Now follow the action. One month after Cruz brings suit, Enron's Lay calls an emergency secret meeting in L.A. of his political buck-buddies, including Arnold. Their plan, to undercut Davis (according to Enron memos) and "solve" the energy crisis — that is, make the Bustamante legal threat go away.
How can that be done? Follow the trail with me.
Consumer watchdog Doug Heller with the nonpartisan (no position on recall or candidates) Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights:
Consumer advocate with the Santa Monica-based Foundation for Taxpayer andConsumer Rights, Heller said today: "Internal Enron e-mails we haveobtained confirm that Schwarzenegger was among a small group of executiveswho met with then-Enron head Ken Lay at the posh Peninsula Beverly Hills hotel in May of 2001. The meeting with Enron occurred ten days after rolling blackouts darkened California; Schwarzenegger has previously said that he does not remember such a meeting. You don't meet with America's most well-known corporate crook in the middle of California's biggest financial disaster and not remember. Schwarzenegger should come clean about what happened at that meeting and if he shares Lay's views on energy regulation.
Is this late in arriving? Yes. Does that suck? Yes.
But blame the recall for that.
Arnold Schwarzenegger has never run for public office before. Unlike Bustamante or McClintock, he hasn't been subjected to ANY of the close, serious journalistic scrutiny that candidates for public office usually (and rightly) receive for months leading up to a primary election, and then months leading up to a general election. (Sorry, the entertainment "press" doesn't count.)
Arnold Schwarzenegger took a pass on a gubernatorial election that happened less than one year ago. He could have run in that election. He would have been subjected to scrutiny before the primary, and then even more before the general election. He chose not to do this.
Instead, he chose to jump in at the last minute of this recall election, so reporters had to scramble to do the due dilligence that we expect of them (don't we?). Is it any wonder that it took 60 days for certain facts to be discovered? Just sixty days? Is it really fair to tell the press that they have to do the full vetting for a candidate for the leader of the world's sixth-largest economy in about two months?
Article comments
1 - Phillip Winn
...meeting with Ken Lay at the height of the California energy crisis is a bit like meeting with Osama bin Laden the afternoon of 9-11.
Only if you accept the ridiculous notion that Enron or Ken Lay is somehow the mastermind behind California's energy woes. The California legislature bears 98% of the blame for California's energy problem, the remaining 2% to be split any number of ways. Profiting after the fact is hardly the same as causing something, and I seem to remember California walking away from promises to pay, too.
This is, of course, slightly off-topic.
2 - Scarlett_16
He doesn't remember the meeting? This is strikingly similar to the response a former California governor gave when asked about Iran/Contra.
Arnold Schwarzenegger ----> Get the latest groping news