Drip, drip, drip

NYPress - Wild Justice - Alexander Cockburn - Vol. 15, Iss. 27 But even Pitt couldn’t choke off the investigation into Halliburton, one of the largest oil service companies in the world, headed until July 2000 by Cheney, who was the company’s CEO. The SEC is probing whether Halliburton reported more than $100 million of disputed costs on big oil contracts as revenues so that it could prop up its profits while negotiating a merger with a rival. These accounting shenanigans took place in 1998 on Cheney’s watch, and yes, the accounting firm was Arthur Andersen. Noting Bush’s promise that CEOs who have mismanaged their companies in some fraudulent way will "have to pay," Donaldson asked Pitt, "Will that be the case in Halliburton if you find wrongdoing under Mr. Cheney’s reign?" Quivering with integrity, Pitt bravely declared, "I head an independent regulatory agency. We don’t give anyone a pass."