- WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Enron Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive
Kenneth Lay will refuse to testify on Tuesday when he appears under subpoena
before a congressional committee probing the collapse of the energy trading
giant, his spokeswoman said.
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- "Under the instruction of counsel,
Mr. Lay will exercise his Fifth Amendment right at the Tuesday hearing,"
Kelly Kimberly said Sunday, declining further comment. The amendment extends
constitutional protection against self-incrimination.
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- Lay was subpoenaed to appear before a
U.S. Senate committee after he backed out of a voluntary appearance last
Monday. Lay declined to testify after his lawyer complained about "prosecutorial"
comments by lawmakers on television talk shows a day earlier.
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- The statement from Kimberly confirmed
a prediction earlier on Sunday from Sen. Fritz Hollings of South Carolina,
Democrat chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee that was scheduled to
hear from Lay.
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- "Lay has got a good lawyer,"
Hollings told CBS television's "Face the Nation" program. "I
can't see, with things having gotten worse all week long, him testifying
now."
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- Also appearing on the CBS program were
two Republicans leading the investigation in the U.S. House of Representatives,
who questioned whether former Enron Corp. Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey
Skilling had been truthful while testifying last Thursday and said he could
be prosecuted for perjury if not.
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- Skilling took no blame for the bankrupt
energy trader's collapse and said he had no reason to believe it was in
financial trouble when he left last August.
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- The chairman of the House Energy and
Commerce Committee, Rep. Billy Tauzin of Louisiana, said he did not believe
Skilling's claims and said the former CEO "may have put himself in
some legal jeopardy as a result."
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- "You can't come to Congress, take
the oath to tell the truth, and then not tell the truth," Tauzin said.
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- "We're hearing from others in the
corporation that he came to us and told us a lot of untruths. If he did
that, if that is true," he could face perjury charges, the congressman
said. "That could happen."
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- "All of us wanted to know the truth,
and I don't think we got it."
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- Greenwood, chairman of the House Energy
subcommittee on oversight and investigation that heard from Skilling, was
also skeptical despite the fact that Skilling testified voluntarily before
the panel probing off-the-books partnerships and questionable accounting
at Enron.
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- "It was the dog ate my homework,"
Greenwood said. "Unfortunately, I don't think he was forthcoming with
us at all."
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- On Dec. 2, Enron filed for bankruptcy,
wiping out thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in equity held by
employees and other investors.
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- The collapse of the Houston-based company
that was once the seventh largest in America, is under investigation by
the Justice Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission and nine
congressional panels.
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- Four other top Enron executives have
refused to testify before lawmakers, citing their constitutional protection
against self-incrimination.
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- The House Financial Services Committee,
which had also expected to hear from Lay last week, has subpoenaed him
to appear next Thursday.
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- Like Skilling, Lay would face tough questions
about business deals that critics charge hid massive debts and inflated
profits at Enron until it filed for bankruptcy.
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- Lay resigned as chairman and chief executive
of Enron on Jan. 23. He stepped down from the board last week.
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