Senator Lieberman is about to start up his Enron investigation. The conventional wisdom in the press is that this will uncover all kinds of skullduggery linking the Bush Administration to the failed company as a result of campaign donations and close ties of the principals to the Administration members, including W.

But the Democrats will have to be very careful when they turn over that particular rock–you never know what will crawl out. According to Accuracy In Media:

…it was the Clinton administration that did favors for Enron, and received large donations in return. Time magazine reported in 1997 that Clinton chief of staff Mac McLarty reached out to Enron Chairman Ken Lay, at President Clinton?s urging, and for nine months closely monitored a $3 billion dollar power-plant project in India. Four days before it was announced that Enron won the contract, it gave over $100,000 to the Democratic Party. Robert Rubin had worked closely with Enron when he was with Goldman Sachs. He recused himself from dealing with Enron matters during his first year in the White House as Clinton?s economic adviser, but not when he became Treasury secretary in 1994. According to the Houston Chronicle, Enron got permission to build a pipeline from Mozambique to South Africa after National Security Adviser Anthony Lake threatened to withhold aid to Mozambique if it didn?t approve the project….

Also, from the Center For Public Integrity:

Kenneth Lay, chairman and chief executive officer of the Enron Corporation, accompanied Secretary of Commerce Ronald Brown on the trade mission to India in January, 1995.

In India, Enron signed a contract for a 2,000 megawatt power plant in Dahbol worth an estimated $400 million. Enron also won a contract to build a $920 million power plant on the West coast of India and a $1.1 billion contract for offshore gas and oil production.

Rodney L. Gray, chairman and chief executive officer of Enron International accompanied Brown on the trade mission to Russia in March and April of 1994.

In Russia, Enron signed a deal to develop a market for Russia gas in Europe.

During the 1991-92 election cycle, Enron gave $28,525 to the Democratic party while Brown served as the chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Enron gave $42,000 to the Democratic party in the 1993-94 cycle.

Sounds like “Enronomics” might turn out to be a double-edged sword…