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Because all of his counterparts have asserted their Fifth Amendment rights, former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling has been the only major player to testify before Congress about the Enron collapse. Countering media characterizations of him as a hands-on "control freak," Skilling testified that he delegated to subordinates, calling himself "a controls freak" and claiming that he instituted "a very effective control structure for the company." But lawmakers, board members, co-workers and even his mother doubt Skilling's February 7 testimony before the investigations subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and some congressional investigators suggested Skilling perjured himself. The subcommittee chairman remarked to Skilling after he and Jeff McMahon, Enron's new president and chief operating office, testified: "I can believe you, Mr. Skilling, or I can believe Mr. McMahon, but I sure as hell can't believe you both." Skilling testified that he knew little about the partnerships at the root of Enron's collapse, wasn't aware of any problems with them and didn't know that the partnerships were used to keep hundreds of millions of dollars of debt off Enron's books. But, as Skilling's 77-year-old mother said, "When you are the CEO and you are on the board of directors, you are supposed to know what's going on with the rest of the company." Others also refuted Skilling's pleas of ignorance of Enron's wrongdoing: * Skilling claimed that he didn't know a lot about the partnerships, but William Powers, a board member who produced an internal report on the company's failure, testified in a Senate hearing that they have "substantial evidence" to the contrary. * Skilling testified that he didn't recall the part of an October 2000 board meeting in Florida when Andrew Fastow, former Enron chief financial officer, told the board that Skilling would approve all partnerships. Skilling speculated that he was out of the room during that discussion. But the board minutes document a decision that Skilling and two other executives would approve all dealings between Enron and the problematic LJM partnerships. * Although Herbert Winokur, chairman of the Enron board's finance committee, says that Skilling was required to monitor partnership transactions and that "Mr. Skilling reported to us that he was discharging these obligations," Skilling denies doing so. * Skilling also denies receiving a memo from Jordan Mintz, Enron's general counsel, reminding him to complete a form on partnership transactions. Mintz says that he tried to get Skilling to sign transaction approval papers on three occasions, but Skilling says he wasn't aware of Mintz's efforts. * Skilling claimed that he did not recall details of several conversations about the partnerships and company finances with other Enron employees. One such denial concerned a 30-minute meeting with Jeffrey McMahon, Enron's new president and chief operating officer. McMahon testified that he was removed as treasurer after he complained to Skilling about the partnerships during a March 2000 meeting; Skilling denies that the partnership problems were the subject of the meeting. * Following Skilling's testimony that he knew little about the partnerships, California Controller Kathleen Connell released a transcript of a December 1997 meeting of the California Public Employees Retirement System board of directors, documenting Skilling answering detailed questions about the JEDI II partnership. Connell said that Skilling handled a question-and-answer session on the partnership, explaining its structure, risks and benefits. Links: AP VIA BOSTON GLOBE: http://www.boston.com/dailynews/041/economy/Leaders_of_an_Enron_inquiry_ch:.shtml WASHINGTON POST: HOUSE HEARING TRANSCRIPT VIA NYTimes: POWERS REPORT VIA NYTimes: |
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