WASHINGTON, March 24 (IslamOnline and News Agencies) - Congressional investigators are focusing on the White House for the first time in the probe of collapsed energy giant Enron and accounting firm Arthur Andersen, The Washington Post reported Saturday.
In a significant expansion of the probe, a Senate panel has issued 29 subpoenas seeking details about political contacts the firms had with the White House, the newspaper said.
The Senate Government Affairs Committee chaired by Democrat Joseph Lieberman (CT), who ran as the vice-presidential candidate alongside former Vice President Al Gore in Election 2000, issued the subpoenas, demanding information on the companies' role in formulating the government's energy policy.
Two were sent to Enron and Andersen on Friday, demanding all relevant communications with the White House and other government agencies, and 27 went to current and former Enron directors.
In a statement obtained by Agence France-Presse (AFP), Lieberman said, "We are trying to be as thorough as we can, to turn over every stone we can turn over, to understand what government agencies knew about Enron's practices and whether there was anything they could have or should have done to prevent the company's collapse, and to make sure something like this never happens again."
Lieberman said he intends to write to the White House asking for information on contacts with Enron.
The demand for documents dating back to 1992 marks the first time investigators have specifically targeted White House communications with Enron and Andersen.
Other congressional panels investigating the Enron collapse have so far steered clear of the firm's contacts with the White House.
The investigative arm of Congress, the General Accounting Office, is conducting a broader probe and is suing the White House for the release of documents relating to its energy task force, headed by Vice President Dick Cheney.
Enron collapsed last year in the nation's biggest-ever corporate bankruptcy. Andersen has been charged with obstruction of justice for allegedly shredding tons of Enron-related documents.
