Redallnite
01-25-02, 07:00PM
I wonder what in the hell did he have to take to the grave?? Chicken Shit
I was watching the hearings last night and to me, Anderson Accounting Firm has alot of explaining to do instead of blaming....
HOUSTON (Reuters) - The toll of the Enron bankruptcy expanded dramatically on Friday with the apparent suicide of a former executive who had opposed the accounting practices that led to the collapse of the energy trading giant.
J. Clifford Baxter, 43, who resigned as vice chairman of Enron Corp. last April, killed himself with a gunshot to the head, police in Sugar Land, Texas, an affluent Houston suburb, said.
Baxter, who resigned from Enron last May, had reportedly feuded with then Chief Executive Jeffrey Skilling over the propriety of off-balance-sheet transactions involving hundreds of partnerships that ultimately triggered the once-mighty Houston company's spiral into the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history.
Sugar Land Police Department spokeswoman Patricia Whitty said Baxter was found inside his Mercedes early on Friday with a gunshot wound to the head, a suicide note, and a revolver at his side.
He had Enron identification in his wallet, Whitty said. Police declined to divulge the contents of the note.
Enron confirmed the death in a short statement: ``We are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of our friend and colleague, Cliff Baxter.''
JACKSON TELLS FORMER EMPLOYEES TO ``HOLD ON''
In Houston, civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson met with former Enron employees in a church in the shadows of Enron's headquarters.
``We've got to hold on,'' Jackson said. ``In the darkest hours the stars shine most clearly.''
Former employees were clearly shaken by Baxter's death.
``I think the timing has something to do with all of the momentum that is growing around the collapse of a very wonderful company,'' said Tim Sundel, who is among the thousands of Enron employees who were laid off in December.
Baxter's death came one day after the start of congressional hearings on Enron's collapse and the role of its auditor, Big Five accounting firm Andersen, as legislators seek answers on why Andersen employees had destroyed thousands of documents related to Enron audits.
But furious lawmakers got few answers on Thursday as fired Andersen partner David Duncan refused to testify, invoking his Constitutional right under the Fifth Amendment to avoid self-incrimination.
Hearings by the House Energy and Commerce Committee and another by the Senate on Thursday were the first of nine scheduled over the next six weeks into Enron, which freely gave to politicians of both parties but was particularly generous to the election of campaign of President Bush.
Congressional investigators had sought to interview Baxter last week while they were in Houston talking to others about Enron, congressional committee sources told Reuters on Friday.
``We did not seek testimony from him (Baxter) yet. His name was brought up numerous times during investigators' meetings,'' a congressional source said.
A partner with the Washington, D.C., law firm of Swidler Berlin Shereff Friedman said the firm had represented Baxter, along with other former and current Enron employees.
``The firm did represent Cliff,'' partner Michael Levy said, adding that he had not known Baxter personally.
Asked whether he knew of congressional investigators seeking an interview with Baxter, Levy said, ``I'm not going to comment on any of the ongoing investigations.''
WHITE HOUSE ORDERS CONTRACT REVIEW
Meanwhile, the White House on Friday ordered a review of $70 million in U.S. government contracts with Enron and Andersen.
The director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, Mitchell Daniels, in a letter to the General Services Administration, noted that media reports of ``potential irregularities'' in work done by Enron and Andersen could ''reflect poorly on ... their ability to provide quality work.''
The political influence of the two firms came under renewed scrutiny on Friday, with the New York Times reporting that almost all of the U.S. legislators serving on congressional committees investigating Enron have received campaign contributions from Enron or Andersen.
Of the 248 senators and members of the House of Representatives on 11 congressional committees investigating the firm, 212 received donations from the two firms, according to an analysis by the Times and the Center for Responsive Politics, a research group that tracks money in politics.
Legislators on Friday asked Enron's former Chairman and CEO, Kenneth Lay, to provide information on loans he received from the energy firm and on his sales of company stock.
BAXTER SUBJECT OF LAWSUITS
Baxter himself was the subject of lawsuits that targeted 29 of Enron's top directors and insiders, accusing them of cashing in on inside information at the expense of stockholders.
Court records and securities filings show that Baxter earned some $35.2 million by exercising Enron stock options, including $9 million in 2001 alone.
Despite the financial rewards Baxter may have reaped, a former Enron official said relations between Baxter and other Enron executives were strained, at best.
``Cliff Baxter complained mightily to Skilling and all who would listen about the inappropriateness of our transactions with LJM,'' Enron whistle-blower Sherron Watkins wrote to Lay in an Aug. 14 letter.
His complaints targeted the so-called ``LJM'' and ``LJM2'' investment partnerships managed by then-Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow, who earned $30 million for that work in addition to his Enron salary.
Enron filed for bankruptcy on Dec. 2, leaving investors -- including many employees who held company stock in their retirement accounts -- with nearly worthless stocks.
Enron's shares have fallen from a high of about $90 in Aug. 2000 to about 45 cents currently. The stock was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange on Jan. 10 and now trades over-the-counter.
Baxter joined Enron in 1991 and was chairman and CEO of Enron North America before being named chief strategy officer. In Oct. 2000, he was promoted to vice chairman.
Enron's statement on Baxter's suicide, which was posted on the company's Web site (http://www.enron.com), was a terse, three-sentence statement.
But in a statement announcing Baxter's resignation last May, Enron had lauded Baxter's ``... creativity, intelligence, sense of humor and straightforward manner.''
The May press release had also described Enron as ``one of the world's leading electricity, natural gas and communications companies,'' noting that Fortune magazine for six straight years had named it ``America's Most Innovative Company.''
I was watching the hearings last night and to me, Anderson Accounting Firm has alot of explaining to do instead of blaming....
HOUSTON (Reuters) - The toll of the Enron bankruptcy expanded dramatically on Friday with the apparent suicide of a former executive who had opposed the accounting practices that led to the collapse of the energy trading giant.
J. Clifford Baxter, 43, who resigned as vice chairman of Enron Corp. last April, killed himself with a gunshot to the head, police in Sugar Land, Texas, an affluent Houston suburb, said.
Baxter, who resigned from Enron last May, had reportedly feuded with then Chief Executive Jeffrey Skilling over the propriety of off-balance-sheet transactions involving hundreds of partnerships that ultimately triggered the once-mighty Houston company's spiral into the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history.
Sugar Land Police Department spokeswoman Patricia Whitty said Baxter was found inside his Mercedes early on Friday with a gunshot wound to the head, a suicide note, and a revolver at his side.
He had Enron identification in his wallet, Whitty said. Police declined to divulge the contents of the note.
Enron confirmed the death in a short statement: ``We are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of our friend and colleague, Cliff Baxter.''
JACKSON TELLS FORMER EMPLOYEES TO ``HOLD ON''
In Houston, civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson met with former Enron employees in a church in the shadows of Enron's headquarters.
``We've got to hold on,'' Jackson said. ``In the darkest hours the stars shine most clearly.''
Former employees were clearly shaken by Baxter's death.
``I think the timing has something to do with all of the momentum that is growing around the collapse of a very wonderful company,'' said Tim Sundel, who is among the thousands of Enron employees who were laid off in December.
Baxter's death came one day after the start of congressional hearings on Enron's collapse and the role of its auditor, Big Five accounting firm Andersen, as legislators seek answers on why Andersen employees had destroyed thousands of documents related to Enron audits.
But furious lawmakers got few answers on Thursday as fired Andersen partner David Duncan refused to testify, invoking his Constitutional right under the Fifth Amendment to avoid self-incrimination.
Hearings by the House Energy and Commerce Committee and another by the Senate on Thursday were the first of nine scheduled over the next six weeks into Enron, which freely gave to politicians of both parties but was particularly generous to the election of campaign of President Bush.
Congressional investigators had sought to interview Baxter last week while they were in Houston talking to others about Enron, congressional committee sources told Reuters on Friday.
``We did not seek testimony from him (Baxter) yet. His name was brought up numerous times during investigators' meetings,'' a congressional source said.
A partner with the Washington, D.C., law firm of Swidler Berlin Shereff Friedman said the firm had represented Baxter, along with other former and current Enron employees.
``The firm did represent Cliff,'' partner Michael Levy said, adding that he had not known Baxter personally.
Asked whether he knew of congressional investigators seeking an interview with Baxter, Levy said, ``I'm not going to comment on any of the ongoing investigations.''
WHITE HOUSE ORDERS CONTRACT REVIEW
Meanwhile, the White House on Friday ordered a review of $70 million in U.S. government contracts with Enron and Andersen.
The director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, Mitchell Daniels, in a letter to the General Services Administration, noted that media reports of ``potential irregularities'' in work done by Enron and Andersen could ''reflect poorly on ... their ability to provide quality work.''
The political influence of the two firms came under renewed scrutiny on Friday, with the New York Times reporting that almost all of the U.S. legislators serving on congressional committees investigating Enron have received campaign contributions from Enron or Andersen.
Of the 248 senators and members of the House of Representatives on 11 congressional committees investigating the firm, 212 received donations from the two firms, according to an analysis by the Times and the Center for Responsive Politics, a research group that tracks money in politics.
Legislators on Friday asked Enron's former Chairman and CEO, Kenneth Lay, to provide information on loans he received from the energy firm and on his sales of company stock.
BAXTER SUBJECT OF LAWSUITS
Baxter himself was the subject of lawsuits that targeted 29 of Enron's top directors and insiders, accusing them of cashing in on inside information at the expense of stockholders.
Court records and securities filings show that Baxter earned some $35.2 million by exercising Enron stock options, including $9 million in 2001 alone.
Despite the financial rewards Baxter may have reaped, a former Enron official said relations between Baxter and other Enron executives were strained, at best.
``Cliff Baxter complained mightily to Skilling and all who would listen about the inappropriateness of our transactions with LJM,'' Enron whistle-blower Sherron Watkins wrote to Lay in an Aug. 14 letter.
His complaints targeted the so-called ``LJM'' and ``LJM2'' investment partnerships managed by then-Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow, who earned $30 million for that work in addition to his Enron salary.
Enron filed for bankruptcy on Dec. 2, leaving investors -- including many employees who held company stock in their retirement accounts -- with nearly worthless stocks.
Enron's shares have fallen from a high of about $90 in Aug. 2000 to about 45 cents currently. The stock was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange on Jan. 10 and now trades over-the-counter.
Baxter joined Enron in 1991 and was chairman and CEO of Enron North America before being named chief strategy officer. In Oct. 2000, he was promoted to vice chairman.
Enron's statement on Baxter's suicide, which was posted on the company's Web site (http://www.enron.com), was a terse, three-sentence statement.
But in a statement announcing Baxter's resignation last May, Enron had lauded Baxter's ``... creativity, intelligence, sense of humor and straightforward manner.''
The May press release had also described Enron as ``one of the world's leading electricity, natural gas and communications companies,'' noting that Fortune magazine for six straight years had named it ``America's Most Innovative Company.''