"He doesn't have a financial interest in the company," a top Cheney
aide told CNN.
His comment came after two Democratic senators suggested Cheney gave
misleading answers when he said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" that:
"I have no financial interest in Halliburton of any kind and haven't
had, now, for over three years."
Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle issued a statement Tuesday saying
Cheney has "to clarify this discrepancy of no financial interest."
Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-New Jersey, said Cheney's financial
disclosure forms show that he continues to receive deferred salary
from the company and therefore has a stake in whether the company
stays profitable.
Cheney's office said that to avoid any such questions and any
suggestion that Cheney would have a stake in Halliburton's continued
success, he bought an insurance policy back in 2001 -- at a cost to
him of $15,000 -- to guarantee that he would receive his deferred
salary regardless of whether Halliburton stayed in business.
Cheney is expected to receive three more installments of his deferred
salary -- in 2003, 2004 and 2005.
Over the past two years his deferred payments totaled roughly
$368,000.
Lautenberg also listed Halliburton stock options that are shown on
Cheney's financial disclosure form -- some 233,000 shares in all that
vest between 2007 and 2009.
The Cheney aide said that on January 18, 2001 -- just before being
sworn in as vice president -- Cheney assigned all of his Halliburton
stock options to a charitable trust.
"He legally and irrevocably assigned them and he receives no tax
benefit from them," the Cheney aide said.
This aide said the trustee of the trust decides when to sell them.
Lautenberg, in a statement, renewed a call for the Senate Government
Affairs Committee to hold hearings on government contracts with
Halliburton and said to everyday Americans that Cheney's statement
would not make sense.
"If you ask everyday Americans if someone has a financial stake in a
company that provides them with annual compensation, I am certain they
would answer, 'yes.' "
From CNN, 9/16/03:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/09/16/cheney.halliburton/index.html
Cheney aide rejects Halliburton questions
From John King
CNN Washington Bureau
Tuesday, September 16, 2003 Posted: 7:16 PM EDT (2316 GMT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) --
Vice President ***** Cheney's office Tuesday dismissed as "a political
cheap shot" new Democratic questions about his financial stake in the
energy services giant Halliburton, which has received lucrative
contracts in postwar Iraq.
_____________________________________________________
We've all learned by now that Cheney's a fraud who finds lying
extremely pleasurable.
Harry
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