Kenneth Lay & George Bush - Extensive Correspondence

While the White House has repeatedly described former Enron chairman Kenneth Lay as simply a "supporter" of George W. Bush, extensive correspondence between the two men paints a far cozier picture of their relationship, according to copies of letters obtained this afternoon (2/15) by The Smoking Gun.

The pages of correspondence, exchanged during the years Bush served as governor of Texas, were released today in Austin by the state archives in response to Freedom of Information requests filed by TSG and other news organizations.

The Bush-Lay material touches on both personal matters (birthday greetings and Bush's knee surgery) and public concerns of Lay and Enron, such as energy legislation and tort reform, and reflects the kind of jocular relationship that reportedly saw the nickname-happy Bush call the Enron boss "Kenny Boy." The Houston-based energy firm, Bush's leading career political contributor, is now bankrupt and the target of a multitude of criminal and congressional probes.

We've arranged the Bush-Lay letters into several batches and, where applicable, have followed an original letter with the recipent's reply. TSG will upload the correspondence as quickly as we can scan the documents. You'll find the first 15 letters below along with links that will get you to the additional pages.

Pages 1-15

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/bushlay1.html

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