Ex-Enron chief Lay blasts prosecutors, Fastow

[RamboLiberal]

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyid=2005-12-13T200918Z_01_DIT372495_RTRUKOC_0_US-ENRON-LAY.xml&rpc=22

Former Enron Corp. Chairman Ken Lay on Tuesday said he was the victim of a "wave of terror" by prosecutors and blamed his former chief financial officer for the energy company's spectacular downfall.

In a preview of his defense at his criminal trial next month, Lay, in a speech to a Houston group, said he was only to blame for trusting Andrew Fastow, Enron's CFO, who has pleaded guilty to charges and will be the government's key witness against Lay and co-defendants.

"We did trust Andy Fastow, and sadly, tragically, that trust turned out to be misplaced," Lay said.

<snip>

Lay also took aim at the Department of Justice's Enron Task Force, which he said launched a special investigation against him even before there was evidence of any crimes.

"In this trial, apparently unlike most criminal defense cases, defendants are trying to get the truth in, and the prosecutors, the Enron Task Force, are trying to keep it out," he said.

[LeftCoast]

1. Ah, Republicans - The Party of Personal Responsibility

:eyes:

[Fenris]

2. Time to drag out my "Execute Ken Lay" t-shirt

I got lots of compliments on that when Enron collapsed. :D

[Judi Lynn]

5. An admirable fashion statement!

People will probably envy you for your shirt during the Lay trial.

[KansDem]

52. Better yet, wear it during his trial while sitting on his jury!

I'd bet that would cause him to have a few nervous ticks and twitches. ;)

[Warpy]

3. I love his defense

It consists of his being occupied with picking out new drapes and carpeting for the executive suite and completely in the dark as to what those evil men, Skilling and Fastow, were really up to.

Of course, one wonders why a mere interior decorator would be paid tens of millions of dollars for his effort, so I'm not sure a jury will buy that one.

[Virginian]

45. He is responsible because he hired them.

He knew what was going on. He froze the employees from selling their stock while he sold his. That kept his stock value up until he could sell it all.

His wealth should be liquidated and distributed to the retirement accounts he distroyed.

[cornermouse]

4. Why isn't he in prison?

That's where he belongs.

[hippiechick]

10. My thought exactly.

WTF does he have to say about ANYTHING ? He's had 5 years out of prison that he abso-fucking-lutely has not deserved. :mad:

[raysr]

38. Bush is why. He's got shit on *.

[katty]

49. Shut up Kennyboy...you should be locked up NOT giving speeches

[fooj]

6. Kenny Boy...here's my response...

BOO FUCKING HOO!!!

[Caution]

7. ahh the calling card of the right wing asshole. the word "terror"

it's so pathetic that they can't even speak about financial malfeasance without bringing it up.

[Uncle Joe]

23. I am waiting for him to blame it on 9/11. n/t

[stepnw1f]

28. Poor Persecuted Republican

awwwwwwwwwwww... Remember Grandma Milly?

[DrZeeLit]

51. Or Clinton. The fall-back position. #1 - 9/11 and #2 - Clinton

I sorta like this new spin... takes in a multitude of possibilities... "terror".... puts him on the Right Side in "the war"...whatever war that is.

I wonder how much he's paying for the acting lessons?

[DURHAM D]

8. This case should be assigned to Fitz. eom

[wordpix]

17. yes. As a CT resident, I want to know: where did our $220M go?

The head of CT's trash agency, CRRA, during the reign of John the Con Rowland, gave Enron $220 million in an illegal loan. Enron went belly up and somehow the taxpayers' money just disappeared.

Where's the dough, Kenny Boy? I can't wait to see you in jail, you sleazy thief.

[hyphenate]

30. You must understand

Lay pulled his money out of the company before it actually became bellyup. He got at the very least, $55 million out of it. And yet, I recall his bitch whore of a wife complaining that they were broke.

[wordpix2]

41. I guess Con Rowland & Friends got the rest

[tularetom]

9. How were they able to investigate, charge, try

convict, sentence, imprison and releas Martha Stewart and they can't even bring this piece of shit to trial? Quit yer friggen whining kenny boy. You are fortunate you aren't somebody's bitch by now.

[TankLV]

31. Not to mention the endless investigations of Clenis even when they found

NOTHING - by 2 REPUKE prosecutors until they settled on that star criminal.

[pushycat]

11. Victims of Ken Lay's edict to lock down pension plans while

Enron imploded may be less inclined to extend any sympathy to this financial psychopath. Let's hope he gets convicted of every crime he's charged with.

[acmavm]

12. The Proverbial Innocent Bystander, that's old Kenny. A victim of life's

circumstance.

[Loonman]

13. Asshole

Him and Skilling need to be horse-whipped.

[Old and In the Way]

14. The Bush Defense with a twist.

The buck stopped at Ken Lay's desk before being transferred into his bank account.

[silvermachine]

42. My thoughts exactly...

...he was acting on bad intelligence, wasn't his fault, etc.
To be fair though, Bush WAS acting on bad intelligence. His own brain.

[bahrbearian]

15. I'm wondering what a CEO is responsible for anyway?

[hankthecrank]

18. Ceo responsible for making 500 times more than guys on shop floor

Other duties

Outsource guys on shop floor jobs

First get guys to take wage cut to keep jobs

Merge company with another company fire most workers get bonus, then outsource the rest of the jobs.

In Lays case tell workers to keep getting company stock because company is doing great while Lay sells his right before company tanks.

[Uncle Joe]

24. If I remember correctly, it's also

to artificially jack up the prices of energy to California creating a financial crisis.

[TankLV]

32. And Nevada. We were caught in his criminality, too.

[MagickMuffin]

16. Kenny Boy, you are the identical twin of *

He too has a problem with excepting blame and taking responsibility for his actions.

You were the one responsible for talking up the Enron stock, even though you were privately selling/dumping yours.

Then you "Terrorized" your employees by stealing their retirement/pension benefits. After all the years you forced them into a loyalty (to Enron) above all else mentality and then you prove how disloyal you are to them.
Now you want them to come to your defense. :eyes:

HA HA, Not gonna happen.

[wordpix]

19. "We did trust Andy Fastow..." Yeah, trusted him to save your ass from the

slammer.

"We did trust Andy Fastow, and sadly, tragically, that trust turned out to be misplaced," Lay said.

[warrens]

20. You're all a bunch of meanies

Why should the guy who founded the company have any idea that it was hundreds of billions of dollars in debt? I mean, does the chairman have access to the books? Huh? Oh, he does? Nevermind.

[Xipe Totec]

21. Not Responsible? What was he getting paid for then?

Should give back the salary, and bonuses he received for doing nothing.

Then he should go to jail for impersonating a CEO.

[Javaman]

22. just like the rest, kenny asshole lay yells, "it's not my fault"...

Hey kenny, eat shit and like it, because you are having to live that way now because you are a fucking shill of asshole* and he left you swinging in the wind. Doesn't feel good now does it?

So take your bullshit and ask the people that you totally fucked over in your company if they don't think it's your fault.

what a faceless scumsucking lying sack of shit.

[OzarkDem]

25. Is he in jail yet? If not, why not?

:grr:

[cliss]

26. Ken Lay is very much responsible for what happened

at Enron.

Ken Lay was actually the founder of this company. Lay had a Ph.D. in economics, and he decided to start an energy company. I think it was a small start-up in Kansas City.

Over the years, Lay found out what REALLY works if you want to "grow" your company. He started buying congressmen and senators. He got REAL cozy with Bush the Elder, and of course Bush the Junior who called him "Kenny Boy". They were cronies.

Over the years, the corruption just got worse and worse. But it was a merry go round that didn't seem to ever come to an end. So they just got more outrageous... soon they had elephants in the dining room, motorcycles in the lobby. They had entire trading rooms which were completely bogus, just to fool investors.

So don't believe Ken Lay when he tells you he didn't know. He's the original Godfather.

[0007]

34. You mean to tell me that Kenneth Lay was running a sting

operation? Why that's almost extortion! And a shake down racket by his own minion? (California)

Tis getting to the point where a guy can't trust anyone any more, 'eh?

[PurityOfEssence]

50. Let's not forget the minimum corporate tax rebate either

The morphing of Houston Natural Gas and other entities into Enron occurred in 1986. What many forget is that, when hitting the wall in 2001, Lay pushed mightily for a rebate in the corporate minimum taxes, which CONVENIENTLY would have been specifically for the last 15 years. Tidy, huh? Um...let's see: carry the one, minus six...huh.

This would have given him a whole heap of money (a tad north of $250M, if memory serves) to keep afloat the ship he didn't know was sinking. In fact, he was continually hammering on Paul O'Neill on this very point. Think of him as America's Chalabi. May he fry.

[pinniped]

27. If Lay pulled his con in China, his corneas would be on someone else...

by now.

[tabasco]

29. Kenny Boy's father

[hyphenate]

33. If anyone gets the chance

I suggest you rent or buy Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room. It gives a total timeline on everything that happened with the company, as well as comments from some former executives and such. One woman, who was either the General Counsel or an Asst. GC, was the whistle blower for the company, and she has had several death threats.

The documentary is based on a reporter's book--I only recall her first name as Bethany, but she also appears in the documentary. She is the first one to notice something screwy about the way Enron was doing business.

As for Californians who see the movie, be forewarned--the "energy crisis" during 2000 was completely and totally manipulated by Enron "brokers", and there are scenes you can listen to in the film where those assholes are enjoying themselves watching California squirm through that horrendous heat we had that summer.

[wordpix2]

43. where can you get this documentary?

[Virginian]

44. I saw it in a small independent theatre. n/t

[hyphenate]

46. It will be out on DVD mid January.

I saw it at a college film society night. I definitely plan to get a copy for myself!

You might check Amazon to get the actual date of release.

[judaspriestess]

35. another prime example

of the "I'm just a STUPID good ol boy syndrome" who somehow made it to be CEO of a company, dunno how, but there I was jerking off to the ideas of the interior decorator and whammo I get "sadly, tragically" accused of this.
I never knew, I didn't have a clue! FUCK YOU!!

[banana republican]

36. PARDON ME

but will * pardon lay?????

[yurbud]

37. The difference between criminal and corporate executives?

The amount of money they steal and the quality of their legal representation.

[leesa]

39. Ahhh...it's those 'terrorist prosecutors'! Run everyone! Before they get

you too! Poor Widdo KennyBoy

[ecoalex]

40. And the Western electricity fraud was just a bad dream?

yer peeing on our shoes again kenny boy. C'mon kenny boy, your kind need prosecuted, it's good to watch a-holes like you go down.

[tanyev]

47. A victim of a wave of terror.

Oh, puh-lease, Ken. There are hundreds of thousands of people all over the world who have truly been victims of terror and I'm sure they would be glad to trade places with you. You are simply being confronted with the consequences of your own actions or lack of actions. Stop being such a drama queen.

[Dogfur]

48. I'd be willing to let Kenny-boy walk with immunity

if he'd turn states evidence against Cheney and the secret meetings that were the "strategy" sessions for the widespread fraud, and probably to some part the Iraq invasion as well. I do think he'll walk regardless - so why not get some ammo from him while the theater is in session?

[leesa]

53. I MIGHT be willing if he talks about his part in the planning of the

invasion of Afghanistan...including 9-11. After all...it was Kenny Boy's ass on the line with the failure of his energy plant in India, he so deperately needed the trans-Afghan pipeline for. Unka Dick said he'd help him out...and, lo and behold, we're invading Afghanistan and getting said pipeline. The Lord works in mysterious ways!

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

54. AWWWWWWWW Whatsa matter Keeny Boy?

Can't G DUHbya bail you out?

[rainbow4321]

55. Lay prosecutors ask for gag order in light of speech

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/gen/ap/TX_Enron_Lay_and_Skilling.html

Prosecutors have asked a federal judge to muzzle out-of-court statements related to the fraud and conspiracy case against Enron Corp. founder Kenneth Lay and former CEO Jeffrey Skilling in light of Lay's public speech Tuesday lambasting government tactics in pursuing him.

U.S. District Judge Sim Lake may consider the issue at a hearing Friday afternoon that was scheduled before Lay presented his speech to Houston business and academic leaders. Lay, Skilling and former top Enron accountant Richard Causey will go on trial Jan. 17.


In Tuesday's speech Lay issued a plea for former Enron employees to defy a "wave of terror" by federal prosecutors and help him fight criminal charges. In court papers filed Thursday, prosecutors said Lay "made public statements regarding the credibility and testimony of potential witnesses in this case and commented on the motivation of the government in prosecuting him," and that a gag order "is now appropriate."

Lay accused the government of bullying critical witnesses so they wouldn't talk to the defense teams for fear of being indicted or getting harsh prison sentences if they had already pleaded guilty to Enron-related crimes.