Bush, Harken, and the public’s right to know

Introduction

Earlier this summer, national media outlets reported on President George W. Bush’s activities as a director with Texas oil company Harken Energy in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The stories referenced documents obtained by the Center during the course of research for the The Buying of the President 2000, as well as two Center investigative reports.

As a public service, the Center posted a number of documents related to a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation of Bush for insider trading. In an attempt to allow for easier navigating, we are re-posting all the information in the order it was posted.

We are also making available some new documents from our files that shed additional light on what transpired at Harken while Bush was a director.

Among the new postings:

• A partnership agreement between Aeneas Venture Corp., a subsidiary of Harvard Management, and Harken. The Wall Street Journal and Boston Globe recently wrote that Bush proposed the creation of an Enron-style, off-the-books partnership involving Harken and Harvard Management, based on Harken’s public disclosures. The Center now provides the internal document, and an Oct. 31, 1990, letter from Harken to Harvard discussing how the partners would account for some transactions.

• Losses at a Harken subsidiary, Harken Marketing, put the company in a difficult position in 1990. Harken Marketing traded futures contracts which were much in the news when Enron, Bush’s top career patron, collapsed in Oct. 2001. An internal company memo sheds some light on Harken’s activity and reveals one of Harken’s partners in commodities trading was Enron.

• Bush was paid $80,000 in 1987-1988 to consult for Harken, according to a company proxy statement, though he was working full time for his father’s presidential campaign. The George Herbert Walker Bush campaign paid for his son’s trips to attend Harken board meetings, and was later reimbursed by Harken. Those documents are being provided by the Center.

• Company proxy statements from 1990 and 1991.

In addition, we are publishing new reports chronicling Bush’s Harken tenure and the close relationship between Harvard and Harken.

Read the full report.

Related Reports:

A Brief History of Bush, Harken, and the SEC

• Harken’s Ivy League Underwriter
• Harken-related documents posted by the Center