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Public Citizen | Powered by Greed: Documents Chronicle Enron's Influence - Powered by Greed: Treasury Documents Chronicle Enron's Influence in Washington

Powered by Greed: Treasury Documents Chronicle Enron's Influence in Washington

An examination of thousands of documents released by the U.S. Department of Treasury since March 2002 highlight a lobbying operation run by Enron that covered a range of issues: regulation of energy trading; valuation of futures contracts in the event of bankruptcy; regulatory responses to the West Coast energy crisis; and government assistance to the company's problematic overseas investments.

The documents were heavily redacted, making the full extent of Enron's influence difficult to assess. Public Citizen has filed additional Freedom of Information Act requests for a more complete release of information concerning Enron's lobbying of Treasury.

"These documents help explain how Enron used its money and connections to distort government policies in a way that gave it a free rein to cheat consumers," said Tyson Slocum, research director with Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program.

But from those few communications that Treasury more fully released, it is clear that Enron had enormous influence over government officials. Please click on the following links to access the documents and their accompanying explanations.

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