Senate summons Wakeham on Enron

Lord Wakeham has been ordered to provide documents to the US Senate committee investigating contacts between the collapsed Enron Corporation's board and the Bush and Clinton administrations.

The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee issued 29 subpoenas to Enron, its former auditing firm Andersen and members of the board going back to 1992, according to a spokeswoman.

Lord Wakeham and other current and former Enron board members will receive their subpoenas on Monday.

The subpoenas ask them for documents about their White House contacts on energy policy during the administrations of George Bush and Bill Clinton and federal agencies that regulated the bankrupt former energy giant.

It is the first time a congressional committee has sought to subpoena information linked to the White House since 10 House of Representatives and Senate panels began probes of Enron's collapse late last year.

But the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, has gone to court to try to get information about industry executives consulted by the Bush White House while it crafted its energy policy a year ago.

Those who would receive committee subpoenas include former Enron chairman Kenneth Lay, a longtime and generous donor to President Bush's political campaigns, as well as Jeffrey Skilling, the former chief executive of the collapsed energy trader.

In December, Enron filed the largest bankruptcy in US history, wiping out thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in equity held by employees and other investors. (Reuters)