Corporate Fraud Task Force

"We will use the full weight of the law to expose and root out corruption," Bush said on July 9, 2002. "My administration will do everything in our power to end the days of cooking the books, shading the truth and breaking our laws."

"Bush's speech was designed in part to refute critics who have called him too cozy with Corporate America -- particularly Democrats who, in a congressional election year, seem unlikely to cut him much slack, especially after raising questions about his own past business dealings."



"The speech, which the administration had been advertising for weeks in advance, came a day after the president held an impromptu news conference and was forced to defend his sale of stock in Harken Energy 12 years ago."

• US Department of Justice entry