Oil Execs Lied to Congress

[ripdog]

Should they face charges? Sure, that douchebag Alaskan Senator refused to force them to testify under oath, but it is still a crime to knowingly make false statements before congress. I think it's time for those pussy congresspeople to step up and provide some consequences to these lying bastards. Give these lying pricks 5 years a piece. Story below:


Oil chiefs linked to Cheney task force

By Dana Milbank and Justin Blum
The Washington Post

WASHINGTON — A White House document shows that executives from big oil companies met with Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task force in 2001 — something long suspected by environmentalists but denied as recently as last week by industry officials testifying before Congress.

The document, obtained this week by The Washington Post, shows that officials from Exxon Mobil, Conoco (before its merger with Phillips), Shell Oil and BP America met with the Cheney aides who were developing a national energy policy, parts of which became law and parts of which are still being debated.

In a joint hearing last week of the Senate Energy and Commerce committees, the chief executives of Exxon Mobil, Chevron and ConocoPhillips said their firms did not participate in the 2001 task force. The president of Shell Oil said his company did not participate "to my knowledge," and the chief of BP America said he did not know.

Chevron was not named in the White House document, but the Government Accountability Office has found that Chevron was one of several companies that "gave detailed energy policy recommendations" to the task force. In addition, Cheney had a separate meeting with John Browne, BP's chief executive, according to a person familiar with the task force's work; that meeting is not noted in the document.

The task force's activities drew complaints from environmentalists, who said they were shut out of the discussions while corporate interests were present. The meetings were held in secret, and the White House refused to release a list of participants. Judicial Watch and the Sierra Club unsuccessfully sued to obtain the records.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., who posed the question about the task force at last week's hearing, said he will ask the Justice Department to investigate. "The White House went to great lengths to keep these meetings secret, and now oil executives may be lying to Congress about their role in the Cheney task force," Lautenberg said.

Lea Anne McBride, a spokeswoman for Cheney, declined to comment on the document and said that the courts have upheld "the constitutional right of the president and vice president to obtain information in confidentiality."

The executives were not under oath when they testified, so they are not vulnerable to charges of perjury; committee Democrats had protested the decision by Commerce Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, not to swear in the executives. But a person can be fined or imprisoned for up to five years for making "any materially false, fictitious or fraudulent statement or representation" to Congress.

Alan Huffman, who was a Conoco manager until the 2002 merger with Phillips, confirmed meeting with the task force staff. "We met in the Executive Office Building, if I remember correctly," he said. A spokesman for ConocoPhillips said he was looking into the apparent discrepancy between Huffman's statement and the testimony of the company's chief executive.

Exxon spokesman Russ Roberts said the company stood by Chief Executive Lee Raymond's statement in the Senate hearing.

Ronnie Chappell, a spokesman for BP, declined to comment. Darci Sinclair, a spokeswoman for Shell, said she did not know whether Shell officials met with the task force, but they often meet members of the administration. Chevron said its executives did not meet with the task force but confirmed that they provided a letter to President Bush outlining the company's recommendations.

The person familiar with the task force's work, who requested anonymity out of concern about retribution, said the document was based on records kept by the Secret Service of people admitted to the White House complex. This person said most meetings were with Andrew Lundquist, the task force's executive director, and Cheney aide Karen Knutson.

At the hearing, Lautenberg asked the executives: "Did your company or any representatives of your companies participate in Vice President Cheney's energy task force in 2001?"

"No," said Exxon's Raymond.


"No," said Chevron Chairman David O'Reilly.

"We did not, no," said ConocoPhillips Chairman James Mulva.

[canis582]

"Should they face charges?"

Welcome to the Machine

[KaneKungFu123]

ROFL.

Welcome to Dick Cheney's America.