A tight-lipped Kenneth Lay, the former Enron Corp chairman, was savaged by US lawmakers on Tuesday as he declined to testify about the energy giant's collapse amid dubious business dealings and questionable accounting.
Once mentioned as a possible energy secretary in the administration of US President George W. Bush, a grim-faced Lay listened to 90 minutes of lecturing by members of the Senate Commerce Committee, who accused him of presiding over a financial sham.
Lay, who withdrew from voluntary testimony last week citing a "prosecutorial" atmosphere in Congress, was compelled to appear by subpoena. He said he really wanted to talk, but that his lawyers had advised him to exercise his constitutional right to remain silent.
Some of the harshest criticism came from Republicans, whose party was the biggest beneficiary of Enron's generous political donations, over the years, to lawmakers of all stripes.
"I'd say you were a carnival barker, except that wouldn't be fair to carnival barkers -- a carny will at least tell you up front that he's running a shell game," said Senator Peter Fitzgerald, an Illinois Republican.
Committee chairman Ernest Hollings said he hoped the Enron saga would lead to campaign finance reform, and mockingly called Lay by the nickname Bush used in Enron's better days.
"There's no better example than Kenny Boy [of] cash-and-carry government," said Hollings, a South Carolina Democrat.
All but six of the Commerce panel's 23 members have received campaign contributions from Enron since 1989, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Dressed in a natty grey suit and a patterned red tie, Lay said he could not answer questions, but still wanted to say: "I come here today with a profound sadness about what has happened to Enron, its current and former employees, retirees and other stakeholders."
With a steady voice, he asked lawmakers not to draw any negative inference from his decision to plead the Fifth Amendment, then calmly left the room.
Today he will have a chance to repeat the performance before the House Financial Services subcommittee on capital markets.
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