The Clinton Administration went after Koch with a 97 count federal indictment for releasing 91 metric tons of carcinogens into the environment. The company faced a potential $352 million in fines, plus jail time for its executives for a blatant cover-up and falsification of documents. Shortly after Bush came into office, he had John Ashcroft dismiss most of the charges and in fact nominated one of its Vice Presidents to the job of Inspector General with the EPA. Koch Industries was one of Bush's biggest campaign contributors and contributed about $800,000 through the 2000 election to Bush and other GOPers.
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Koch_Industries"...Koch Industries is also a major polluter. During the 1990s, its faulty pipelines were responsible for more than 300 oil spills in five states, prompting a landmark penalty of $35 million from the Environmental Protection Agency. In Minnesota, it was fined an additional $8 million for discharging oil into streams. During the months leading up to the 2000 presidential elections, the company faced even more liability, in the form of a 97-count federal indictment charging it with concealing illegal releases of 91 metric tons of benzene, a known carcinogen, from its refinery in Corpus Christi, Texas.
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If convicted, the company faced fines of up to $352 million, plus possible jail time for company executives. After George W. Bush became president, however, the U.S. Justice Department dropped 88 of the charges. Two days before the trial, John Ashcroft settled for a plea bargain, in which Koch pled guilty to falsifying documents. All major charges were dropped, and Koch and Ashcroft settled the lawsuit for a fraction of that amount.
Koch had contributed $800,000 to the Bush election campaign and other Republican candidates.
Alex Beehler, assistant deputy under secretary of defense for Environment, Safety and Occupational Health, previously served at Koch as director of environmental and regulatory affairs and concurrently served at the Charles G. Koch Foundation as vice president for environmental projects. <2> Beehler was later nominated and re-nominated by the Bush White House, to become the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Inspector General. ..."
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