SRO In the OPR
Perhaps drawn by press accounts of Kenneth L. Lay's testy performance on the witness stand yesterday, the Overflow Press Room (OPR) is standing-room-only today--the most crowded I've seen it.
In addition to your loyal correspondents beavering away at their laptops, there appear to be plenty of civilians and new faces.
Unfortunately for them, the show isn't as good today. The closest we've gotten to a dust-up between Lay and prosecutor John Hueston, conducting the questioning, was the introduction of a Financial Times article quoting analysts critical of Enron in October 2001. Lay said that article was "playing off the Wall Street Journal," referring to a damaging string of articles earlier that month in the Journal.
"Both [the WSJ and the FT] are playing off the analysts, sir," Hueston shot back.
After jumping down Lay's throat right off the bat yesterday, Hueston has changed his manner substantially. He's almost courtly at times, though still insistent. He may be trying to work a little Stockholm Syndrome on Lay, a condition where abductees end up sympathizing with their captors. If a captor roughs up a hostage a lot at first and then lays off, the hostage is so grateful, they end up bonding with the captor.
Speaking of being held captive in inhumane quarters (the OPR), Lay gave reporters a shout-out just now: "Journalists also are meeting deadlines and taking the best information they've got and running with it." Not sure if it's a complaint, a compliment or simply a neutral observation. In these days of MSM-bashing, we in the mainstream media will take any non-criticism as a compliment. And run with it.
By Frank Ahrens |
April 27, 2006; 11:41 AM ET
| Category:
In the Overflow Room
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Posted by: Nick Schmidt | April 27, 2006 01:39 PM
Sounds like there has been a lot of interesting testimony today. Can you elaborate on Lay's demeanor upon being confronted with his son's short selling of Enron stock?
Posted by: Kevin | April 27, 2006 01:48 PM
Hi, Nick:
I haven't seen Skilling today, but some press reports from earlier in the week noted that when Lay testified that Skilling was not so good with regulators and politicians and CEOs of other companies, Skilling was smiling.
His lawyer, Dan Petrocelli, however, was not.
Posted by: Frank Ahrens | April 27, 2006 02:23 PM
The comments to this entry are closed.
Mr. Ahrens,
Great coverage, thanks. I'd love to know if and how Skilling is reacting to Lay's testimony.
Thanks!