http://www.judicialwatch.org/060503.b_PR.shtml
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 5, 2003
Contact: Press Office
202-646-5172
AS MARTHA STEWART FALLS, WHERE’S “KENNY-BOY” LAY?
Selective Prosecution & Unequal Justice Become Hallmarks of Bush Justice Department Pursuit of Corporate Criminals
(Washington, DC) Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption and abuse, observed today that the Bush Justice Department and its United States Attorneys appear to be engaging in a pattern of selective prosecution and unequal application of laws as they pursue various corporate corruption scandals that have erupted over the past three years. Judicial Watch has several civil lawsuits against high corporate officials and politicians associated with Enron, Halliburton, Providian and others, in part because the Bush administration has failed to take strong actions against these companies.
While Judicial Watch has no opinion over the merits of the indictment of Martha Stewart, it does note that one corporate chieftain – Kenneth Lay of Enron – has thus far escaped the legal consequences of the collapse of the corporation he headed. Enron’s bankruptcy was the largest in U.S. history. Mr. Lay was a personal friend of and campaign contributor to President George W. Bush.
On April 28, 2003, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer also announced a “fix” to a series of scandals that rocked Wall Street investment firms, major corporations, and the new financial conglomerates that combine banking, investment and insurance businesses in one firm. The $1.4 billion settlement agreement reached with 10 Wall Street firms in the investigation into Wall Street conflicts of interest enjoyed the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) (and one must assume both the Bush Justice Department and The White House). None of the figures involved in the scandals and subsequent investigations will serve a single day in jail.
“A political federal prosecutor has indicted Martha Stewart for allegedly lying to the government about her alleged securities violations, for which she was not indicted. It’s time that other, high level persons, like Ken Lay, also are held accountable for their actual securities violations,” stated Judicial Watch Chairman and General Counsel Larry Klayman.
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