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Skilling Took Offensive In Congressional Testimony
Aired February 27, 2002 - 05:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Now to the latest on the Enron scandal. Former CEO Jeffrey Skilling adopted an aggressive tone in a return visit to Capitol Hill.
But as CNN's Tim O'Brien reports, the Senators were not swayed.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TIM O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jeff Skilling took the offensive, accusing Congress of politicizing the Enron investigation.
JEFFREY SKILLING, FORMER ENRON CEO: The entire management and board of Enron has been labeled everything from hucksters to criminals with a complete disregard for the facts and evidence assembled. These untruths shatter lives.
O'BRIEN: No, said Skilling, he did not lie to Congress, as several House members recently suggested. And, no, he and the company's former chief financial officer, Andy Fastow, did not dupe the company's former chairman, Ken Lay, into going along with questionable accounting deals.
SKILLING: I never duped Ken Lay. I heard Ms. Watkins testify to her opinion. I have no idea what the basis is for that opinion.
SHERRON WATKINS, ENRON VICE PRESIDENT: I believe that Mr. Andy Fastow would not have put his hands in the Enron candy jar without an explicit or implicit approval to do so by Mr. Skilling.
O'BRIEN: Watkins said it was common knowledge how the company shifted losses to off the books partnerships, whose only assets were Enron stock. Skilling said he knew about those deals, but...
SKILLING: I believed based on the representations of our accountants that this was an entirely appropriate structure.
O'BRIEN: That was met with a chorus of disbelief.
SEN. BARBARA BOXER (D), CALIFORNIA: You're also very smart. And that's why I don't believe you.
SKILLING: And I don't see that it's at all inconsistent that there would be some things I don't know if some people purposely kept me from knowing some things.
SEN. BYRON DORGAN (D), NORTH DAKOTA: Mr. Skilling says Ms. Watkins is wrong, Mr. McMahon is wrong, the Powers Report is wrong, the market is wrong. You know, Mr. Skilling, I have great difficulty believing your testimony.
O'BRIEN: If Skilling was playing offense when this hearing began, he was clearly on defense when it ended. He did not dispute cashing in more than $60 million in Enron stock just before some investors and employees around him would go broke.
(on camera): Asked if he might be contribute any of that cash to a fund set up for Enron employees, Skilling said he'd have to withhold any decision on that until after all the lawsuits against him were over, which he predicted could take five or 10 years.
Tim O'Brien, CNN Financial News, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Journalist Marie Brenner investigated the Enron collapse for an upcoming article in "Vanity Fair" magazine. Brenner appeared on "News Night With Aaron Brown" and told about Enron's so- called "hotty board." Here's a hint, we're not talking stocks here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARIE BRENNER, WRITER-AT-LARGE-"VANITY FAIR": It is a culture which angered many of the women who were very serious professional women -- lawyers, auditors, accountants, deal makers who worked in the company. One trader had something he called the "hotty board" that he had out on the floor where he would rank the allure of Enron women. There were constant remarks being made. And when the women would complain about this, if these executives were making money, the traders, the women themselves would be redeployed, as in the Enron language.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: In describing the Enron environment, Brenner says, "It's a macho culture, a trading culture, a culture we know well from liar's poker." That should be an interesting article, huh?
CHAD MYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
COSTELLO: Yes. During the Senate hearings, Jeffrey Skilling was testifying most of the time.
MYERS: Yes, I was watching a little bit, yes.
COSTELLO: He had that Diet Coke right in front of him.
MYERS: Exactly.
COSTELLO: Diet Coke must have been, Coke must have been really happy... MYERS: I wonder if he was getting some money back for that.
COSTELLO: ...to have that advertising.
MYERS: Anyway, you know, you were talking about the "Hotty Board."
COSTELLO: Yes.
MYERS: Our floor director thought that they said "potty board" and that you had to put your name down on a potty board to get up in line to get to...
COSTELLO: Maybe they had one of those, too. We don't know.
MYERS: Could have been.
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