What could be sweeter than the prospect of Karl Rove doing the frog march? How about Ken Lay doing the perp walk?
Federal regulators have asked a federal court to force former Enron Corp. Chairman Ken Lay to hand over documents they believe will shed light on the company's collapse.Lay has refused to turn over the records, citing his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
The Securities and Exchange Commission, trying to determine whether Lay engaged in any fraudulent activities at Enron, has subpoenaed documents from Lay's tenure at the one-time Houston energy giant.
In a filing today with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, SEC officials argued the documents they want to review are corporate records that Lay has no right to withhold.
"It is well settled that a corporation has no Fifth Amendment rights and an individual cannot resist the production of corporate records based on the Fifth Amendment, even where the records might tend to incriminate the individual personally," the SEC argued.
Just maybe we'll get both Rove and Lay.
Posted by: Linkmeister on September 29, 2003 9:25 PMThe SEC is right here; Lay cannot without Enron's records on Fifth Amendment grounds. There are many precedents to that effect.
Posted by: Kenneth Fair on September 30, 2003 1:26 AMLet me try that again, in English this time.
The SEC is correct. Kenneth Lay cannot withhold Enron's records by asserting the Fifth Amendment. There is a great deal of precedent to that effect. Otherwise, anyone businessperson could avoid prosecution by merely throwing corporate records into a personal safe and taking the Fifth.
Posted by: Kenneth Fair on September 30, 2003 1:36 AM