Reply #18: How does Martha's conviction effect George? [View All]

[mia]

Harkening Back To The Old Days:
A Chronological Look At Bush's Little Problem

Back when George W. Bush's political career was just a twinkle in his father's eye, the future president found himself under investigation by the SEC for alleged insider trading of Harken energy stock. Bush has already survived a presidential election and two gubernatorial elections without having Harken develop into a serious political headache....

Bush's Harken stint has already survived the scrutiny of two gubernatorial campaigns and a presidential campaign. So why revive it now - were Democratic campaign strategists napping on the job all these years? Possibly, but not necessarily. The SEC did investigate the matter and closed the case back in 1993 with no action against Bush. Still, Democrats maintain that the SEC did not go so far as to specifically exonerate Bush of any wrongdoing in the matter - which paved the way for them to revive the issue as soon as the current crop of corporate scandals struck.

evote.comquotes

"I just think he ought to put the material out. I think that's the best way to proceed. Look, he made a good speech and he asked people to do things that sometimes people don't want to do. You know, Harry Truman used to say leadership is getting people to do things they don't want to do. Well, to get people to do that, you have got to be straightforward with people and put everything out so that there is no question being what the leader did." - House Democratic Leader Richard Gephardt


"As to why the Form 4 was late, I still haven't figured it out completely. But nevertheless, the SEC fully looked into the matter. They looked at all aspects of it, and they did so in a very thorough way. And the people that looked into it said there is no case. And that was the case in the early '90s; it was the case in the '94 campaign, it was the case in the '98 campaign. The same thing happened in the 2000 campaign. I guess we're going to have to go through this again in the 2002 campaign. But nothing has changed." - President Bush, July 8, 2002

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