Angry Bush Walks Out on Media, Refuses to Answer Questions About Relationship With Ken Lay

Capitol Hill Blue - 9 July 2004: A clearly-rattled President George W. Bush walked out of a media briefing Thursday, refusing to answer questions about his close relationship with indicted Enron executive Kenneth Lay, a campaign benefactor Bush nicknamed "Kenny Boy" when the two were up-and-comers in Texas.

The President, visibly upset, stomped off the stage when reporters pressed him about his relationship with Lay and left White House press secretary Scott McClellan to deal with the questions.

Bush Takes a Hike AFP Photo/Paul J. Richards

It has been "quite some time" since Bush and Lay talked with each other, McClellan said Thursday, brushing off questions about whether the two were friends.

"He was a supporter in the past and he's someone that I would also point out has certainly supported Democrats and Republicans in the past," McClellan said.

Lay clearly favored the GOP. He and his wife, Linda, donated $882,580 to federal candidates from 1989-2001, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. All but $86,470 went to Republicans.

McClellan declined to discuss the federal indictment charging Lay with a wide-ranging scheme to deceive the public, company shareholders and government regulators about the energy company that he founded and led to industry prominence before its collapse.

Instead, McClellan answered questions about Lay by talking about Bush's desire to curb corporate fraud.

"This president has worked to go after those wrongdoers and directed his administration to pursue those who are dishonest in the boardroom," McClellan said.

"The president has made it very clear that we will not tolerate dishonesty in the boardroom. This administration worked to uncover abuses and scandals in the corporate arena. And certainly the president's concern is with those workers and other people who have been harmed by corporate wrongdoing," McClellan said.

Democrat John Kerry's campaign had a different view, accusing the administration of dragging its feet on Enron. "It was three years too late," Kerry spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said of the Lay indictment.

Lay's relationship with the Bush family dates from at least 1990 when he was co-chairman of former President Bush's economic summit for industrialized nations, which was held in Houston. Lay also was co-chairman of the host committee for the Republican National Convention when it was held in Houston in 1992.

The Center for Public Integrity, a Washington-based nonprofit group, said the Lays had given $139,500 to George W. Bush's political campaigns over the years.

Those donations were part of $602,000 that Enron employees gave to Bush's various campaigns, making Enron the leading political patron for Bush at the time of the company's bankruptcy in 2001.

In addition to Lay's political campaign donations, he and his wife contributed $100,000 to Bush's 2001 inauguration. Lay also was a fund-raiser for Bush, bringing in at least $100,000 for the president's 2002 campaign. That put Lay in "Pioneer" status as one of the president's top money-raisers.

Bush Shills for Industry and Harms Environment, Scientists Say By JOAN LOWY

Scripps Howard News Service -13 July 2004: The Bush administration is using a variety of methods to suppress scientific research, information and viewpoints that are unfavorable to industry, speakers at a national conference on scientific integrity said Monday.

Scientific research and regulation related to the environment and public health is also being undermined by an aggressive effort by corporate interests to challenge scientific information, even when that information represents a clear consensus of scientific opinion, scientists and public health advocates said.

"Within the scientific community the effects of the administration's (actions) have been chilling and demoralizing," Rep. Brian Baird, D-Wash., a clinical psychologist and former university professor, told the conference, sponsored by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a public advocacy group.

"Researchers are practicing self-censorship or avoiding government careers entirely," Baird said. "Lifetimes of study are being abandoned, international collaborations are being curtailed, studies and data that could lead to valuable life-saving information are being neglected or blocked ... and some of the best scientific talent in the world is starting to leave our country."

Eric Schaeffer, who resigned two years ago as chief of enforcement at the Environmental Protection Agency in protest over the administration's air pollution policies, said the agency recently decided to exempt two-thirds of plywood manufacturing plants from an air pollution regulation after determining that the health benefits would be outweighed by the costs of complying with the regulation.

The EPA based its decision in part on a new industry study that concludes the risk of contracting nose and throat cancer from formaldehyde, widely used by the industry, is much less than the government had previously assumed, Schaeffer said.

At the same time, the EPA ignored two new studies by the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health showing formaldehyde exposure greatly increases the risk of leukemia, Schaeffer said.

"EPA has made some vague promises to study the leukemia studies," Schaeffer said.

White House science adviser John Marburger said administration critics are making "sweeping generalizations" based on "disjointed facts."

"This administration values and supports science, both as a vital necessity for national security and economic strength and as an indispensable source of guidance for national policy," Marburger said in a statement.

Some other recent controversies cited at the conference:

• A scientist with 17 years at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service filed a complaint with the Interior Department alleging the agency approved eight real estate development projects despite scientific information indicating the projects would harm the endangered Florida panther by taking away essential habitat.
• Scientist Andrew Eller Jr. said the agency ignored an independent review released earlier this year by a team of scientists on the best criteria for use in determining panther habitat.
• After pumping tens of millions of dollars into education programs that promote complete sexual abstinence until marriage, the administration has dropped all attempts to scientifically assess whether abstinence education has any effect on out-of-wedlock births.
• Similarly, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention discontinued scientific research to identify comprehensive sex education programs that reduce or delay teen sexual activity and teen pregnancy.
• The administration has demanded that the World Health Organization, which is affiliated with the United Nations, first clear all U.S. government scientists with the Department of Health and Human Services before they can be appointed as delegates to the organization's meetings or serve on its panels.