
with Vice President Cheney and other members of the White
House's energy task force six times in the months preceding Enron's
bankruptcy. On April 17, Cheney met with Lay to discuss "energy
policy matters;" the next day, Cheney declared his adamant
opposition to electricity price caps in California, a position which was
immensely profitable to Enron. Vice President Cheney has refused
to provide the records of the energy task force to Congress, in
defiance of specific requests from the General Accounting Office.

"We call upon George W. Bush to acknowledge the massive
conflicts of interest within his administration, and to go outside his
administration to appoint a truly independent Special Prosecutor who
will fully investigate the crimes committed by Enron, and the possible
involvement of top officials of the Bush administration in those
crimes," Fertik said.

In an effort to persuade Mr. Bush to appoint a special prosecutor,
Democrats.com has launched a new Web site at
ttp://democrats.com/enron, which includes a petition to Mr. Bush.
Democrats.com will also launch an Internet advertising campaign to
collect signatures on its petition.

"The Enron collapse was the largest corporate bankruptcy in
American history, and tens of thousands of Americans suffered
financial harm. The public must learn the truth about Enron, including
the role played by George W. Bush and his administration. As in the
Whitewater investigation, a Special Prosecutor may ultimately
conclude that Mr. Bush committed no crimes. But without a Special
Prosecutor, Americans will never know the full truth," Lytel concluded.

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