Analysis: Enron's Political Contributions
W A S H I N G T O N, Jan. 14 -- The more powerful Enron became, the more money it gave away to political candidates and parties. Enron was so powerful, a majority of Congress has benefited from the energy company's largesse.
An ABCNEWS analysis of campaign finance data shows that as the now-collapsed energy giant grew in size in the second half of the 1990s, it tripled its giving in three years to become one of the largest soft-money contributors to federal candidates by 2000, and spending millions of dollars lobbying Texas officials.
To avoid any potential conflicts of interest, many big-name public officials, including at least two federal judges, the Texas state attorney general, and U.S. attorney general have recused themselves from Enron investigations.
Political observers note the irony: The top recipients of Enron's money, including Attorney General John Ashcroft and Texas Attonrey General John Cornyn, are at pains to prove they haven't been influenced by the company's donations.
But Enron's political contributions are so extensive that finding a team of congressional investigators who hasn't received Enron money is nearly impossible, according to various campaign finance analysts. The sheer number of individual contributions may hamper, and ultimately scuttle efforts to determine whether the contributions influenced legislation.
"Enron was one of the largest most active political players in Washington," said Charles Lewis, executive director of the watchdog Center for Public Integrity.
"They spread money all over Washington over the past decade," and spent "millions for both parties," he said.
The House Commerce committee's investigation into Enron is expected to be one of the most far-rearching. But both committee Chairman Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-La., and ranking Democratic member John Dingell of Michigan reported hard-money contributions from Enron.
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