Enron ex-chairman to take the Fifth

Associated Press

WASHINGTON – Former Enron chairman Kenneth Lay, scheduled to testify under subpoena before Congress on Tuesday, will assert his right against self-incrimination and refuse to answer questions, his spokeswoman said Sunday night.

“Under the instruction of counsel, Mr. Lay will exercise his Fifth Amendment rights at the Tuesday hearing,” Kelly Kimberly said in Houston.

She declined further comment.

Two committees snubbed by Lay a week ago have issued subpoenas compelling him to appear. Some lawmakers had said they expected he would assert his constitutional right against self-incrimination, though his attorney had not previously indicated he would do so.

“We will be respectful but tough,” in questioning Lay, Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., chairman of a Senate Commerce panel on consumer affairs, had told CNN earlier Sunday.

Lay, who was a friend and political backer of President Bush, has not spoken publicly about the Enron disaster since the company entered bankruptcy in December.

Some Democrats have highlighted the political dimensions of the Enron collapse. Lawmakers of both parties said they hoped the debacle would give a boost to legislation before the House this week designed to curb money’s influence on federal elections.

“Ken Lay is the poster child for cash-and-carry government,” Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ernest Hollings, D-S.C., said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

He cited Enron’s ties with several Bush administration officials and its heavy donations to Bush’s presidential campaigns as well as those of numerous senators and House members from both parties.

As the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission investigate Enron and its longtime auditor, the Arthur Andersen accounting firm, politicians in both parties have scrambled to return campaign contributions connected to Enron and its executives.