Lay & Skilling Found Guilty in Enron Trial

The two men who both built and destroyed Enron--Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skillings--were found guilty today for their role in one of the largest corporate scandals in history. Skilling was convicted of 18 counts of fraud and conspiracy and one count of insider trading. Lay was found guilty on all counts with which he was charged: six counts of fraud and conspiracy and four counts of bank fraud.

As you may be aware, Enron was the largest single contributor to the Bush campaign in 2000 and DailyKos notes that:

"Lay is known to be a very close personal friend of current US president George W. Bush, and was one of the largest contributors to his presidential campaigns. His contribution history is $651,760 to Republicans, $61,960 to Democrats, and $62,150 to special interests (Source: Breakdown by Candidate or PAC). He served on the Bush-Cheney Transition Advisory Committee and was rumored to be the early top contender for Secretary of the Treasury until his untimely fall from grace and credibility. Skilling was a long time idea man and Enron power broker who served a couple of stints at CEO. He is a well known political cash cow with a campaign contribution history of $162,750 to Republicans, $9,750 to Democrats, and $50,783 classified as special interests (Source: Breakdown by Candidate or PAC)."

 Remember the old saying? Birds of a feather flock together.