<nettime> Judicial Watch sues Cheney

[t byfield <tbyfield@panix.com>]

date: Thu, 11 Jul 2002 09:26:44 -0400
from: "Media Unspun" <guterman@mediaunspun.imakenews.net>
subject: Take My Wireless Unit, Please

<...>

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<...>

   See Dick Run -- to an Undisclosed Location 

   Run, Ken Lay, run. Ditto Bernie and Dick. Dick? That would be Vice
   President Dick Cheney, who yesterday joined the list of former CEOs
   being sued by angry shareholders. Cheney was CEO of oil-services
   company Halliburton from 1995 to 2000, and now he's paying penance.
   Judicial Watch, identified as a watchdog group, is suing on behalf of
   shareholders and says Cheney and crew overstated Halliburton's
   earnings.

   The vice president being sued for corporate wrongdoing? Just one day
   after his boss grandstanded against such misdeeds? That sounds like
   big news. But the East Coast establishment media turned thumbs-down on
   the suit's newsworthiness, at least according to coverage posted on
   their Web sites. The Washington Post folded one paragraph on the suit
   into its coverage of the albatross that SEC chairman Harvey Pitt has
   become to the Bush administration. The New York Times posted an
   unbylined shortie. Why such meager coverage?

   We found one answer in ABCNews.com's insidery political news roundup.
   Warning: The column offers a strange brew of grounded observations
   mixed with a bevy of flattering adverbs lavished on fellow reporters,
   who are invariably "princely" scribes whose prose is "smartly"
   written, if not downright "brilliant." (And that's just from the
   current column.) According to ABCNews.com, Judicial Watch chairman and
   chief counsel Larry Klayman is unpopular. When Klayman "enters your
   life, it can be anything from a small annoyance to a life-changing
   experience," the news site wrote. The outcome depends on how much
   latitude the judge hearing the case gives Judicial Watch -- and
   Cheney's counsel will no doubt hope "for a judge who tosses this thing
   before any depositions or discovery."

   Not all media outlets were so quick to dismiss the suit. The Los
   Angeles Times expanded on Judicial Watch's reputation as a gadfly, and
   MSNBC.com turned in a comprehensive overview. The Wall Street Journal
   counted as evidence of the controversy's impact Cheney's absence
   Tuesday among the top cabinet secretaries who fanned out to promote
   Bush's corporate-governance proposals. Maybe the media are so
   accustomed to an MIA Cheney that his absence hardly registered. Across
   the pond, however, newspapers like Britain's Daily Telegraph agreed
   with the Journal's assessment. The conservative newspaper packaged its
   coverage with a story on Tuesday's disastrous U.S. stock market
   numbers ("Panic Hits Wall Street as Scandals Snowball") and pegged the
   prospect of Cheney in a court fight as "politically mortifying." See
   Dick run. - Deborah Asbrand

   Cheney named in accounting fraud lawsuit (AP)
   [15]http://www.usatoday.com/news/washdc/2002/07/09/cheney-investigatio
   n.htm

   Halliburton Calls Suit Unfounded, Working with SEC (Reuters)
   [16]http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/reuters20020710_319.html

   SEC Chairman Pitt A Potential Liability To Administration
   [17]http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52327-2002Jul10.htm
   l

   Watchdog Group Is Suing Cheney and Halliburton
   [18]http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/11/business/11SUIT.html

   A Legal Watchdog Group Sues Cheney, Halliburton for Fraud
   [19]http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1026329087308831160-search,00.h
   tml
   (Paid subscription required.)

   Cheney Is Named in Suit Alleging Corporate Fraud
   [20]http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-cheneyjul11.s
   tory

   Nasdaq, S&P Plummet to 5-Year Lows
   [21]http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-markets11jul11.story

   Cheney, Halliburton Face Suit
   [22]http://www.msnbc.com/news/778367.asp
   Other Stories 

   Living With 1999's Evil Twin
   [23]http://www.thestreet.com/markets/aarontaskfree/10031008.html

   Feds Confirm Criminal Probe of Qwest
   [24]http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E33%257E723752%257E
   ,00.html

   Yahoo Moves Into Profit Territory
   [25]http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-yahoo11jul11002048.story

   Kmart Is Facing Delisting
   [26]http://www.freep.com/money/business/kmart11_20020711.htm

   Road Signs for Vagabond Computer Users
   [27]http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/11/technology/circuits/11MARK.html

   Bush Spurs Debate Over Loans to Execs
   [28]http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-loans11jul11002048.story?col
   l=la%2Dheadlines%2Dbusiness

   Ellison: No problem not having a No. 2
   [29]http://news.com.com/2100-1017-942984.html

   WorldCom Leased Jet to Director for $1
   [30]http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52443-2002Jul10.htm
   l

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