Entered into the database on Tuesday, October 11th, 2005 @ 14:56:25 MST
An analysis released by a Democratic senator found that Vice President Dick
Cheney's Halliburton stock options have risen 3,281 percent in the last year,
RAW STORY can reveal. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) asserts that Cheney's options -- worth $241,498
a year ago -- are now valued at more than $8 million. The former CEO of the
oil and gas services juggernaut, Cheney has pledged to give proceeds to charity. “Halliburton has already raked in more than $10 billion from the Bush-Cheney
Administration for work in Iraq, and they were awarded some of the first Katrina
contracts," Lautenberg said in a statement. "It is unseemly for the
Vice President to continue to benefit from this company at the same time his Administration
funnels billions of dollars to it. The Vice President should sever his financial
ties to Halliburton once and for all.” Cheney continues to hold 433,333 Halliburton stock options. The company has
been criticized by auditors for its handling of a no-bid contact in Iraq. Auditors
found the firm marked up meal prices for troops and inflated gas prices in a
deal with a Kuwaiti supplier. The company built the American prison at Guantanamo
Bay. The Vice President has sought to stem criticism by signing an agreement to
donate the after-tax profits from these stock options to charities of his choice,
and his lawyer has said he will not take any tax deduction for the donations.
However, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) concluded in Sept. 2003 that
holding stock options while in elective office does constitute a “financial
interest” regardless of whether the holder of the options will donate
proceeds to charities. CRS also found that receiving deferred compensation is
a financial interest. Cheney told "Meet the Press" in 2003 that he didn't have
any financial ties to the firm. “Since I left Halliburton to become George Bush's vice president, I've
severed all my ties with the company, gotten rid of all my financial interest,"
the Vice President said. "I have no financial interest in Halliburton of
any kind and haven't had, now, for over three years.” Cheney continues to received a deferred salary from the company. According
to financial disclosure forms, he was paid $205,298 in 2001; $162,392 in 2002;
$178,437 in 2003; and $194,852 in 2004.
The above graph released by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) charts the
value of the Vice President's holdings in Halliburton in the past year.