Halliburton under fire

The SEC is investigating Veep Cheney's Halliburton. And the agency, headed by a former lobbyist for the accounting industry promises to be aggressive. Right. Don't believe it. During the Clinton years, SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt led industry efforts to open loopholes in corporate oversight laws, and his kid-glove treatment of the Enron debacle inspires nothing in the way of confidence.

In effect, Bush is ordering Pitt to look "aggressive" as the GOP attempts to deflect political heat for the near-daily scandals rocking Wall Street (and Main Street in the form of shrinking portfolios and 401(k)s).

As I've said before, all the action will happen in the class action suits. So far, I count 19 suits filed in the past month alone. Most of these will be consolidated into a single suit, so the number filed is irrelevant. What is relevant is that Cheney will be forced to testify once this case goes to trial. He will pull every trick, every delaying tactic, to avoid testifying in open court, but thanks to Clinton v. Jones, he'll fail. The only question will be whether he can push off any such testimony until after the 2004 elections.

For some background on the Cheney/Halliburton saga, check out this post. And this one.

Posted July 01, 2002 02:45 PM | Comments (2)