Dave wrote:
On Fri, 07 Jan 2005 11:45:48 -0500, Jeff Morris
said:


Bush was never cleared of his insider trading
charges.


That's not the way the SEC works, Jeff. They don't "clear" anybody of
anything unless they institute a proceeding and actually lose it. If they
don't institute a formal proceeding they simply drop it.

Dave

You're correct from a legal point of view, however, it is clear that he
violated the rules concerning insider trading, and he violated the
regulation required reporting the transaction. The SEC (run by a Bush
Sr appointee, of course) declined to pursue the matter. The SEC General
Council (who would have been in charge of any prosecution) was James
Doty, formerly of the same law firm that represented Bush in the matter,
and in fact had worked for Bush Jr. on other matters.

Some may try to write this off as just an administrative mistake,
forgetting to file some forms, but this was real insider trading - the
same thing people go to jail for. In fact, the company lawyer
specifically advised against it, say that they would be in trouble if
they sold stock after they received this info. Bush apparently figured
that as the son of the president he could get away with anything. And
he was right.

Compare this to the $40 mil spent by the Republicans to uncover nothing
about Whitewater.