Dec. 21 - New report links actions by Sen. Phil Gramm, wife Wendy Gramm and Bush officials to Enron fiasco, California crisis

After Enron Corp. used its vast web of political connections to win December 2000 passage of commodities trading legislation that helped the company shield its energy trading activities from government scrutiny, California’s energy crisis suddenly took a dramatic turn for the worse as artificial supply shortages led to frequent rolling blackouts, according to a new Public Citizen report released Friday.

The legislation reducing government oversight of energy trading was muscled through Congress - without a Senate committee hearing with the aid of U.S. Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas. Gramm was chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, which had jurisdiction over the legislation he co-sponsored, but he chose to bypass his committee, and the bill was quietly tacked onto a "must-pass" appropriations bill late in the session. Gramm s wife, Wendy Gramm, also aided Enron s rise to power. As chairwoman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, she pushed through a key regulatory exemption on Jan. 14, 1993, just as she was about to leave office. Five weeks later, she joined Enron s board of directors, where she served on the board s audit committee and had access to key financial information about the company.

To read the entire press release, click here.

To read the report, Blind Faith: How Deregulation and Enron's Influence Over Government Looted Billions from Americans, click here.

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