July 18, 2002
Former Enron Exec Not Thoroughly Investigated? (3:42)
President Bush’s Army Secretary and former Enron executive Thomas White defended himself in a Congressional subcommittee today. Among other things, White’s accused of helping Enron steal billions from California consumers, and making insider stock sales just before Enron’s collapse. Some in Congress wonder if federal investigators aren’t going easy on Secretary White, at the behest of the White House. Joshua Chaffin reports from Capitol Hill
RNC Subpoenas Records from Non-Profits (4:00)
More than a dozen liberal and Democratic-leaning interest groups across the nation are struggling to meet the demands of subpoenas recently issued by the Republican National Committee. The Committee is demanding detailed financial records, internal communications, and strategic political documents from a slew of non-profits as part of its ongoing lawsuit against the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Law. Groups that have been subpoenaed include Emily’s List, the National Education Association, and the National Abortion Rights League. Free Speech Radio News Reporter Ginger Otis has more on this story.
Fighting for Nigerian Oil (6:24)
Hundreds of unarmed women seized control of four more Chevron Texaco facilities in the Niger Delta yesterday. The occupations were spurred by the crushing poverty in which villagers live amid the region’s oil wealth. Nigeria is the world’s sixth-largest exporter of oil and the fifth-largest supplier to the United States. And recently, Nigeria and Cameroon have been locked in a crisis over an oil rich peninsula at the border of both countries. The crisis has also caused a conflict of interest between the United States and other western countries with interest in oil from Nigeria’s Niger Delta region. Sam Olukoya reports from the Bakassi Peninsula.
Gay Parent Denied Joint Custody in ID (5:04)
A magistrate in an Idaho child custody case has ruled a gay man may not have visits from his two daughters unless his live-in boyfriend moves out. Father Theron Mcgriff has complied by moving his partner into a trailer in front of the house they bought together in Idaho Falls. But Mcgriff intends to fight the decision to the Supreme Court if necessary, perhaps setting legal precedents along the way. Leigh Robartes has more from Idaho.
